How the numbers work

Where the data comes from

FundingLead figures come from public NIH RePORTER award records. The site publishes trends, rankings, institution and funder views, and program deep-dives (for example shared instrumentation / S10 and SBIR/STTR).

How often we update

The site updates every Sunday from the latest public RePORTER data. Numbers reflect what RePORTER has posted as of that refresh. Pages show a short data as of date (for example Sep 27, 2026).

Calendar year vs federal fiscal year

Home uses the calendar year: quarter-to-date and year-to-date through the page’s data-as-of date. Calendar quarters begin Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1, and Oct 1.
Institutions and Programs often use the federal fiscal year (Oct 1–Sep 30). A Home calendar figure and a fiscal figure cover different windows.

How we define key metrics

FundingLead uses three award buckets:

• New — awards that start a new project.
• Renewals — competing renewals and noncompeting continuations, counted as one renewals stream.
• Total — New plus Renewals.

Views may show count (number of awards) or dollars. Dollar totals use the amount posted on each RePORTER award record.

Lag and other caveats

NIH RePORTER often posts awards weeks after the award notice date. The newest weeks on a chart or KPI often look incomplete, then fill in as records appear. That gap is RePORTER’s posting delay. Lag notes also appear next to primary figures elsewhere on the site.