NIH requires mentors for early-career researchers.
S. 5295 — NIH Mentorship Modernization Act · Filed by Dave McCormick (R-PA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Aug 6, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill tells the NIH to set up rules for mentoring early-career researchers. Institutions must have regular meetings between mentors and researchers. They must help with career growth, hire qualified mentors, and check on progress. Institutions report to the NIH to show they follow the rules. The rules start two years after the bill becomes law.
Who it affects
Early-career researchers get structured mentorship and clearer career paths. Research institutions must meet the mentorship standards and report to the NIH.
One thing to notice
Institutions may need to spend money upfront on mentor training and staff. They get help from the NIH to pay for it later.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Aug 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Aug 6, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- early-career researchers — Scientists early in their careers who get money from the NIH.
- mentorship standards — Rules about how often mentors and researchers must meet and what mentors must do.
- institutions — Universities, medical centers, and research hospitals that receive NIH money.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,714 characters) on Aug 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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