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Policies and Procedures

Read through policies and procedures related to research and funding.

NIH's policies

Get details about NIH’s policies for grantees

NIH grantees generally have to comply with a number of specific policies covering topics like animal welfare, intellectual property, research integrity, and more.

Get guidance for addressing rigor and reproducibility in your application

NIH is committed to supporting the best and most rigorous science.

Find out about policy changes and announcements

Grantees must comply with updated policies from NIH.

Grants management policies

Prior Approval Requests

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Policy allows grantees (recipients) a level of discretion when making changes to budgeting or grant-related activities to meet unanticipated needs. Some changes may be made at the recipient’s discretion as long as they are within the limits established by NIH and the National Eye Institute (NEI); others will require written prior approval as defined in the Grants Policy Statement (GPS) and the terms and conditions in the Notice of Award (NoA).

If you’ve already received an award, but there’s been a change in the status or name of the grantee institution, you can submit an online request to update the information.

To submit a request for changes, use the Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) website.

Data and safety monitoring for clinical trials

NEI has stringent policies to protect the safety of participants and the integrity of data in clinical trials that NEI conducts or supports. Get details about the boards that monitor data and safety and how to create a plan for your application.

Data monitoring and oversight of complex epidemiological studies

NEI has stringent policies to protect the safety of participants and the integrity of data in epidemiological studies that NEI conducts or supports. Get details about the appropriate monitoring and oversight of complex epidemiological studies supported by the cooperative agreement mechanism.

NEI’s policy for applications with direct costs of $500,000 or more

Researchers who plan to request $500,000 or more in direct costs in any year must get approval from NEI.

NEI’s fiscal operations plan

NEI's fiscal operations plan reflects our priorities for the current fiscal year.

Last updated: April 19, 2023