Review activities of the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) are organized into Integrated Review Groups (IRGs). Each IRG represents a cluster of study sections around a general scientific area. Applications generally are assigned first to an IRG, and then to a specific study section within that IRG for evaluation of scientific merit.

A list of the IRGs is presented below. Each abbreviation serves as a link to a brief description of the IRG and a list of study sections within that IRG. For each of the IRG's study sections, a general description, specific research areas covered, and shared interests with other study sections and IRGs are also given. This information is intended to assist staff of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in assigning grant applications and to provide information to applicants about the various review groups within CSR that evaluate most of the unsolicited research grant applications submitted to the NIH.

Click on the individual IRG abbreviation on the list below to view information for that specific IRG, or click here to View all IRG descriptions simultaneously. To access the membership and meeting rosters of a study section or for email access to its Scientific Review Administrator, click on the Study Section Roster link in the heading next to the study section name and abbreviation. An overall listing of study section names and abbreviations, the names of the Scientific Review Administrators (SRAs), and the meeting rosters can be found at http://www.csr.nih.gov/Committees/rosterindex.asp.

The study sections within the various IRGs mainly review research project grant applications and a few Research Career Award applications. Most National Research Service Award individual fellowship applications (NRSA) are reviewed in special study sections that are designated for these reviews. More information about the Fellowship Study Sections is available at http://www.csr.nih.gov/events/fellowship_ss/fellow_ss/htm.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) applications are reviewed in Special Emphasis Panels within CSR's IRGs. The small business review activities are summarized under the description of each IRG and are accessible by clicking on the IRG abbreviation in the list below. Small business review panels are assembled on an ad hoc basis for each meeting and are subject to change. Additional information may be found on the page entitled Review of Small Business Applications, at http://www.csr.nih.gov/REVIEW/sba.asp and on the page entitled CSR Study Section Roster Index at http://www.csr.nih.gov/Committees/rosterindex.asp