Category: Funding Opportunities

Posted on

T32 Application Changes

by
0 comments

NIH has issued a new parent announcement for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) that incorporates many of the “mandatory special requirements” previously in an NIGMS T32 predoctoral grant application. As a result, eligible institutions applying for an NIGMS training grant with a due date on and after January 25, 2014, will no longer need to include this material as a separate section at the end of the background section but should instead address each of these requirements throughout the document.

Changes in the new T32 announcement are based on recommendations of the Biomedical Workforce Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH. As stated in a related NIH Guide notice, T32 programs are now encouraged to make available career development advising as well as learning opportunities so that trainees obtain a working knowledge of various potential career directions and of the steps required to transition successfully to their next career stage.

NIGMS-funded predoctoral training programs should provide support for trainees in their early years (e.g., years 1-3) to prepare them for subsequent, more differentiated research and for a variety of research careers. NIGMS predoctoral T32 programs are not intended to support students in the dissertation/independent phase of their doctoral research training.

Each NIGMS T32 application must clearly:

  • State the objectives of the proposed program and how they are distinct from or relate to other training programs at the same institution.
  • Identify the faculty involved, describe their roles and responsibilities, and indicate whether they participate in other training programs at the same institution.
  • Demonstrate access to a pool of highly promising scholars, including those who are underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and individuals with disabilities.

In addition, NIGMS strongly encourages its programs to develop mathematical fluency among all trainees by integrating quantitative biology and/or advanced statistical approaches. NIGMS also expects funded training programs to evolve in response to changes in the field of science and to respond effectively to student needs and outcomes. The Institute is always interested in innovative approaches to training that will prepare a strong and diverse biomedical and behavioral research workforce for the 21st century.

For more details, see our predoctoral T32 training grant Web page, which includes a link to slides on NIGMS predoctoral training program guidelines for 2014 (no longer available), as well as our postdoctoral T32 information. Prospective applicants are welcome to contact me or one of my colleagues who manage training grants with questions, comments or suggestions.

Posted on

Funding Opportunities: Support of Competitive Research Program; Modeling the Scientific Workforce; Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence

by and
1 comment

You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Support of Competitive Research (SCORE) Program, which offers three funding opportunities based on career level that are designed to increase the research competitiveness of faculty at minority-serving institutions and institutions with a historical mission of training students from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research

Purpose: Conduct high-quality research and increase research competitiveness by progressively enhancing the pace and productivity of projects
Career level: Advanced formative stage

Purpose: Test a new idea or gather preliminary data to establish a new line of research
Career level: Early academic career

Purpose: Continue engaging in meritorious biomedical or behavioral research projects of limited scope in a given biomedical or behavioral area within the NIH mission
Career level: Intermediate stage

Application due dates: January 25, 2014; May 25, 2014; January 25, 2015; May 25, 2015; January 25, 2016; May 25, 2016
NIGMS contact: Hinda Zlotnik, 301-594-3900

Modeling the Scientific Workforce (U01)
(RFA-GM-14-011)

Purpose: Develop computational models and systems approaches to better understand the underlying dynamics that produce successful scientists, to examine strategies for increasing the diversity of the scientific workforce, to identify factors that influence participation in scientific training and questions in need of research, and to guide the collection and analysis of data used to develop these models
Letter of intent due date: January 4, 2014
Application due date: February 4, 2014
NIGMS contact: Michael Sesma, 301-594-3900

Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (P20)
(PAR-14-035)

Purpose: Establish a thematic, multidisciplinary center in an IDeA-eligible state and enhance the ability of investigators to compete independently for NIH or other external peer-reviewed support
Application due dates: February 26, 2014; January 28, 2015; January 28, 2016
NIGMS contact: Yanping Liu, 301-594-3900

Posted on

Funding Opportunities: Blood and Vascular Systems Response to Sepsis; Health Determinants, Consequences and Prevention of Violence

by and
0 comments

You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Blood and Vascular Systems Response to Sepsis (R01)
(RFA-HL-14-028)

