Research

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Limiting Language 
Only two applications per institution (identified by Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number or NIH IPF number) are allowed.

Program Description
Full sponsor guidelines are linked here.

The NIH Director's Early Independence Award helps talented new researchers begin their own independent research program soon after finishing their doctoral degree or clinical training, without first doing postdoctoral training.The award accepts applications on any topic fitting the NIH mission. It is part of the NIH Common Fund's High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator)
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support. 

Requirements

• One PD/PI only: Applications can have only one PD/PI. Multiple PD/PIs are not allowed. Only the PD/PI may be listed as Senior/Key Personnel and submit a biosketch.
• Citizenship: U.S. citizenship is not required. If the PD/PI is not a U.S. citizen, the institution must ensure the visa permit allows them to do the proposed research in the U.S. for the full project period.
• Degree or clinical training dates: The PD/PI must complete their terminal doctoral degree or post-graduate clinical training between May 1, 2025, and September 30, 2027.
  • The date shown on the official transcript is considered the date the degree was completed.
  • Clinical training includes residency and fellowship.
  • At the time of award, either:
    • The PD/PI must have an eligible doctoral degree from an accredited U.S. or foreign institution, oR
    • An authorized official must confirm all degree requirements are complete and the degree will be awarded before September 30, 2027.
• Post-doctoral experience: The PD/PI must not have more than 12 months of postdoctoral training after an earlier, non-terminal doctoral degree. This applies only to individuals with multiple doctoral degrees.
• Effort required:
  • Years 1-2: At least 9.6 person-months per year (80% effort) on the award project
  • Years 3-5:  At least 9.6 person-months per year (80% effort) on independent research overall, including the award project and any other independent research led by the PD/PI.
• Non-independence required: At the time of application, the PD/PI must still be non-independent. All the following must apply:
  • Research direction requires mentor approval
  • Research is mainly supported through another investigator's funding (mentored fellowships, such as an NIH F31/F32 or NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, do not make an applicant ineligible)
  • No institutionally assigned research space
  • Cannot apply for an NIH R01 without a special institutional waiver or exception

The PD/PI may become independent before the award starts and still remain eligible.

• Independent position required: The PD/PI must have a guaranteed, pending independent research position and be able to begin independent research by the project start date.
  • The position does not have to be permanent or tenure-track.
  • The position may depend on receiving this award.
  • The institution must provide substantial support, as described in the application.
  • Moving to a new institution may be advantageous but is not required.
• Career awards: ThePD/PI may apply for both a K award and DP5 simultaneously, but the projects must not overlap scientifically. A PD/PI cannot hold both simultaneously; if awarded the DP5, the K award must be relinquished.
• Site visit: NIH will conduct a site visit near the end of the first year to assess progress and confirm institutional support and independence. If support is insufficient, NIH may take corrective action, including reducing or terminating funding.

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Thrust Area 2: C. Fucetola (Astronomy & Steward Observatory)

Limiting Language
A proposing organization, identified by a unique CAGE Code, may submit no more than one Abstract per Thrust Area. Each Abstract submitted by the same organization must identify a different Principal Investigator, technical team, and represent a distinct technical approach. 

Eligibility 
Universities whose proposed Principal Investigator has not previously served as a Principal Investigator under a DARPA-funded award.

Thrust Areas
Thrust Area 1: A world beyond electronics 
The “a world beyond electronics” thrust seeks to develop non-electronic and hybrid physical approachesto advance sub-functions and unit operations to create future warfighting systems and capabilities. These sub-functions and unit operations include but are not limited to: 

• Sensing and communications beyond electronics. While we will continue to need sensing and communications, novel approaches can not only improve upon what modern radio-frequency systems deliver for the existing battlespace but also invent functions leading to new capability for the future battlespace. Examples of non-electronic developments could include optical, quantum, organic, and acoustic devices. The addressable physical stimuli (e.g., optical thermal, acoustic, chemical, etc.) and/or appropriate information buses (e.g., photonic, fluidic, or otherwise) for the proposed device should be provided in detail as well as performance estimates. 

Thrust Area 2: Foundations beyond components 
The “foundations beyond components” thrust explores technologies and methods that survive and even thrive in hostile and challenging environments. Production and use of these components can then be used in novel and previously unforeseen applications. 

• Extreme environments are both natural and man-made. The natural extreme environments of interest include space, undersea, and the arctic. Technologies and methods should lead to systems subjected to a wide range of environmental conditions and natural attacks such as corrosion. Man-made environmental impacts, including the actions of adversaries, add system effects such as shock and vibration. 
• Advanced capabilities will require increasing amounts of intelligence, automation, endurance and survivability. Assuming that humans are not present, a heterogeneous mix of distributed uncrewed systems may be warranted requiring advanced sensing, actuation, orientation, processing, communication, and power. Each of these has its own research challenges. 
• Making and sustaining these components and systems require unique approaches to leverage the local environment itself, use what is in place, and erase the line between equipment and environment. 

Thrust Area 3: Materials beyond nature and current synthetic practice 
The “materials beyond nature and current synthetic practice” thrust seeks the discovery and fabrication of new materials that exceed what can be found in nature or are currently produced. MXO believes that novel applications, research breakthroughs, and advanced capability development will benefit from new materials used in new ways. 

