As part of the appropriations package passed last December by Congress, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) received a budget increase of nearly $120 million. As a result, the increases provide additional funding for NCI new and continuing (noncompeting) grants.
FY 2021 marks the second consecutive year Congress has approved a targeted increase to support NCI extramural grants. Consequently, NCI has raised the payline for R01 research awards by 35% and for Early-Stage Investigators by 1% for the last two years.
The FY 2021 appropriation will allow NCI to advance toward its goal of raising the payline for R01 applications by 1% per year and reach the 15th percentile by FY 2025. Reaching its “15-by-25” milestone would allow NCI to substantially increase its funding for many meritorious research applications — research that serves cancer patients and those at risk of cancer.