Large Complex Projects – Centers, Program Projects, and Team Science

Large complex awards support broad, multidisciplinary, and often long-term research programs. They are designed for large-scale collaborative efforts that address a central research theme or project.

Purpose

Many scientific and public health challenges require coordinated, multidisciplinary approaches that exceed the scope of a single project or laboratory. NIH supports Large Complex Projects through specialized grant and cooperative agreement programs designed to foster synergistic collaboration, shared research infrastructure, and integrated team science across diverse disciplines.

Research Center Grants

Support multipurpose, multi-component units designed to establish centralized research infrastructure, accelerate translational pipelines, and serve as regional or national scientific resources. 

Although the use of activity codes varies among NIH Institutes and Centers, common activity codes used to support program project grants include

• Exploratory Grants (P20)
• Center Core Grants (P30)
• Specialized Center (P50)
• Comprehensive Center (P60)
• Specialized Center--Cooperative Agreements (U54)

Program Project Grants

Support broadly based, multidisciplinary, and often long-term research programs directed toward a central research focus or major objective. Unlike an individual project grant with a narrower scope, a Program Project brings together an organized group of established investigators to address distinct components of a unified scientific theme.

Although the use of activity codes varies among NIH Institutes and Centers, common activity codes used to support program project grants include

• Research Program Projects (P01)
• Research Program-Cooperative Agreements (U19)

Team Science

Supports interdisciplinary research teams (often three to six Program Directors/Principal Investigators) to address ambitious and challenging research questions. Collaborative program teams are expected to be integrated, working together to tackle a single focused scientific goal that requires considerable synergy and meaningful team interaction. Program goals should not be achievable through individual efforts or a collection of projects. Teams are encouraged to consider far-reaching objectives that will produce major advances in their fields.

Commonly used activity codes

• Research Project with Complex Structure (RM1)