“Does NIAID allocate set-aside funds for notices of special interest?”

No, we use notices of special interest (NOSIs) to highlight priorities in research areas that have neither set-aside funds nor special review criteria or considerations, as stated in our Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) SOP. As such, for a NOSI, the number of awards is contingent upon our annual appropriations and the submission of meritorious applications (i.e., overall impact scores within our funding paylines).