National Institutes of Health – General Information

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the United States Department of Health & Human Services, is the primary U.S. Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. To realize its mission of extending healthy life and reducing the burdens of illness and disability, NIH funds grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts that support the advancement of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems.

The 27 Institutes and Centers of NIH provide leadership and financial support to researchers both inside and outside the United States: approximately 80% of NIH funding goes to research grants in all U.S. states and territories, as well as nations throughout the world.

For general grants information, please go to the homepage of the NIH Office of Extramural Research, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm

For information on the Grants Process, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/grants_process.htm.

If you have general grant-related questions about NIH research and research training funding opportunities or seek guidance about NIH’s grant application process and procedures, contact Grants Information.

List of Acronyms: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/acronym_list.htm
Glossary: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm

Location and Time Zone of the NIH

The NIH main campus is located in Bethesda, Maryland on the East Coast of the U.S., just 10 miles from the center of Washington, D.C. From early November until March, this is GMT – 5 hours, and from March until November this is GMT – 4 hours. Note: In 2009, Daylight Savings Time is from 2:00 a.m. (local time) on March 8th until 2:00 a.m. (local time) on November 1st. To confirm what time it is at our offices, visit www.time.gov , and click on Maryland (or any state on the East Coast).

NIH encourages email communication when possible.

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