On July 17, 2025, the NIH released Notice NOT-OD-25-132; Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications, outlining two important policy changes that will impact NIH-funded research proposals.

Annual Limit on PI Submissions

Effective for proposals submitted for the September 25, 2025, recipient date and beyond, the National Institutes of Health will only accept six new, renewal, resubmission, or revision applications from an individual Principal Investigator/Program Director or Multiple Principal Investigator for all council rounds in a calendar year.

This policy applies to all activity codes except T activity codes and R13 Conference Grant Applications.

Restriction on AI-Generated Content

NIH will not accept applications – or sections of applications – that are “substantially developed by AI.” Applications discovered post-award to contain significant AI-generated content may be referred to the Office of Research Integrity and anyone involved could be subject to enforcement actions, including cost disallowance, withhold of awards, or termination.

More information on the policy is available under NOT-OD-25-132.

Next Steps

• Departmental research administration staff ensure notification to all faculty.
• Use AI tools for tasks like editing or formatting – not for generating core scientific content.
• Use the Research Metrics Dashboard to track new/resubmitted/renewal and revision applications per calendar year; paying close attention to any proposal submitted by collaborating institutions in which the WCM faculty is listed as MPI.

For questions, please contact your assigned OSRA Grants Specialist or email grantsandcontracts@med.cornell.edu.