Purpose: Foster multidisciplinary research projects on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of blood and vascular systems in sepsis pathogenesis
Letter of intent due date: January 6, 2014
Application due date: February 6, 2014
NIGMS contact: Sarah Dunsmore, 301-594-3827

Research on the Health Determinants and Consequences of Violence and Its Prevention, Particularly Firearm Violence (R01)
(PA-13-363)

Purpose: Examine the etiology and consequences of violence as they relate to the health of individuals and communities; test the efficacy and effectiveness of interventions to prevent violence and its precursors; enhance dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies into clinical and community settings
Application due date: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contact: Jeremy Brown, 301-594-4481

Posted on

Modeling Social Behavior Funding Opportunity

by
0 comments

In partnership with nine other NIH institutes and centers (IC), we have issued a new R01 funding opportunity announcement (FOA) focused on modeling social behavior. It reflects a growing recognition in the scientific community of the need to apply innovative computational and systems approaches—which have already proven very beneficial in the biological sciences—to behavioral and social research.

The FOA encourages research that explores the relationships among the parts of a system and between a system and its environment in order to understand the system as a whole. Specifically, we’re soliciting applications for developing and testing innovative theories and computational, mathematical or engineering approaches to deepen our understanding of complex social behavior.

Proposals can be for exploratory or hypothesis-generating studies, or for a combination of both. Applications should demonstrate bridge-building between the behavioral and social sciences and the computational and systems sciences, and should focus on multiscale phenomena. Applicants may propose small research or infrastructure projects as well as larger, more integrative research projects on the modeling of complex social behavior. We encourage applications from transdisciplinary teams of scientists spanning a broad range of expertise. Standard R01 application due dates apply.

The FOA lists the specific research interests of each participating IC. Examples of NIGMS topic areas include:

  • The emergence of new functionality from simple behaviors.
  • Understanding aspects of collective behavior, including the roles of resilience and of online and other dynamic social networks.
  • The use of geocoded data, “big data” and new technologies for modeling and influencing collective behavior at multiple scales.

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact me or one of the other IC contacts for this FOA.

Posted on

Transitioning the Pharmacogenomics Network

by
3 comments

PGRN LogoAt our September Advisory Council meeting, I presented plans for transitioning the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN) from set-aside funding into the regular, competitive research pool. Council approved the plans, so we are now moving forward on them. The reshaped program will continue to fund research and network activities designed to propel discovery and implementation. We will also continue to coordinate our support of pharmacogenomics and precision medicine with other NIH institutes and offices.

Our transition plans include soliciting applications for a limited number of research centers (P50) and network resources (R24) as well as the PharmGKB knowledgebase (R24) and a coordinating center to support network functions (U01). New funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) will be published in early 2014, with application due dates beginning in the late spring. These FOAs will be program announcements with multiple receipt dates that are open for several years and will not have set-aside funds.

All investigators with an interest in pharmacogenomics who are funded through these and other mechanisms may indicate a desire to participate in the network beginning in July 2015. Many network activities will be based on the PGRN and other successful models.

I welcome your input on these changes.

Posted on

Funding Opportunities: AREA; Support for Scientific Meetings; Systems Biology Centers; Bridges to the Doctorate

by and
0 comments

You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Academic Research Enhancement Award (Parent R15)
(PA-13-313)

Purpose: Conduct small-scale research projects that expose students to meritorious research and strengthen the research environment of the AREA- or R15-eligible applicant institution
Application due date: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contact: Jean Chin, 301-594-2485

NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (Parent R13/U13)
(PA-13-347)

Purpose: Coordinate high-quality scientific conferences that are relevant to the scientific mission of NIGMS and other participating NIH components
Application due date: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contact: Ann Hagan, 301-594-4499

NIGMS National Centers for Systems Biology (P50)
(PAR-13-351)

