A major federal science agency is moving to restrict one of its most sought-after early-career grants, called a K99/R00 award, which is a two-part fellowship that funds postdoctoral training and then a researcher's first years running an independent lab, to citizens and permanent residents only. The National Institutes of Health described the plan in an internal presentation reviewed by STAT. If the change goes forward, international researchers working in the United States on visas would lose access to a program that has historically been one of the few federal funding options open to them.
What the K99/R00 award covers
The grant runs in two phases. The K99 portion funds two years of postdoctoral training, the period a scientist spends after earning a doctorate and before leading their own research group. The R00 phase then provides three years of funding once that researcher has accepted an independent faculty position. Together, those five years are designed to carry a scientist through a difficult transition: from mentored trainee to independent lab head.
Why this change would reshape opportunities for visa-holding scientists
For scientists on U.S. visas, the K99/R00 has historically stood apart. It has been one of the few NIH programs open to international researchers without citizenship or a green card. That made it a rare federal funding avenue, and one that some visa-holding scientists relied on to build toward running their own labs.
Under the plan described in the internal presentation, eligibility would be limited to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and non-citizen nationals. Visa holders would be excluded. The STAT report notes that without this funding avenue, even strong early-career international researchers would struggle to establish themselves in the United States.
What the source does not specify
The STAT report is based on an internal presentation, not a finalized agency rule. It does not state when the change would take effect, how current K99 award holders on visas would be affected, or whether the policy requires a public comment period before taking effect. The full text of the plan was not accessible in the portion of the story available without a STAT subscription.