NIH Grant Deadlines 2026-2027: R01, R21, K99, F31

For a system to track these dates and alerts across agencies, see the general guide on how to track grant deadlines. This page is the NIH calendar itself.

3 NIH Review Cycles: How a Due Date Maps to Council and Start Date

NIH runs three review cycles a year, with each activity code's due dates 4 months apart. According to NIH's standard due dates table (opens in a new tab), Cycle I covers due dates from January 25 to May 7, Cycle II from May 25 to September 7, and Cycle III from September 25 to January 7.

SBIR and STTR use a shifted calendar. NIH lists September 5 (council in January, start in April), January 5 (council in May, start in July) and April 5 (council in August, start September or December).

NIH adds two caveats. The actual council meeting "may occur in the month before or after the month listed," and NIH may not be able to honor the requested start date. The ranges in the table are the official ones, but NIH's own guidance is to treat them as approximate.

Upcoming NIH Deadlines: November 2026 to December 2027

Grantsights analysis of the NIH standard dates against the 2026 and 2027 calendars lists every standard deadline over the next 14 months, through December 2027. Grantsights checked the Key Dates tables of the current parent R01, R03, R21, K99, F31, F32, T32, R13 and SBIR announcements against NIH's standard table, and they list the same dates. A date in bold moves because the listed day is a weekend or a federal holiday.

Cycle III 2026: council May 2027, earliest start July 2027

Cycle I 2027: council October 2027 for most parents, earliest start December 2027

Cycle II 2027: council January 2028, earliest start April 2028

Cycle III 2027: council May 2028, earliest start July 2028

In all, 9 of the standard deadlines between November 2026 and December 2027 fall on a weekend or holiday. NIH's submission policies page (opens in a new tab) says that in those cases "the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day." The shift is automatic, but don't plan around it: the common mistake is to treat the extra day as working time and then hit a Grants.gov or eRA Commons error with no room to fix it.

R21 and R01 Deadlines in Detail

R21 and R03 resubmissions get 3 chances a year and must go in within 37 months of the original application. According to the current parent R21, PA-25-304 (opens in a new tab) (clinical trial not allowed), new R21s are due February 16, June 16 and October 16, and renewal, resubmission and revision applications March 16, July 16 and November 16. The parent R03, PA-25-302 (opens in a new tab), uses the same dates. Both run through October 16 and November 16, 2027, and expire January 8, 2028.

The parent R01, PA-25-301 (opens in a new tab), lists new R01s on February 5, June 5 and October 5, and renewals, resubmissions and revisions on March 5, July 5 and November 5, with its last listed dates October 5 and November 5, 2027 before it expires January 8, 2028. The clinical-trial-required parent R01 is PA-25-305 and the parent R21 counterpart is PA-25-306.

Two resubmission rules matter for timing. According to NIH's resubmission policy page (opens in a new tab), NIH accepts only one resubmission (A1), the PI must have the summary statement from the earlier review before resubmitting, and the A1 must be submitted within 37 months of the original. If your summary statement arrives late in a cycle, the realistic resubmission date is usually the second resubmission date after review, not the first. For the content of the A1, see the guide on how to resubmit an NIH grant and the R21 grant guide.

K99, F31 and Training Grant Deadlines

The parent K99 announcements expire in about 6 months, on May 8, 2027, which makes the next two K dates the last ones they cover.

K99/R00. K99 follows the K series dates: February 12, June 12 and October 12 for new applications, and March 12, July 12 and November 12 for resubmissions. The parent K99/R00 announcements, PA-24-194 (opens in a new tab) (clinical trial not allowed) and PA-24-193 (clinical trial required), expire May 8, 2027. Their last listed due dates are February 12, 2027 for new applications and March 12, 2027 for resubmissions. Every parent K announcement for K01, K02, K08, K23, K24 and K25 on NIH's parent announcements list (opens in a new tab) carries the same May 8, 2027 expiration. NIH hasn't yet listed replacements, so June 2027 K applicants should check that list in spring 2027. The K99/R00 guide covers eligibility and the postdoc timing window.

