NIH is continuing to make a special effort to stimulate research at educational institutions that provide baccalaureate and/or advanced degrees for a significant number of the Nation’s research scientists, but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. Since Fiscal Year (FY) 1985, Congressional appropriations for the NIH have included funds for this initiative, which NIH has implemented through the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) program. Based on the expectation that funds will continue to be available each year, NEI invites applications for AREA grants through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). AREA funds are intended to support new and renewal biomedical and behavioral research projects proposed by faculty members of eligible colleges, universities, schools, and components of domestic institutions.
The objectives of the AREA program are to provide support for meritorious research, to strengthen the research environment of schools that have not been major recipients of NIH support, and to expose available undergraduate and/or graduate students in such environments to meritorious research. The AREA program will enable qualified scientists to receive support for small-scale research projects. These grants are intended to create a research opportunity for scientists and institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in NIH programs that support the Nation’s biomedical and behavioral research effort. It is anticipated that investigators supported under the AREA program will benefit from the opportunity to conduct independent research; that the grantee institution will benefit from a research environment strengthened through AREA grants and by participation in the diverse extramural programs of the NIH; and that undergraduate and/or graduate students at recipient institutions will benefit from exposure to and participation in scientific research in the biomedical and behavioral sciences so that they consider careers in biomedical and behavioral sciences.
The research project must involve undergraduate (preferably, if available) and/or graduate students in the proposed research. Students’ involvement in research may include participation in the design of experiments and controls, collection and analysis of data, execution and troubleshooting of experiments, presentation at meetings, drafting journal articles, collaborative interactions, participation in lab meetings to discuss results and future experiments, etc. The AREA program is a research grant program, not a training or fellowship program. As such, applications should not include training plans such as didactic training plans or non-research activities relating to professional development.
An AREA application may include other investigators, such as collaborators or consultants, or other trainees such as high school students, post baccalaureate participants, postdoctoral fellows, or clinical fellows. However, involvement of such individuals does not fulfill the goal to expose undergraduate and/or graduate students in eligible environments to research.
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage investigator initiated research with the goal of producing clinical findings that have significant public health impact. Proposed studies should produce evidence that will inform core scientific, design, implementation and issues essential to advance scientific knowledge. NEI will support two types of applications that involve human subjects:
- studies that are not NIH-defined clinical trials; and
- studies that are NIH-defined clinical trials proposing mechanistic and/or minimal risk studies.
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage investigator-initiated mechanistic or minimal risk studies, with the goal of producing clinical findings that have significant public health impact. Proposed studies should be hypothesis-driven and produce research data/evidence that are necessary to inform core scientific, design, implementation and issues essential to advance scientific knowledge.
Deadlines: standard dates and standard AIDS dates apply
URL: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-18-635.html
Filed Under: Funding Opportunities