Key Dates

Related Announcements

None

Issued by

Office of Strategic Coordination (Common Fund)

Purpose

This Notice announces the publication of a new Research Opportunity Announcement (ROA), NIH Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) Cloud Workspace Implementation Center (OTA-24-005) and the key dates for submitting Letters of Intent (LOI) and full proposals. The ROA was released on the NIH Common Fund website.

Letter of Intent (LOI) Due Date (Optional): March 21, 2024 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant.  Submitting an LOI is strongly encouraged but is not required for subsequent submission of a full application.

Application Due Date: April 22, 2024 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Late applications to this ROA will not be accepted.

The Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) is an infrastructure investment made by the Common Fund to address the growing challenges facing scientific programs that leverage data-intensive strategies. To support these programs and downstream data users, the CFDE is helping to ensure that all Common Fund data sets are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), providing training for users to operate on the data in a cloud environment, and ensuring that Common Fund data continue to be available after individual programs are completed. The CFDE will amplify the impact of many Common Fund programs by enabling researchers to interrogate disparate data sets, thereby making new kinds of scientific discoveries that are otherwise unattainable.

The purpose of this announcement is to invite applications to establish the Cloud Workspace Implementation Center (CWIC) for the Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE).  The CWIC will be responsible for developing a cloud workspace that enables users to import their data and co-analyze them together with other CF datasets. Applicants may leverage elements of existing workspaces that meet the CWIC’s requirements and branding/identity. The cloud workspace will enable the use of CFDE-constructed pipelines, workflows, and tools, as well as third-party tools of the user’s choosing, to perform data analysis.  The needs of both novice and expert users should be considered.

Unlocking the full potential of Common Fund resources through expanded use and reuse will require expertise from multiple scientific domains, including biomedicine, data science, data management, and cloud computing. Applicants responding to this ROA are expected to familiarize themselves with the other components of the CFDE described in the ROA, as the Cloud Workspace Implementation Center will be expected to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with these components.

An Informational Webinar will be held for potential applicants from 1-2pm Eastern Time on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Registration information for the Webinar and additional information on the ROA will be posted on the CFDE Frequently Asked Questions website: https://commonfund.nih.gov/dataecosystem/faqs. Materials from the Webinar will be made available on that website for those unable to attend.

Award Information

The Common Fund anticipates making one award to establish the CFDE CWIC. The Common Fund may allocate up to $750,000 for the first-year total costs (direct + F&A) for this Center, and up to $1,500,000 total costs per year for years 2-5. The award is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of responsive and rigorous applications. Future year amounts will depend on annual appropriations.

Eligibility Information

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are not eligible to apply.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.

The following entities are eligible to apply under this ROA:

Higher Education Institutions

• Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
• Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

• Hispanic-serving Institutions
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
• Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
• Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)  

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
• Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
• Regional Organizations

For-Profit Organizations

• Small Businesses
• For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)

Governments

• State Governments
• County Governments
• City or Township Governments
• Special District Governments
• American Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
• American Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
• Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
• U.S. Territory or Possession

Other

• Independent School Districts
• Native American Tribal Organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)

Responsiveness Criteria

Applications deemed non-responsive will not proceed to review. The following are considered non-responsive for this ROA:

• Applications from ineligible organizations (see Section 2 in the ROA).
• Applications proposing live vertebrate animals research (see Section 3 in the ROA).

Applications proposing human subjects research and/or clinical trials (see Section 3 in the ROA). 

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Anthony Kirilusha, Ph.D. 
Program Leader 
Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) 
Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives  
Office of the Director (OD), NIH
Email: anthony.kirilusha@nih.gov