F31 and F32. According to the parent F31, PA-25-422 (opens in a new tab), new and resubmission applications share one set of dates: April 8, August 8 and December 8. The parent F31 runs through April 8, 2028 and expires May 8, 2028; the parent F32, PA-25-423, uses the same dates. A December 8, 2026 F31 goes to council in May 2027 with an earliest start in July 2027. Fellowship applications also require reference letters, which NIH says are due by the same 5:00 p.m. local time deadline. The F31 and F32 fellowship guide explains the application itself.

T32. The parent T32, PA-25-168 (opens in a new tab), lists January 25, May 25 and September 25 for every application type, through September 25, 2027, and expires May 5, 2028. NIH's table notes that some institutes don't accept T series applications in all three cycles, so check the institute's T32 page before planning a May or September submission.

P01. There's no NIH-wide parent P01. NIH's table puts P series on January 25, May 25 and September 25, but warns that "some do not accept P series applications for all three" cycles, and most P01s run through institute-specific announcements with their own dates. The P01 program project guide covers the structure.

R13. The parent R13, PA-25-080, lists April 12, August 12 and December 12, through August 12, 2027, and expires September 8, 2027.

SBIR and STTR. The parent SBIR, PA-27-100, posted May 28, 2026, lists September 5, 2026, January 5, 2027 and April 5, 2027, and expires April 6, 2027. Its Key Dates say "No late applications will be accepted." The September 2027 SBIR date will depend on a new parent. The NIH SBIR and STTR guide covers phases and budgets.

What Changed in 2025 and 2026

Three NIH notices issued over 8 months, from July 2025 to March 2026, changed how deadlines work.

AIDS dates. NOT-OD-26-029 says NIH will "no longer accept applications submitted on AIDS application due dates" starting with applications for January 2027 council review, and that NOFOs listing AIDS dates are superseded. The current parents now show "Not Applicable" in the AIDS column for every date from June 2026 on. The note at the top of NIH's standard due dates page says the same.

Late applications. Under the policy in NOT-OD-26-064, a late application must arrive within two calendar weeks of the due date, for extenuating circumstances of a PD/PI documented in a cover letter. NIH lists examples it may accept, such as the death of an immediate family member or a sudden, severe illness, and examples it won't, such as problems involving a signing official, co-investigator or mentor. NIH says "No NIH staff member" can pre-approve a late submission. The one pre-authorized reason is NIH review service: serving on an NIH study section or council meeting within four weeks before or after the due date. For applications to due dates before May 25, 2026, the old policy in NOT-OD-15-039 applied.

Six applications a year. The cap counts new, renewal, resubmission and revision applications across all council rounds in a calendar year. A PI who plans an R01 resubmission in March, an R21 in June and two more in the fall has used four of six before counting multi-PI roles.

What NIH's Due Dates Page Doesn't Tell You

The standard table is only a default, and within 10 months three groups of parent announcements it depends on will expire.

Your NOFO can use different dates. NIH's page says it plainly: "Not all opportunities or programs use standard due dates." RFAs, many PARs and most institute-specific announcements list their own dates in Section II Key Dates, and those dates control. A Key Dates table marks standard dates with an asterisk; dates without one are special.

Expiring parents can strand an application. The K series parents expire May 8, 2027, the R13 parent September 8, 2027 and the SBIR and STTR parents April 6, 2027. NIH routinely reissues parents, but the reissue may change forms or eligibility. Don't assume a June 2027 K99 can go to PA-24-194.

5:00 p.m. is your organization's local time. NIH says applications and reference letters are due "by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization." The time zone is the applicant institution's, not the PI's location or NIH's.

On time means error-free by 5:00 p.m. The parents tell applicants to "apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process." An application that fails validation at 4:55 p.m. isn't on time.

