RR Series — Research Grants

NIH R01 Grants — Research Project Grant

Discrete, specified investigator-led research project

Funding

No fixed cap; most awards $250K–$500K direct/year

Duration

3–5 years (renewable)

Eligibility

Any qualified investigator with the skills, resources, and (typically) preliminary data

Activity code

R01

What is the NIH R01 grant?

The R01 is the standard NIH research grant — the workhorse mechanism that funds independent investigators to execute a discrete research project they have proposed. Most NIH-funded laboratories run on R01 funding. There is no fixed budget cap, but most awards land between $250,000 and $500,000 in direct costs per year, with project periods of 3–5 years and the option to renew (a "Type 2" competing renewal).

Recent R01 awards (last 24 months)

Live data from NIH RePORTER

36,649

Awards

$323,599,381

Total funding (sample)

$647,199

Average award

Sample reflects up to the most recent 500 NIH RePORTER awards with this activity code in the past 24 months. Total project count is the full RePORTER count.

Most recently awarded R01 grants

A type II hybrid implementation-effectiveness study of BECOME (BEhavioral Community-based COmbined Intervention for MEntal Health and Noncommunicable Diseases) delivered by community health workers

Bibhav Acharya · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, CA · NIH

$631,957

FY 2026

Project: 5R01MH133231-04

Attentional Resilience in Older Adults

Leah Acker · DUKE UNIVERSITY, NC · NIH

$760,109

FY 2026

Project: 5R01AG088329-03

The JNK2-NLRP3 nexus in atrial fibrillation and its anti-AF therapeutic potentials

Xun Ai · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, OH · NIH

$591,477

FY 2026

Project: 5R01AA031056-03

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of IL-17A in the pathogenesis of psoriatic arthritis

Iannis Adamopoulos · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, AZ · NIH

$567,663

FY 2026

Project: 7R01AR084848-02

Imaging tumor-associated macrophages in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma using fluorine-19 MRI

ERIC AHRENS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, CA · NIH

$655,700

FY 2026

Project: 5R01CA290014-03

Post-transcriptional regulation of cardiac hypertrophy

Federica Accornero · BROWN UNIVERSITY, RI · NIH

$658,782

FY 2026

Project: 5R01HL136951-10

Targeting Hexosamine Synthesis in Pediatric Brain Tumors

Sameer Agnihotri · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH, PA · NIH

$442,090

FY 2026

Project: 5R01NS138440-02

METTL3 in regulation of the aging process

Federica Accornero · BROWN UNIVERSITY, RI · NIH

$525,602

FY 2026

Project: 5R01AG079842-05

Top NIH institutes funding R01

By total funding in the last 24 months

  1. 1.NIH495 · $320,985,567
  2. 2.AHRQ3 · $1,185,667
  3. 3.FDA1 · $897,359
  4. 4.ALLCDC1 · $530,788

Top funded institutions

Most R01 awards in the last 24 months

  1. 1.UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO30 awards
  2. 2.COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES23 awards
  3. 3.DUKE UNIVERSITY13 awards
  4. 4.UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH13 awards
  5. 5.UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO12 awards
  6. 6.UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE11 awards

Who applies for R01

Faculty and other qualified investigators apply for R01s after typically 1–2 postdoctoral years of preliminary data generation, often after a successful K99/R00 or K-series award. Both new (NI) and early-stage (ESI) investigators receive payline advantages. Clinicians, basic scientists, and computational researchers all use R01s, though the typical preliminary-data expectation pushes earlier-stage investigators toward R21 or K mechanisms first.

When to choose R01

Choose R01 when you have a defined, hypothesis-driven research project with preliminary data, an established literature, and 3–5 years of milestones you can articulate in a Specific Aims page. Multiple specific aims should be logically connected but able to stand independently if one fails.

When NOT to choose R01

Skip R01 in favor of R21 if you lack preliminary data and the project is genuinely high-risk/exploratory. Choose R03 for very small, focused projects that finish in 2 years. Pick R35 if you're an established investigator and want one larger, longer, more flexible award per program (you can only have one R35 active at a time).

Search tips for R01

  • Filter the PI Finder by activity_code R01 to find investigators currently funded as PIs.
  • R01 success rates vary by institute — NIAID, NCI, and NHLBI publish rates separately.
  • A "Type 1" R01 is a new award; "Type 2" is a competing renewal; "Type 5" is a non-competing year of an active award.

Search NIH grants by activity code

Open NIH grant search

Find R01-funded PIs

Open PI Finder

R01 funding trends

Open trend search

R01 frequently asked questions

What is the page limit for an NIH R01?

The Research Strategy section of an R01 is 12 pages. Specific Aims is 1 page. The full application includes additional sections (biosketches, budget, resource sharing plan, etc.) that have their own page limits.

What is the typical NIH R01 success rate?

Overall NIH R01 success rates have ranged 18–22% in recent years, with significant variation by institute. Early-stage investigators (ESI) and new investigators (NI) typically receive payline advantages.

How many NIH R01s can a PI have at one time?

There is no hard cap on the number of R01s a single PI can hold. Many established labs hold 2–4 R01s simultaneously. NIH does flag investigators whose total direct costs exceed $1M/year for additional review.

Can postdocs apply for an R01?

An R01 must be submitted by an institution on behalf of an investigator who can hold an independent position. Most postdocs cannot apply directly because they don't have the required institutional independence. The standard postdoc-to-faculty bridge is the K99/R00.

Related NIH grant types

RR21

Exploratory/Developmental Grant

Novel, high-risk/high-reward exploratory research

RR03

Small Research Grant

Small, short-term projects (pilot studies, secondary analyses, methods development)

RR35

Outstanding Investigator Award

Long, flexible support for productive investigators (one program per lab)

KK99/R00

Pathway to Independence Award

Postdoc → faculty transition (mentored K99 then independent R00)

RR37

MERIT Award

R01 with extended funding for top-scoring established investigators