The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to provide support for new investigators from diverse backgrounds, including from groups nationally underrepresented in biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences research, to conduct small research projects within the scientific mission areas of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), or the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), or the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). This funding opportunity will support small research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources and seeks to facilitate the transition of new and early stage investigators to research independence. In addition, this funding opportunity supports different types of projects including pilot and feasibility studies; secondary analysis of existing data; small, self-contained research projects; development of research methodology; and development of new research technology. New investigators at the time of award under this NOFO will have had less than $125,000 direct costs of combined, active research funding (excluding NIH SuRE-First awards and training and career awards).
Deadlines:
- Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s):30 days prior to the application due date
- R21 Deadlines: Feb. 16, Jun. 16, Oct. 16
- AIDS Deadlines: Jan. 7, May 7, Sep. 7
PAR-25-097 Expiration Date: January 08, 2028
Individuals applying as the PD/PI must meet each eligibility criterion below. For a multiple PD/PI application, all the individuals serving as PDs/PIs are required to meet all of the same eligibility criteria as for a single PD/PI application.
Eligible Health Professional or Doctoral Degrees
Program Directors /Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) must have a clinical or research doctorate (including PhD, MD, DO, DC, ND, DDS, DMD, DVM, ScD, DNS, PharmD or equivalent doctoral degrees). It is recommended that applicants should have completed a postdoctoral research experience which lasted a minimum of two years at the time of application. As jointly defined by the NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF), a postdoctoral scholar is (available at: https://grants.nih.gov/training/Reed_Letter.pdf): "An individual who has received a doctoral degree (or equivalent) and is engaged in a temporary and defined period of mentored advanced training to enhance the professional skills and research independence needed to pursue his or her chosen career path." However, completion of a postdoctoral research experience is not required for an applicant to apply as a PD/PI to this NOFO.
Citizenship Requirements
By the time of award, the individual must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status). Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible.
New Investigators
For the purposes of this NOFO, an investigator is considered a new investigator if he/she has not competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award. PDs/PIs of NIH Training-Related and Mentored Career Awards are eligible for this NOFO if the NIH awards are in any of the following categories: fellowships (F awards), individual or institutional career awards (K awards), loan repayment contracts (L30, L32, L40, L50, L60), and all training grants (T32, T34, T35, T90, D43). PDs/PIs of non-NIH training-related and mentored career awards similar to the awards listed above would also be eligible. PDs/PIs with NIH SuRE-First awards would be eligible. PDs/PIs with R00 awards would not be eligible.
A PD/PI who by the time of award has active research funds from external grant or award sources (including non-NIH grants) and combined award years as PD/PI that is (1) greater than or equal to $125,000 in direct costs and (2) the award(s) is/are for longer than one year in duration in combined time is not eligible for this R21 award. This funding limitation does not include NIH or other agency/organizational training grants and mentored career development awards. This funding limitation also does not include NIH SuRE-First grant awards.
A PD/PI who has received funding from this announcement or previous announcements of this funding opportunity is not eligible to apply.
Finally, a new investigator who is considered a postdoctoral candidate or is in a postdoctoral position at the time of application is not eligible to apply as the PD/PI to this NOFO.
Enhancing Diversity
The overarching goal of this program is to enhance the diversity of independent investigators conducting research within the mission of NIDDK or the participating ICs. Fostering diversity in the scientific research workforce is a key component of the NIH strategy to identify, develop, support, and maintain the quality of our scientific human capital. Despite tremendous advancements in scientific research, information, educational and research opportunities are not equally available to all. NIH encourages institutions to diversify their student, postdoctoral, and faculty populations to enhance the participation of individuals from groups identified as underrepresented in the biomedical sciences (e.g., see the Notice of NIH's of Interest in Diversity).
Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including groups that are nationally underrepresented in the biomedical sciences are always encouraged to apply as PD/PI.
The direct costs are limited to $125,000 per year.
The maximum project period may not exceed three years.