NIH Directors Early Independence Awards (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA RM 22 021

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 22 021

The NIH Directors Early Independence Award (DP5, clinical trial optional) is a National Institutes of Health grant opportunity designed to help unusually promising early career researchers move straight into running an independent research program soon after finishing a terminal doctoral degree or completing post-graduate clinical training. The core idea is to support investigators who are ready to skip the traditional postdoctoral period, start leading their own lab or independent research direction earlier than usual, and build momentum at a critical career stage. As part of NIH's High-Risk, High-Reward Research program under the NIH Common Fund, the award emphasizes backing exceptional people and bold, potentially transformative research trajectories rather than incremental projects.

The opportunity is intentionally broad in scientific scope. NIH welcomes applications across the full NIH mission space, including behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences. Projects can be basic, translational, or clinical in nature, and the FOA is labeled "clinical trial optional," meaning applicants may propose studies that include clinical trials if appropriate, but a clinical trial is not required. This flexibility is meant to accommodate the wide range of research areas and approaches pursued by early independent investigators.

A major theme of the program is strengthening the research workforce by encouraging applications that reflect diversity across backgrounds, experiences, institutions, and geography. NIH explicitly encourages individuals from underrepresented groups and applicants from the full spectrum of eligible institutions and locations to apply, aiming to ensure that the pathway to early independence is accessible to outstanding researchers regardless of where they train or work.

Eligibility spans a wide set of applicant organization types, reflecting that early independence can occur in many institutional settings. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also highlights additional eligible institution categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is limited in a way that is typical for many NIH opportunities. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the main applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, which generally means a U.S.-based applicant may include certain well-justified activities performed outside the United States as part of the project, subject to NIH rules and approvals.

From the source details provided, the funding opportunity is offered by the National Institutes of Health under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-RM-22-021. It is a discretionary grant program in the health funding activity category and is associated with CFDA number 93.310. The listed award ceiling in the provided data is $250,000. The original closing date shown is 2022-09-02, and the record creation date is 2022-04-27, indicating that this specific announcement corresponds to a particular application cycle and may have had subsequent reissues or related announcements in later years.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIH Directors Early Independence Awards (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-04-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-09-02. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA RM 22 021

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