Annual limit on applications and AI use in grant proposals

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released a notice - Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications - that looks at the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in preparation of grant applications and introduces a new annual limit on how many applications NIH will accept per Principal Investigator (PI) per year.

The stated intention is to preserve the integrity of the peer review process, ensure fairness in competition and maintain high standards of originality in NIH-funded research.

Application Submission Limits

• Effective September 25, 2025, NIH will limit the number of applications from a given principal investigator to six new, renewal, resubmission, or revision applications per calendar year from an individual PI or Multiple PI. This limit applies to all activity codes except T-series training grants and R13 conference grants.
• The limit does not apply retroactively to applications submitted before September 25, 2025. Applications submitted between January 1 and September 24 do not count toward the 2025 total.
• Starting January 1, 2026, the full calendar-year cap will apply without exception.

AI Use in Applications

• Applications substantially developed by AI will not be considered original and may be deemed non-compliant.
• Use of AI that results in plagiarism, fabricated citations, or other misconduct may result in referral to the Office of Research Integrity.