Compare Topics

Compare 2-3 research topics side by side to see how they differ in funding trends, institute support, and mechanism mix.

Enter Topics to Compare

Enter 2-3 research keywords. The tool will fetch trend data for each and display them on the same charts.

How to Use Topic Comparisons

Comparing topics helps researchers choose between proposal directions, identify which research areas are gaining or losing NIH attention, and understand how funding landscapes differ across subfields.

Look at the overlay charts to see whether one topic is growing faster than another. Then check the institute and mechanism breakdowns to understand who funds each area and how they fund it. A topic dominated by R01s at NCI will require a different application strategy than one funded through U01s at NIGMS.

For the most meaningful comparisons, use related but distinct terms (e.g., "CAR-T therapy" vs "checkpoint immunotherapy") and keep the year range the same. Broad terms like "cancer" will return too many results to be useful for strategic decision-making.