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Using AI on an NIH application

Can I use AI on an NIH grant application?

For limited parts, yes. NIH will not treat an application substantially developed by AI, or one with sections substantially developed by AI, as the applicant's original ideas, and it says it uses detection technology. It accepts that AI tools may help with limited aspects of preparation. NIH has not defined "substantially", so the safe line is to use AI for finding, reading and checking, and write the Specific Aims and Research Strategy yourself.

Last reviewed October 3, 2026.

What NIH's notice says

Notice NOT-OD-25-132, "Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications", took effect for applications received from 25 September 2025.

Originality
Applications substantially developed by AI, or with sections substantially developed by AI, will not be considered the applicant's original ideas.
Detection
NIH says it will use the latest detection technology. If AI use is found after an award, it may refer the matter to the Office of Research Integrity and take enforcement action, up to terminating the grant.
Limited use
The notice accepts that AI tools may be appropriate for limited aspects of preparation, and warns about plagiarism and invented citations.
Six applications a year
Each principal investigator may submit up to six new, renewal, resubmission or revision applications per calendar year. Training (T) activity codes and R13 conference grants are excluded.

Where to draw the line

Fine to hand to software
Finding the right funding opportunity and institute, reading the announcement for every requirement, checking eligibility, and checking a finished draft against the review criteria. None of these writes your application.
Keep in your own words
The Specific Aims, the Research Strategy, and the ideas behind them. These are what reviewers score, and they are what the originality rule protects.

A workflow that fits the rule

  1. Find the program that wants your idea

    Search by what you study, then confirm which institute funds work like yours and talk to its program officer early.

  2. Read every requirement first

    Pull each requirement, form and page limit out of the announcement before you write a sentence.

  3. Write the Aims page yourself

    Draft it, test it on colleagues, and use it as the template for the rest. Here is how to write objectives a reviewer can score.

  4. Check before you submit

    Verify every citation and figure, count the application against your six for the year, and keep a short note of where you used AI tools.

Where Quillify fits

Quillify finds NIH opportunities alongside every other source, and checks SBIR and STTR topics against more than forty years of those awards. "Am I qualified?" reads the full announcement, and the requirements checklist lists everything the application asks for. Grading checks a finished draft against the announcement and returns a prioritized list of what is weak, for you to revise in your own words.

How other funders treat AI.

Who asks this most

The answer above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.

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