NIH funding profile · Chapel Hill, NC · Higher education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NIH Funding
Also known as UNC, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC-Chapel HillNIH RePORTER recipient name: Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed October 16, 2026Data refreshed October 16, 2026Editorial standards
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received $559.6M in NIH award funding in fiscal year 2026 across 904 award records and 849 principal investigators. That ranks #12 of 2,407 NIH-funded institutions and #2 in North Carolina, up 8.8% from FY2025.
FY2026 closed on September 30, 2026, but NIH keeps posting that year's awards to RePORTER for several weeks. FY2026 figures reflect records available on October 16, 2026 and may rise slightly at the next refresh.
FY2026 NIH funding
$559.6M
+8.8% vs FY2025
National rank
#12
Up 3 places from #15 vs FY2025
Rank in North Carolina
#2
31.6% of North Carolina NIH funding
Awards · PIs
904
849 investigators · 197 new projects
NIH funding trend, FY2022–FY2026
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received $2.77B in NIH awards over these five fiscal years. Annual funding moved −4.7% from FY2022 to FY2026. Its best national rank in the period was #12 (FY2026).
| Year | Funding | Change | Awards | PIs | U.S. rank | NC rank | Top IC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $559.6M | +8.8% | 904 | 849 | #12 | #2 | NIAID |
| FY2025 | $514.2M | −3.5% | 927 | 889 | #15 | #2 | NCI |
| FY2024 | $532.8M | −7.5% | 1,061 | 969 | #15 | #2 | NCI |
| FY2023 | $575.9M | −1.9% | 1,029 | 922 | #15 | #2 | NHLBI |
| FY2022 | $587.0M | — | 1,055 | 908 | #14 | #2 | NIAID |
NIH institutes funding University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, FY2026
25 NIH institutes and centers administered awards here in FY2026. The largest, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), accounted for 19.3% of the institution's NIH funding across 141 awards.
- NIAID · National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases$108.0M · 19.3%
141 awards · vs FY2025: +73.5%
- NCI · National Cancer Institute$72.0M · 12.9%
112 awards · vs FY2025: +1.6%
- NHLBI · National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute$62.7M · 11.2%
104 awards · vs FY2025: +11.5%
- NIA · National Institute on Aging$41.9M · 7.5%
51 awards · vs FY2025: +7.8%
- NIGMS · National Institute of General Medical Sciences$40.9M · 7.3%
87 awards · vs FY2025: −8.6%
- NIMH · National Institute of Mental Health$35.0M · 6.2%
69 awards · vs FY2025: +20.4%
- NIDDK · National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases$29.3M · 5.2%
57 awards · vs FY2025: −0.8%
- OD · NIH Office of the Director$23.0M · 4.1%
12 awards · vs FY2025: −11.5%
- NICHD · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development$21.3M · 3.8%
52 awards · vs FY2025: −8.7%
- NHGRI · National Human Genome Research Institute$16.0M · 2.9%
12 awards · vs FY2025: +32.0%
Also: NIAAA $15.5M · NCATS $15.4M · NIEHS $14.8M · NIDA $14.4M · NINDS $13.1M · NIDCR $8.2M · NIBIB $7.3M · NIAMS $5.7M · NEI $4.5M · FIC $3.0M · NIMHD $3.0M · NINR $1.7M · NCCIH $1.6M · NIDCD $805K · NLM $475K
Award mechanism mix
Share of NIH award dollars by activity-code family in FY2026, with the FY2022 share for comparison. R01-equivalent research grants were 44.8% of funding.
- R01-equivalent44.8% · FY22 40.8%
- Cooperative agreements (U)22.3% · FY22 27.7%
- Other research (R)12.4% · FY22 9.2%
- Centers & program projects (P)7.5% · FY22 7.4%
- Other4.6% · FY22 5.4%
- Institutional training (T)3.4% · FY22 3.1%
- Career development (K)3.3% · FY22 3.0%
- Contracts (N)1.0% · FY22 2.7%
- Fellowships (F)0.6% · FY22 0.7%
Top activity codes, FY2026
| Code | Awards | Funding | Share | Average award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R01 | 377 | $236.4M | 42.2% | $627K |
| UM1 | 20 | $58.8M | 10.5% | $2.9M |
| R35 | 73 | $36.7M | 6.6% | $503K |
| U01 | 27 | $32.8M | 5.9% | $1.2M |
| OT2 | 4 | $20.7M | 3.7% | $5.2M |
| T32 | 46 | $18.0M | 3.2% | $392K |
| P30 | 8 | $17.9M | 3.2% | $2.2M |
| R21 | 50 | $15.8M | 2.8% | $316K |
| U24 | 8 | $12.9M | 2.3% | $1.6M |
| P01 | 7 | $12.3M | 2.2% | $1.8M |
| U54 | 6 | $7.6M | 1.4% | $1.3M |
| UG1 | 9 | $7.4M | 1.3% | $827K |
Largest FY2026 awards
The biggest single award records by FY2026 dollars. Each links to its NIH RePORTER project page.