Purpose: Promote pioneering research, research training, education and outreach programs focused on systems-level inquiries of biomedical phenomena within the NIGMS mission
Letter of intent due date: 30 days prior to the application due date
Application due dates: October 23, 2013; October 23, 2014
NIGMS contacts: Paul Brazhnik and Peter Lyster, 301-451-6446

Bridges to the Doctorate (R25)
(PAR-13-341)

Purpose: Promote partnerships/consortia between colleges or universities granting a terminal master’s degree and institutions that offer the doctorate degree, with the goal of increasing the pool of master’s degree students from underrepresented backgrounds who pursue research careers in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and who are trained and available to participate in NIH-funded research
Application due dates: November 1, 2013; September 25, 2014; September 25, 2015
NIGMS contact: Michelle R.J. Hamlet, 301-594-3900

The Bridges to the Doctorate Web site offers additional details about the program, including FAQs and application resources.

Posted on

Enabling Science through Data (Big and Otherwise)

by
1 comment

NIH’s recent focus on data-intensive and data-driven biomedical research makes this an exciting time for me to be joining NIGMS and leading its Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology (BBCB).

New steps toward harnessing the power of data began well before my arrival and include the NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative. The overarching aim of this initiative is to enable, by the end of this decade, a “quantum leap” in the ability of the biomedical and behavioral research enterprise to use the growing volume of complex data to produce important insights into biological systems. This is an ambitious goal that requires the collective engagement and expertise of NIH’s many institutes, centers, and offices, including NIGMS, as well as the scientific community.

My colleagues from across NIH have already come together to discuss future solutions that will benefit NIH and the research community as a whole. We recognize that no one-size-fits-all solution will emerge as the “data quantum leap.” Our hope is that by engaging academic, industrial and other biomedical stakeholders, we will impact the volume, variety, velocity, viability and ultimately value of the data that NIH invests in.

To jumpstart this activity, NIH recently issued a new funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for Centers of Excellence for Big Data Computing in the Biomedical Sciences. The purpose is to establish an interactive consortium of centers that will develop approaches, methods and software tools for the aggregation, integration, analysis and visualization of data across NIH-funded research areas. NIH also has issued a request for information on the development of analysis methods and software for big data; responses are due by September 6.

NIGMS and the BBCB staff were actively involved in crafting the new FOA and, more generally, have played a central role in the creation and organization of the BD2K initiative. We will continue to be active partners in this endeavor.

Big data is just one example of the division’s efforts. We foster research in a range of fields, including computational biology, bioinformatics, mathematical and statistical biology, and biomedical technology development. We also support programs that train people in many of these areas.

I’m so happy to be involved in shaping the division’s activities, and I look forward to working together with many of you to continue innovating basic biomedical research.

Posted on

Funding Opportunities: Bridges to the Baccalaureate; Common Fund Awards; Legacy Community-Wide Scientific Resources; Research Centers in Injury and Peri-Operative Sciences

by and
0 comments

You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Bridges to Baccalaureate Program (R25)
(PAR-13-333)

Purpose: Promote partnerships/consortia between community colleges or other 2-year post-secondary educational institutions granting the associate degree and colleges or universities that offer the baccalaureate degree, with the goal of increasing the pool of community college students from underrepresented backgrounds who pursue research careers in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and who will be available to participate in NIH-funded research
Application due dates: October 18, 2013; September 25, 2014; September 25, 2015
NIGMS contact: Michelle R.J. Hamlet, 301-594-3900

NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program (DP1)
(RFA-RM-13-006)

Purpose: Support exceptionally creative individual scientists at any career stage who propose pioneering, and possibly transforming, approaches to major challenges that have the potential for unusually high impact on a broad area of biomedical or behavioral research
Application due dates: October 18, 2013; October 10, 2014; October 9, 2015
NIH contact: Ravi Basavappa, 301-435-7204

NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program (DP2)
(RFA-RM-13-007)

