NCI Grant Policies

Research grants are subject to a variety of policy requirements. Below are highlights of policy announcements or changes specific to NCI. The NIH Grants Policy Statement and the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts contain the comprehensive grants administration policies, laws and regulations for NIH research.

Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy

Genomic research helps to advance our understanding of factors that influence health and disease. Sharing genomic research data is essential for translating research results into knowledge, products and procedures that improve human health. Find details on the NIH GDS policy, including when the Policy applies, examples, exceptions and additional information for intramural investigators, grantees, and non-NIH funded investigators.

Clinical Trials Access Policy

Consistent with the mission of the NCI to provide evidence-based approaches to cancer therapy, NCI believes that the full value of NCI-Supported Interventional Clinical Trials can be realized only if the final results of clinical trials are published as rapidly as possible. Timely and comprehensive access to the final results of clinical trials by investigators, clinicians and patients is particularly important for interventional cancer research studies because of their potential to directly impact patient care. The NCI Clinical Trials Access Policy applies to all NCI funded research grants, cooperative agreements, and/or contracts that support covered interventional clinical trials.

Type 2 Direct Cost Cap Policy

The NCI has a specific policy limiting the amount requested for the direct cost budget for a renewal application. No more than a 10% increase over the budget awarded for the last year of the prior project period (the last Type 5) may be requested. The policy applies to all Type 2 R01, U01 and P01 renewal applications regardless of the amount of the budget request or the budget format (modular or non-modular). Any deviation or alternative calculation requires prior approval from the NCI Program Director and Grants Management Specialist at least six weeks prior to submission of the renewal application.

Unsolicited R01s Over $700K

To ensure that all areas of the cancer research continuum are appropriately supported, a separate NCI payline has been established for unsolicited R01 applications submitted with direct cost requests in excess of $700,000 in any single year. Every effort will be made to maintain the large R01 payline as close as possible to the general R01 payline; however, the payline will be determined at each round. Large R01s submitted in response to RFAs or PARs, which are not reviewed by the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), are currently not percentiled and are not affected by this policy.