Tag: Early Stage Investigator

Webinar for the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) Program for Early Stage Investigators

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UPDATE: The video and slides [PDF] for this webinar are now available.

I’m pleased to announce that the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) notice of funding opportunity for early stage investigators (ESIs) (PAR-23-145) has been reissued. MIRA funding provides support for an area of research in an ESI’s laboratory that falls within the NIGMS mission. The next application due date is October 3, 2023.

We’re hosting a webinar to discuss the key features of the ESI MIRA program and to answer your questions:

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Funding Opportunity: Continuation of the ESI MIRA Program

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We’re pleased to share the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) (PAR-23-145) to provide sustained support for biomedical research through our Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) (R35) program for early stage investigators (ESIs). This NOFO allows applications from ESIs proposing research within NIGMS’ scientific mission.

NIGMS has granted MIRAs to ESIs since Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. We’ve analyzed and published application and funding trends for MIRAs from FY 2019 to FY 2021 and for various funding types, including MIRA, for FY 2022. Changes in this iteration of the NOFO include:

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Intent to Reissue MIRA Funding Opportunity Announcement for Early Stage Investigators (R35)

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I’m pleased to announce that the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) for early stage investigators (ESIs) will be reissued in the spring of 2023. MIRA provides support for a research program in an ESI’s laboratory that falls within the NIGMS mission. For details, see NOT-GM-23-017

The reissued FOA will essentially be the same as the previous one, with a couple of minor changes:

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NIGMS Continues and Expands Its MIRA Program

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We’ve issued a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) (PAR 22-180) to provide sustained support for biomedical research through our Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program. This FOA allows applications from eligible NIGMS-funded investigators and from New Investigators proposing research within the scientific mission of NIGMS. The FOA also allows renewal applications from all eligible MIRA grantees (established and ex-Early Stage Investigators). Program directors (PDs)/principal investigators (PIs) who are currently Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) should apply through the ESI MIRA FOA and not to this announcement.

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Webinar and Other Resources for New MIRA ESI Funding Opportunity

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UPDATE: The video and slides [PDF] from the MIRA webinar are now available.

We recently reissued the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) for Early Stage Investigators (PAR-20-117). The first application due date is October 2, 2020.

We’re hosting a webinar to discuss this FOA and to answer your questions about the program on Thursday, August 6, 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET. To access the webinar, visit the WebEx meeting page (link no longer available). We plan to post the archived webinar and slides on the MIRA webpage after the event.

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How do I know if my work fits in the mission of NIGMS?

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Ninety percent of the applications to our Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for Early Stage Investigators (known as the ESI MIRA program) that were submitted in October are about to undergo peer review. The remaining 10% were administratively withdrawn, mostly because the research proposed fell outside the NIGMS mission. This is comparable to the proportion that was withdrawn over the past 3 years.

Withdrawn applications represent a lot of wasted time and effort on the part of affected PIs and are the source of considerable frustration. So what can you do to minimize the chance of this happening to your ESI MIRA application in the future?

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NIGMS Continues Its MIRA Program

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We’ve issued a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) PAR-19-367 to maintain continued support of our Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program. Under this new FOA, investigators with an active NIGMS R35 grant (both early-stage and established investigator MIRA) can submit renewal MIRA applications, and investigators with a single-PI R01-equivalent NIGMS award (DP1, DP2, R01, R37, SC1) can submit new MIRA applications.

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Planning for Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) Renewals

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As we work on issuing a new funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the established investigator (EI) MIRA program, we thought it would be useful to address a few common questions we’ve been hearing. The new FOA will allow applications from NIGMS grantees who have one or more single-Principal Investigator (PI) R01-equivalent awards, just as the current FOA does. In addition, the new FOA (to be published by Fall 2019) will allow renewal applications from PIs who already have MIRA grants.

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Supplements for MIRAs: Clarifying the Policy

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UPDATE: Consult the MIRA webpage or your program officer for the current notices of funding opportunities.

Since supplemental grant funding comes in a variety of flavors, with different purposes, it’s not surprising that there’s confusion about which kinds of supplements MIRA grantees may apply for and which they may not. Here’s a quick run-down.

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Early-Career Speaker Describes Genomic Antics of Ancient Vertebrate, Answers Questions from Undergrads

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The videocast from our April 17 Early-Career Investigator Lecture with Jeramiah Smith is now available. Jeramiah, an associate professor at the University of Kentucky, gives a fascinating talk about his genomic research with sea lampreys. He then offers advice for students interested in biomedical research careers. I encourage you to take a look and share the video with students and postdocs in your labs and departments.

We launched this annual lecture series three years ago both to highlight the achievements of our early-career grantees, and to encourage undergraduates and other students to pursue careers in biomedical research. This year, a group of nearly 30 students from the ASCEND program Link to external web site at Morgan State University attended in person (and asked some outstanding questions!).

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