NIH MIRA R35 Winners and Award History 2026

According to NIGMS MIRA (opens in a new tab), MIRA supports research in an investigator's laboratory that falls within the mission of NIGMS. NIGMS says MIRA grants generally run 5 years and points established/new investigators and early-stage investigators to different current notices. The current Simpler Grants record for PAR-26-121 was last updated May 13, 2026, and the PAR-26-121 announcement says current early stage investigators should use the ESI MIRA notice instead of PAR-26-121. According to the NIH R35 activity-code page (opens in a new tab), R35 awards support an investigator's research program or lab rather than discrete projects with pre-set aims.

According to NIH, R35 opportunities vary by institute or center, so the NIGMS MIRA winner pattern should not be mixed with NHLBI, NCI, or other R35 routes without a source label. According to NIH RePORTER, the June 18, 2026 Grantsights pull found 3,283 FY2025 NIGMS R35 records and 3,400 FY2024 NIGMS R35 records.

Grantsights analysis of the June 16 RePORTER pull found a public pattern that matters for MIRA searches: the winner list is not just a name list. It is a program-of-research, NIGMS-mission, investigator-support, and current-award conflict screen.

Where official sources stop: NIGMS explains the mechanism and current notices. RePORTER lists funded projects. Neither source decides whether a specific PI should move from R01-style project support into MIRA. Grantsights adds the applicant decision layer: award amounts, state and institution patterns, mission fit, current-support risk, and route alternatives.

Based on our review of NIH route screens, the common mistake is treating MIRA as a bigger R01. It is not. A MIRA application has to make a coherent research-program case inside NIGMS mission. A PI with one discrete project may be better served by R01 or R21, even when R35 winner records look attractive.

The 8 Largest of 3,283 FY2025 NIGMS R35 Records

This table lists the 8 largest FY2025 NIGMS-administered R35 records by award amount in the Grantsights pull. Each is about 6 to 8 times the $404,887 median, so read them as outliers, not as a typical MIRA budget. It is a public preview, not the full export.

According to the Grantsights RePORTER pull, the FY2025 NIGMS R35 record set had a median award amount of $404,887 and an average award amount of $463,002. Those are project-year total-cost records. They are not a promise that a new MIRA budget should match the sample rows.

The high rows show why MIRA searchers need caution. Large total-cost records can reflect project year, indirect costs, renewal context, institutional F&A, and award structure. The useful public signal is the shape of funded programs and institutions, not a budget target to copy.

Next route: Use the MIRA R35 program record, NIGMS MIRA guide, NIH grants guide, NIH R01 guide, NIH R21 award-history page, and the grant search before choosing an NIH route.

6,683 NIGMS R35 Records Across 2024 And 2025

Across 2 years, the pull returned 6,683 NIGMS-administered R35 project records and about $2.82B in public project-year award amounts.

According to NIH success-rate resources, applicants should keep award records separate from success rates. RePORTER tells you which projects received public funding. It does not tell you application volume, paylines, or the chance that a new MIRA application will be funded.

Our analysis is that MIRA winner history should be used as a fit screen, not a template. Do not copy topics from funded projects. Compare mission fit, research-program coherence, current NIGMS support, investigator status, and whether the proposed work needs program-level support rather than a discrete R01.

5 Top States And 5 Top Institutions In The FY2025 Pull

The state and institution pattern is a research-capacity signal, not a geography rule.

A smaller institution should not read this as a stop sign. It should read it as an evidence requirement. The application must make the research environment, current support, program fit, and investigator plan easy to trust.

3 MIRA R35 Lessons From The FY2025 Pull

The first lesson is that MIRA is a research-program route. The titles and institutions in the pull point to broad lab programs, not one narrow experiment. If the project can be cleanly expressed as three R01 aims, MIRA may not be the right first route.

The second lesson is that NIGMS mission fit must come before budget interest. According to NIGMS, MIRA supports research within the institute's mission. A PI should not chase R35 because the award history looks large if the science sits better with another institute.

The third lesson is that current-support conflicts need early review. R35 programs can affect how a PI holds other research awards. Before drafting, the research office should map active NIH support, pending applications, renewal timing, and whether an R01 path creates fewer constraints.

For example, one PI with several related NIGMS-funded lines of basic biology may fit MIRA if the research program reads as one coherent lab direction. One PI with a clinical intervention, disease-specific trial, or single device project may fit another IC or R01-style route better. Write the one-sentence program case before the specific aims page. If that sentence sounds like a single project, reconsider the route.

For a concrete screen, imagine a PI who has 2 related R01s in basic cell biology, a third unfunded line that fits NIGMS, and a lab plan that won't split cleanly into one disease-specific project. That PI should compare MIRA with R01 renewal timing before drafting. Now compare a PI whose main work is a cancer biomarker trial. That project doesn't become MIRA-ready just because an R35 award-history table looks larger; it probably needs an NCI route, a trial-specific notice, or a standard R01 path.

5-Route Checklist: MIRA R35 Versus R01, R21, And R03

Use this route table before choosing MIRA because winner history alone can push applicants toward the wrong mechanism.

The biggest MIRA mistake is using R35 language to mask an unfocused research plan. Reviewers still need a coherent research program, strong investigator case, and source-backed fit with NIGMS.

What NIH RePORTER Doesn't Tell You About MIRA R35

Official NIH sources are necessary, but they do not make the route decision for a PI.

Grantsights data adds the public decision screen. We use pull date, source unit, fiscal year, award amount, recipient pattern, and route boundary to move from "who won MIRA R35?" to "should this PI pursue MIRA?"

According to NIH, key dates and participating organizations live in each funding opportunity, not on the broad R35 activity-code page. That means deadline and eligibility checks should happen on the exact MIRA notice before proposal work starts.

5 Apply, Wait, Or Skip Paths

Use this decision table after checking the current MIRA notice.

For broader NIH route choice, compare this page with the NIH R21 winner-history page, NIH K23 winner-history page, NIH R01 success-rate data, and NIH R01, R21, R03, and K awards comparison.

6 Source Checks Before Writing MIRA

Use this checklist before assigning a writer or asking a PI for a full aims page.

How To Use This Page

This page gives recent RePORTER counts, the 8 largest FY2025 rows, award amounts, state mix, institution mix, and route-choice implications. It isn't the full export.

Use it to decide whether MIRA should stay on the shortlist before staff time is assigned. NIH RePORTER has the complete award records.

Sources

• NIGMS MIRA program page - nigms.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• PAR-26-121 MIRA full announcement - simpler.grants.gov (opens in a new tab)
• PAR-26-121 Simpler Grants listing - simpler.grants.gov (opens in a new tab)
• NIH R35 activity code - grants.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• NIH RePORTER search - reporter.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• NIH RePORTER API - api.reporter.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• NIH success-rate tables - report.nih.gov (opens in a new tab)
• MIRA R35 program record - Grantsights

Related Guides

• NIGMS MIRA R35 guide
• NIH grants complete guide
• NIH R01 research project grant
• NIH R01 award-history page
• NIH R21 award-history page
• NIH K23 award-history page
• NIH R01, R21, R03, and K awards comparison
• NIH New Innovator (DP2) winners
• NIH K99/R00 award history
• NIH R15 AREA and REAP award history