Seeking ways to spread its $38 billion in grant money to more research labs, the U.S. National Institutes of Health is bringing back an idea that went down in flames nearly a decade ago: placing a cap on how many NIH grants an individual investigator can have at one time. A notice from 8 June, 2026 lays out several scenarios for limiting the number of research project grants that a principal investigator can hold simultaneously – with options ranging from two to four.

The plan recalls a similar 2017 proposal backed by then–NIH Director Francis Collins that aimed to free up funding for early- and midcareer investigators. Citing studies suggesting gains in productivity per grant dollar start to taper off as a lab gets bigger, the agency’s extramural research office, then led by Michael Lauer, came up with a formula known as the Grant Support Index. It would have limited support to the equivalent of three of NIH’s standard, 4-year, R01 grants.

Source https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-plans-cap-number-grants-scientist-can-have-once

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