NIH R03 Awards: Award History FY2022 to FY2026

For the full program guide on eligibility, page limits, and fit, see the NIH R03 small grant guide. This page covers the award data. To compare other NIH routes, use the free NIH grants search.

According to the NIH R03 activity code page (opens in a new tab), the R03 provides "research support specifically limited in time and amount." According to PA-25-302 (opens in a new tab), the parent R03 funds pilot and feasibility studies, secondary analysis of existing data, small self-contained projects, and methods development, with up to $50,000 in direct costs a year for up to 2 years.

Grantsights analysis of 2,182 new R03 awards from FY2022 through FY2026 shows two big changes. NIH now pays most R03s for both years at the start, which doubled the typical award amount on paper. And the institutes that make R03s have shifted, with NIA, NCI, and NICHD down and NIAID, NIDDK, NIDCR, and NHLBI up.

New R03 Awards By Fiscal Year, FY2022 To FY2026

NIH RePORTER shows 429 new R03 awards in FY2026, 9% fewer than the 474 in FY2022, according to the November 2, 2026 Grantsights pull.

The R03 has no competing renewals, so the rest of each year's records are mostly second-year continuations (type 5). Those fell from 435 in FY2022 to 108 in FY2026. That's the mirror image of the up-front funding trend: an R03 paid for both years in its first year doesn't need a second-year award.

The new-award count dipped to 392 in FY2025 and recovered to 429 in FY2026. New-award dollars rose every year, from $54.6 million to $82.1 million, but much of that rise is timing: money that used to show up in year 2 now shows up in year 1.

Why The Median R03 Doubled: Multi-Year Funding

NIH paid 271 of the 429 new FY2026 R03s for both years at once, 63%, up from 75 of 474, 16%, in FY2022, according to the Grantsights pull of NIH RePORTER.

NIH calls these multi-year funded (MYF) awards. According to NIH's MYF progress report page (opens in a new tab), an MYF award is "funded in full at the start of the project period," and its budget period and project period are the same and longer than 1 year. Grantsights counted an award as MYF when its RePORTER budget period ran longer than 13 months.

The parent R03 shows the effect most cleanly, because its cap is the same for everyone:

The size of an R03 hasn't changed. A one-year parent R03 still runs about $78,000 in total costs, which is the $50,000 direct-cost cap plus facilities and administrative costs, and a two-year up-front award is about double that. What changed is how often NIH pays both years at once.

That matters when you read any R03 number. A common mistake is comparing a $156,000 FY2026 R03 with a $78,000 FY2022 R03 and concluding the program got richer. It didn't. The honest comparison is per year, and per year the parent R03 is flat.

Which NIH Institutes Fund R03 Grants

NIAID made 49 new R03 awards in FY2026, the most of any institute, while NIA dropped from 73 in FY2022 to 41, according to NIH RePORTER data pulled November 2, 2026.

The parent notice is only part of the story. Grantsights checked each new FY2026 award's opportunity number against its NIH notice, and only 129 of the 429 came through PA-25-302:

That table explains most of the institute shifts. NHLBI and NIDDK aren't on the parent R03's participant list, and 80 of their 94 new FY2026 R03s came through limited competitions for their own K award recipients. RFA-HL-25-011 (opens in a new tab) and PAR-25-091 (opens in a new tab) both allowed up to $75,000 in direct costs a year. NIA's AD/ADRD notice, PA-25-246 (opens in a new tab), and NIDCR's new-investigator notice, PAR-25-105 (opens in a new tab), each allow up to $100,000 a year, which is why their medians are the highest.

NCI's drop also has a notice behind it. Its omnibus R03, PAR-25-078 (opens in a new tab), expired January 8, 2026, and PA-25-302 lists NCI as a participant added February 10, 2026. Applicants who used to go through the NCI omnibus now use the parent notice.

Top States And Schools For R03 Awards

New York led new R03 awards from FY2022 through FY2026 with 196, just ahead of California with 192, according to the Grantsights pull of 2,182 new R03 awards from NIH RePORTER.

The R03 is far more spread out than the P01 or T32. The 2,182 new awards went to 392 different organizations over 5 years, and the 429 new FY2026 awards went to 185 organizations in 42 states plus DC. No school won more than 10 in FY2026; the University of Michigan and Massachusetts General Hospital tied at 10.

Specifically, the largest new FY2026 R03 went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center through NHGRI, at $437,500, one of several NHGRI R03s above $390,000 that year. Awards like that come from institute-specific notices with higher caps, not from the parent R03.

What NIH RePORTER Doesn't Tell You About R03 Grants

NIH RePORTER lists 429 new FY2026 R03s, but at least 4 things applicants need are missing from those records.

The success rate is the first gap. RePORTER lists awards, not applications, so these counts can't be turned into an R03 success rate or payline.

The participant list is the second gap. According to PA-25-302, institutes that don't participate "will not consider applications for funding." NHLBI and NIDDK aren't on that list. A red flag for any applicant: an R03 sent to the parent notice for a topic that belongs at a non-participating institute can be reviewed and still never be funded.

The third gap is up-front funding. RePORTER shows which R03s were paid for both years, but NIH doesn't say how it picks them. For planning, budget for a 2-year project at $50,000 a year in direct costs either way.

The fourth gap is how small the R03 really is. With no renewals and a $50,000 cap, an R03 is a pilot, not a lab's main funding. Investigators who need more than about $100,000 in direct costs over 2 years should look at the R21, covered in the NIH R21 award history, or the R01.

Apply, Wait, Or Pick Another Route: 4 Checks

The next parent R03 dates are November 16, 2026 for resubmissions and February 16, 2027 for new applications, according to PA-25-302 (opens in a new tab), posted December 18, 2024.

For NHLBI K awardees, the NHLBI K awardee R03 guide covers the K-recipient route, and for rehabilitation research the NCMRR early-career R03 guide covers a narrower one. To choose between the small mechanisms, see NIH R01 vs R21 vs R03.

3 Takeaways From 2,182 New R03 Awards

According to NIH RePORTER data pulled November 2, 2026, there were 2,182 new R03 awards from FY2022 through FY2026, and the yearly count ranged from 392 to 474.

First, the R03 hasn't grown per year. The parent R03 still costs about $78,000 a year, and the doubled median reflects up-front payment of both years.

Second, the institute you pick decides the route. NHLBI and NIDDK fund R03s mostly through K-recipient notices, NCI moved into the parent notice in 2026, and NIA's biggest R03 notice has expired.

Third, it's a broad program. 392 organizations won new R03s in 5 years, so R03 winners aren't limited to the largest medical schools, even though Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Massachusetts General Hospital lead the count.

Sources

• NIH R03 activity code page - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• PA-25-302, Parent R03 (clinical trial not allowed) - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• RFA-HL-25-011, NHLBI K-recipient R03 - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• PAR-25-091, NIDDK K-recipient R03 - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• PAR-25-078, NCI omnibus R03 (expired) - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• PA-25-246, NIA AD/ADRD R03 (expired) - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• NIH multi-year funded awards - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• NIH RePORTER, pulled November 2, 2026 - reporter.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)

Related Guides

• NIH R03 small grant guide
• NIH R21 award history
• NIH R15 AREA and REAP award history
• NIH R01 award history
• NHLBI K awardee R03 guide
• NIH R01 vs R21 vs R03