Purpose: Support exceptionally creative early stage investigators who propose bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential for major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research
Application due dates: October 25, 2013; October, 17, 2014; October 16, 2015
NIH contact: Ravi Basavappa, 301-435-7204

Limited Pilot for NIGMS Legacy Community-Wide Scientific Resources (R24)
(PAR-13-324)

Purpose: Maintain existing NIGMS research resources that demonstrate a high value to a community of NIGMS-supported researchers and that are no longer eligible for support under their original initiatives
Letter of intent due date: 30 days before the application due date
Application due dates: October 15, 2013; October 15, 2014; October 15, 2015
NIGMS contact: Mary Ann Wu, 301-435-0787

Research Centers in Injury and Peri-Operative Sciences (P50)
(PAR-13-291)

Purpose: Improve understanding at all levels of the biological processes invoked after traumatic or burn injury, or in critically ill patients, including pertinent aspects of wound healing; and foster translational research, bringing basic scientific observations and principles into the clinical arena and using clinical observations to generate or validate mechanistic hypotheses
Letter of intent due date: 6 weeks before the standard due date
Application due date: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contact: Scott Somers, 301-594-3827

Posted on

Funding Opportunities: Research and Academic Career Development Awards; International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups; Program Project Grants; Instrument Development for Biomedical Applications

by and
0 comments

You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards (IRACDA) (K12)
(PAR-13-290)

Purpose: Develop a diverse group of highly trained biomedical and behavioral scientists through support of a traditional mentored postdoctoral research experience at a research-intensive institution combined with an opportunity to develop academic skills, including teaching, through workshops and mentored teaching assignments at a partner institution
Application due dates: October 2, 2013; September 24, 2014; September 24, 2015
NIGMS contact: Shiva P. Singh, 301-594-3900

Limited Competition: International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (U19)
(RFA-TW-13-001)

Purpose: Address the interdependence of natural products exploration for potential applications in health, with investments in research capacity that support sustainable use of these resources, the knowledge to conserve them, and equitable partnership frameworks among research organizations in the United States and low- and middle-income countries
Letter of intent due date: October 20, 2013
Application due date: November 20, 2013
NIGMS contact: Barbara Gerratana, 301-594-3827

Support of NIGMS Program Project Grants (P01)
(PAR-13-280)

Purpose: Conduct research that aims to solve a significant biological question within the NIGMS mission through collaborations with outstanding scientists working on different aspects of a similar problem
Application due date: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contacts:
Cell Biology and Biophysics, Catherine Lewis, 301-594-0828
Genetics and Developmental Biology, Judith H. Greenberg, 301-594-0943
Pharmacology, Physiology and Biological Chemistry, Michael Rogers, 301-594-3827
Biotechnology, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Susan Gregurick, 301-451-6446

Instrument Development for Biomedical Applications (R21)
(RFA-GM-14-014)

Purpose: Develop new or improved instrumentation with broad applicability to biomedical research
Application due date: October 10, 2013
NIGMS contact: Fred K. Friedman, 301-435-0775

Posted on

Research on Interventions, Drug Docking and Screening Data Resources

by and
0 comments

You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Research to Understand and Inform Interventions that Promote the Research Careers of Students in Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences (R01)
(RFA-GM-14-013)

Purpose: Test assumptions and hypotheses on the role of social and behavioral factors in interventions intended to increase interest, motivation and preparedness for careers in biomedical and behavioral research
Letter of intent due date: September 18, 2013
Application due date: October 18, 2013
NIGMS contact: Clifton A. Poodry, 301-594-3900

Drug Docking and Screening Data Resource (U01)
(RFA-GM-14-010)

Purpose: Increase the amount of publicly available, high-quality data describing structures and affinities of protein-drug ligand complexes needed for the development, validation and benchmarking of drug docking and screening software
Letter of intent due date: September 9, 2013
Application due date: October 9, 2013
NIGMS contact: Peter C. Preusch, 301-594-0828