Activity Codes

NIH uses three-character activity codes to differentiate the wide variety of research-related programs NIH supports. The first character typically identifies the major funding category or program type. For example, activity codes for research and development often start with "R," training with "T," fellowship with "F," and career development with "K." Each institute and center (IC) participates in a subset of activity codes. Although each activity code has a broadly defined purpose, there may be differences in their use from one IC to another. Applicants should always refer to the funding opportunity for the specific requirements and details of an initiative.

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Activity Code ▼ Funding Category Title Description
UC3 Biomedical Research, Development, and Growth to Spur the Acceleration of New Technologies (BRDG-SPAN) Cooperative Agreement Program To accelerate the transition of NIH-supported research innovations and technologies toward the development of products or services that will improve human health, through cooperative agreements that may advance the mission of NIH and its Institutes and Centers (ICs), and create significant value and economic stimulus or, advance the research enterprise in a way that could stimulate future growth and investments and advance public health and health care delivery. This activity code is intended to support research and development (R&D) specifically targeted at activities that can help address the funding gap between promising R&D and transitioning to the market, often called the “Valley of Death” by contributing the critical funding needed by applicants to pursue the next appropriate milestone(s) toward ultimate commercialization; i.e., to carry out later stage cooperative agreement activities necessary to that end; to foster partnerships among a variety of research and development (R&D) collaborators working toward these aims. The UC3 SPAN program is not intended to support “upstream” R&D for doing feasibility testing of an innovative idea or to conduct early-stage R&D as an extension of such ideas. (Projects such as these should be submitted under the NIH SBIR/STTR programs.)
This page last updated on: December 10, 2024
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