Some codes have no late door at all. Fellowship (F30, F31, F32, F33, F99/K00), small business (R41, R42, R43, R44, SB1, UT1, U44) and PF5 applications can't be submitted late under the current policy. For a December 8 F31, the deadline is the deadline.

A resubmission can switch announcements. NIH allows a resubmission under a different PA, PAR or PAS that accepts resubmissions, but switching between a PA and an RFA, or changing activity codes, makes it a new application. A move from R21 to R01 restarts the A0 clock.

Planning Backward From a Deadline

NIH says a resubmission follows the same timeline as other applications, about 9 months from due date to award, so plan backward from the start date you need. Here's how the dates turn into a decision, by situation.

For example, one applicant at a medical school who gets an R21 summary statement in late October and submits the A1 on November 16 would reach the May 2027 council, but the strongest A1s usually come from a full cycle of new data. The R21's budget and timing limits, and how it compares with the R01 and R03, are covered in the R01 vs R21 vs R03 comparison. To see how many awards an activity code actually funds, the R15 award history is one example of NIH RePORTER counts by year. You can search open NIH announcements by institute and activity code in the free NIH funding hub.

FAQ: Common Questions

What are the next NIH grant deadlines?

R01 renewals, resubmissions and revisions on November 5, 2026; K series resubmissions November 12; R03 and R21 resubmissions November 16; F series December 8; R13 December 14 (shifted from a Saturday); SBIR and STTR January 5, 2027; and P and T series January 25, 2027.

When is the R21 resubmission deadline?

March 16, July 16 and November 16 on NIH's standard dates. The next ones are November 16, 2026, March 16, 2027 and July 16, 2027.

What are the R01 resubmission deadlines for 2026 and 2027?

November 5, 2026, then March 5, 2027, July 6, 2027 (moved from the July 5 holiday) and November 5, 2027.

When are K99 applications due?

New K99 applications use February 12, June 12 and October 12; resubmissions use March 12, July 12 and November 12. The current parents expire May 8, 2027, after the February 12 and March 12, 2027 dates.

When are F31 resubmissions due?

April 8, August 8 and December 8, the same dates as new F31s. The next is December 8, 2026, and the August 2027 date moves to August 9.

Does NIH still have AIDS application due dates?

No. NOT-OD-26-029 removed them starting with January 2027 council review, so HIV/AIDS applications use the standard dates.

What happens if an NIH deadline falls on a weekend?

It moves to the next business day automatically, and the same applies to federal holidays and Washington, DC area federal office closures.

Sources

• NIH, Standard Due Dates (opens in a new tab), last updated March 24, 2026, accessed November 2, 2026
• NIH, Submission Policies (opens in a new tab), last updated August 11, 2026
• NIH, NIH Late Application Submission Policy (opens in a new tab), accessed November 2, 2026
• NIH, Resubmission Applications (opens in a new tab), accessed November 2, 2026
• NIH, Parent and Other Broad Announcements (opens in a new tab), accessed November 2, 2026
• NIH, PA-25-301 Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed (opens in a new tab)
• NIH, PA-25-304 Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed (opens in a new tab)
• NIH, PA-25-302 Parent R03 (opens in a new tab)
• NIH, PA-24-194 Parent K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed (opens in a new tab)
• NIH, PA-25-422 Parent F31 (opens in a new tab)
• NIH, PA-25-168 Parent T32 (opens in a new tab)
• NIH, PA-25-080 Parent R13 (opens in a new tab)
• Simpler.Grants.gov, PA-27-100 Parent SBIR (opens in a new tab), posted May 28, 2026
• NIH, NOT-OD-26-029 (opens in a new tab), removal of AIDS due dates, January 28, 2026
• NIH, NOT-OD-26-064 (opens in a new tab), late policy and end of continuous submission, March 31, 2026
• NIH, NOT-OD-25-132 (opens in a new tab), six applications per PI per calendar year, July 17, 2025
• OPM, Federal Holidays (opens in a new tab), 2027 schedule