- Leadership and Operations Center (LOC), AIDS Clinical Trials Group (opens NIH RePORTER)
7UM1AI068636-20 · NIAID
$34.7MUM1
- Iron-CLAD: securely advancing AoU participant characterization with proven platforms and collaborations (opens NIH RePORTER)
3OT2OD036113-02S4 · OD
$12.1MOT2
- National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health): Wave VII Core Project (opens NIH RePORTER)
2U01AG071448-06 · NIA
$9.4MU01
- North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) (opens NIH RePORTER)
5UM1TR004406-04 · NCATS
$9.0MUM1
- Cancer Center Support Grant (opens NIH RePORTER)
4P30CA016086-50 · NCI
$8.2MP30
- Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication (CARE) (opens NIH RePORTER)
4UM1AI164567-06 · NIAID
$5.3MUM1
Recently started projects
The latest new (Type 1) FY2026 awards by notice date, out of 197 new projects NIH funded here this year.
- Enhancing Cervical Cancer Screening through Integrated Care in Rural North Carolina (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R01CA317486-01 · NCI · Notice Sep 17, 2026
$607KR01
- Detection and noninvasive monitoring of early stage RGC gene expression changes in glaucoma (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R01EY038474-01A1 · NEI · Notice Sep 17, 2026
$580KR01
- Neural substrates underlying neuropsychiatric dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R01AG096330-01A1 · NIA · Notice Sep 17, 2026
$496KR01
- CONNECT-A: A Multicomponent Intervention to Reduce HIV Vulnerability by Addressing Alcohol Use and Co-Occurring Mental Health and Economic Risks Among Young Men (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R34AA033832-01 · NIAAA · Notice Sep 17, 2026
$234KR34
- Modeling Ebola virus Persistence and Recrudescence in the Male Reproductive Tract in Collaborative Cross Mice (opens NIH RePORTER)
1UH2AI196622-01 · NIAID · Notice Sep 17, 2026
$233KUH2
- Development of Chemical Tools to Probe the Role of CHD1 in Viral Proliferation (opens NIH RePORTER)
1F31AI203122-01 · NIAID · Notice Sep 17, 2026
$41KF31
Other NIH-funded institutions in North Carolina
| # | Institution | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke UniversityDurham, NC | $578.8M |
| 2 | University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC | $559.6M |
| 3 | Research Triangle InstituteResearch Triangle Park, NC | $166.0M |
| 4 | Wake Forest University Health SciencesWinston-Salem, NC | $152.5M |
| 5 | PPD Development, LPWilmington, NC | $59.1M |
| 6 | North Carolina State UniversityRaleigh, NC | $46.3M |
| 7 | Family Health InternationalDurham, NC | $40.1M |
| 8 | Rho Federal Systems Division, Inc.Durham, NC | $26.7M |
| 9 | North Carolina A&T State UniversityGreensboro, NC | $10.3M |
Nearby in the national ranking
| # | Institution | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Massachusetts General HospitalBoston, MA | $637.8M |
| 10 | Columbia University Health SciencesNew York, NY | $585.6M |
| 11 | Duke UniversityDurham, NC | $578.8M |
| 12 | University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC | $559.6M |
| 13 | University of WashingtonSeattle, WA | $517.1M |
| 14 | Emory UniversityAtlanta, GA | $514.0M |
| 15 | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew York, NY | $512.9M |
Similar universities and medical schools
| # | Institution | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | University of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA | $654.4M |
| 10 | Columbia University Health SciencesNew York, NY | $585.6M |
| 11 | Duke UniversityDurham, NC | $578.8M |
| 12 | University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC | $559.6M |
| 13 | University of WashingtonSeattle, WA | $517.1M |
| 14 | Emory UniversityAtlanta, GA | $514.0M |
| 15 | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew York, NY | $512.9M |
About these numbers
Source: the public NIH RePORTER API, refreshed October 16, 2026. See our data methodology and the guide to reading NIH funding rankings by university.
- Who is countedAwards made to NIH recipient organization code 578206 (Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill). A university's medical school, affiliated hospital, or other campuses can be separate NIH recipients with their own totals.
- What is countedTotal award amount (direct plus indirect) obligated in each fiscal year for grants, cooperative agreements, training awards, SBIR/STTR, and R&D contracts. Subprojects, intramural research, and interagency agreements are excluded.
- InstitutesEach award is credited in full to its administering institute, even when other institutes co-fund it.
- SubawardsNIH reports the prime recipient only, so research this institution performs under another organization's grant is not included here.