Notice of New Funding Strategy for Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21) Applications at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

Notice Number: NOT-EB-16-009

Key Dates
Release Date: August 5, 2016

Related Announcements
PA-16-161
PA-16-040

Issued by
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice is to alert the scientific community that the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) plans to implement a selective funding process and discontinue use of an automatic payline for R21 applications received through the NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21) FOA, PA-16-161 (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-16-161.html) and the Exploratory/Developmental Bioengineering Research Grants (EBRG R21) FOA, PA-12-284 (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-16-040.html).

Beginning with the October 16, 2016 application due date (November 16, 2016 for resubmissions), NIBIB will make funding decisions for NIH Parent R21 and EBRG applications based on both technical merit and alignment of the proposed research with the exploratory, developmental, and high-risk/high-reward goals of the R21 grant mechanism (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/r21.htm). Consistent with these goals, NIBIB strongly discourages the submission of applications resembling small R01s to the parent NIH R21 and EBRG R21 FOAs.

Projects that use widely accepted approaches and methods within well-established fields and/or are well-supported by preliminary data should be submitted to the Parent R01 FOA (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-16-160.html) or the Bioengineering Research Grant FOA (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-16-242.html). Such projects with limited cost or scope should be submitted to the Parent R03 FOA (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-16-162.html).

NIBIB strongly encourages applicants who are considering submitting an application to the parent NIH R21 or the EBRG R21 FOA to consult program staff in their area of interest before developing an application.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Antonio Sastre, Ph.D.
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Telephone: 301-402-1373
Email: sastrea@mail.nih.gov