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Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS), with other NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs), intends to promote an initiative by publishing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for established biomedical data repositories or knowledgebases.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. The NIH intends to continue the Database and Knowledgebase program beyond the January 25, 2023, receipt date of the current FOAs (PAR-23-078 and PAR-23-079). This new FOA will support established biomedical data repositories and knowledgebases. This Notice of Intent to Publish (NOITP) is being provided to allow potential applicants time to develop meaningful community engagement, collaborations, and NIH consultations to submit applications for responsive data repositories and knowledgebases as trans-NIH data resources.
The FOA is expected to be published in Spring 2023 with an expected application due date in Fall, 2023.
This FOA will utilize the U24 activity code. Details of the planned FOAs are provided below.

Accessible, well-maintained, and efficiently operated data resources both data repositories and knowledgebases are critical enablers of modern biomedical research. Data resources, through good data management practices, are the key to data and knowledge discovery, integration, and reuse, as outlined by the FAIR Data Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable digital objects).

NIH’s goal is to support a seamless repository ecosystem to ensure that data and other digital objects resulting from NIH research can be stored and shared with the research community, in accordance with the goals set forth in the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science. These resources are expected to (a) to be consistent with good data management practices as outlined by the FAIR Data Principles https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-0486-7 , allowing resources to form a trans-NIH data ecosystem; (b) lower barriers for data sharing in alignment the Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (c) allow greater usage and utility of the data for research and discovery; and (d) incentivize efficiency of operations to allow longer-term preservation of data and enable greater sustainability of resources.

The reissue of the FOA will include minor modifications to better address NIH Institute-specific mission priorities, life-cycle stages, as well as goals for trans-NIH data resources. Each application must: (a) deliver scientific impact to the communities served; (b) employ and promote good data management practices (including adherence to the NIH desirable characteristics of repositories) and efficient operations for quality and services; (c) engage with the user community and continuously address their needs; and (d) support a process for data life-cycle analysis, long-term preservation, and trustworthy governance.

For the purpose of this FOA

• Data repositories are defined as data resources that accept submission of relevant data from the community, validate, store, archive/preserve and distribute the data in compliance with the FAIR data principles.
• Knowledgebases are defined as data resources that collate, extract, organize, annotate, and link the growing body of information related to and relying on core datasets from one or more repositories, curate literature, and generate other forms of knowledge and distribute them in compliance with FAIR data principles.
• Established repositories and knowledgebases are defined as high-value data resources that are near or at optimal research community penetration and are a critical research resource as demonstrated by their usage, utility, and impact.

TBD

Applications are not being solicited at this time.

Please direct all inquiries to:

The Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Email: [email protected]