In 1946, the Research Grants Office was created at NIH in January to administer the Office of Scientific Research and Development projects transferred to the Public Health Service at the end of World War II and to operate a program of extramural research grants and fellowship awards. While the primary purpose of the office was to perform research of direct use to the Navy, the office also supported wide-ranging unclassified basic research that had little bearing on naval issues.

The Office of Naval Research became a model for a government grant-making agency. The National Science Foundation later adopted many of its techniques.