• Material properties realized after fabrication. Beyond phase change materials, how do we identify future programmable material and synthesize component properties? Examples include ad-hoc tunable electrical, magnetic, optical, and mechanical properties beyond the state of the art.
• Built-in autonomous property resiliency of materials/components. Imagine if we could maintain pre-determined material and component properties without humans in the loop. Examples include self-healing (recovery of material properties or improvement in their reliability), self-deformation (material as sensor and actuator), or self-protection (anti-break, anti-rust, anti-aging). 
• Artificially created new material properties. How do we identify previously unattainable material properties followed by the manufacturing and realization of this new material? Examples include room temperature superconductor and inorganic-like electrical characteristics in organic material systems

Internal Competition Undergoing Peer Review // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 0

Limiting Language 
We welcome you to submit up to two nominations.

Eligibility Criteria
We ask that you only nominate exceptional candidates who satisfy the following criteria:

• Have achieved tenure or an equivalent status prior to the nomination deadline and within the past three calendar years (between January 1, 2023 and August 10, 2026),
• Have a remarkable record of accomplishment in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and/or engineering,
• Have a demonstrated history of pursuing and publishing results in more than one field,
• Have a desire and plan to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary or methodological shift, but have not yet launched such shifts,
• Demonstrate a need for additional funding to enable new experiments, explorations, or shifts in research directions.

Funding Goals
The Schmidt Science Polymath Program seeks to empower intensely creative, mid-career researchers to take adventurous leaps into new research domains, experiment with new methodologies and ideas, and inspire impactful scientific breakthroughs.

The Schmidt Science Polymath Program (“the program”) recognizes extraordinary researchers with remarkable track records, promising futures, and a desire to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary or methodological shift soon after achieving tenure.

The program will offer research support to professors who have achieved tenure or an equivalent status within the past three calendar years with remarkable track records and highly promising futures. Each professor will be awarded $500,000 per year, paid through their institution, for up to five years to help support a research group through talent, collaboration, equipment, and/or other resources. These grants are intended to make possible the exploration of new ideas across disciplines, using emerging technologies to test risky theories that may not otherwise receive funding or support. They are not intended to relieve the researcher of pursuing other grants to continue their mainstream work, nor to be large enough to fully support a modern lab.

Schmidt Sciences are especially interested in supporting highly creative, original, and risky research that is clearly distinct from past areas and directions.

Institutionally Coordinated - contact RDS if you are interested in this funding opportunity // Limit: 2 (lead organization) // Tickets Available: 1 

M. Zreda (Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences)

Limiting Language 
An eligible organization can submit a maximum of two Written Proposals per Topic Announcement for Phase 0 as a lead organization. Senior/Key Personnel may be listed on a maximum of one Written Proposal per Topic Announcement.

Topic Description

Every revolution in science has been preceded by a revolution in what we can measure, from the telescope to modern Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines. Today, the frontier is starved for radically new modalities for sensing and imaging. We cannot watch a non-crystalline enzyme work at atomic resolution, probe the full dynamics of a working synapse, or identify the most reactive surface defect structures on advanced catalytic materials.

NSF X-Labs in this Topic will target specific platform technologies in sensing, imaging and supporting technologies that will form the basis for revolutionary new capabilities in scientific discovery and technology sectors. Teams might, for example, draw on quantum sensing, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven computational imaging, adaptive AI-based sensing algorithms, and/or entirely new modalities to redefine what we consider knowable. 

Examples of relevant, currently unmet R&D challenges may include, but are not limited to: detection of molecular-scale single-reaction events across timescales of femtoseconds to seconds; MRI-free deep-tissue imaging; non-destructive biomolecule microscopy at exquisite resolution; high-sensitivity quantum sensors suitable for operation in a variety of environments; instruments intentionally engineered for next-generation AI training pipelines; and sensors to resolve whole-brain activity at cellular resolution across long timescales. 

An NSF X-Labs Mission in this Topic must be transformative, accelerating breakthrough R&D in scientific instrumentation towards creating or reshaping new lines of research and technologies. Successful teams will overcome technical barriers facing sensing and imaging, develop platform technologies, demonstrate measurable impact on the U.S. science and technology landscape, and position their technologies for widespread use and investment in research and/or other sectors. 

Examples of challenges not considered in scope for this Topic include computational or software solutions without practical integration into an instrumentation system, development of technologies where the impact is narrow and not widely deployable, fundamental research without potential for application in platform technologies, incremental advancement of the state of the art, or advancement of technologies that are already appropriately developed to the point of full-scale commercialization.

Full sponsor guidelines are linked here. 

Upcoming Webinars
Thursday, May 28, 1–2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) 
Introduction to NSF X-Labs Funding Opportunity – Scientific Instrumentation for Sensing and Imaging
Register for the May 28 webinar.

Tuesday June 23, 2:30–3:30 p.m. EDT
Q&A for NSF X-Labs – Scientific Instrumentation for Sensing and Imaging
Register for the June 23 Q&A session.

Institutionally Coordinated - contact RDS if you are interested in this funding opportunity // Limit: 2 (lead organization) // Tickets Available: 1

N. Peyghambarian (Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing) 

Limiting Language 
An eligible organization can submit a maximum of two Written Proposals per Topic Announcement for Phase 0 as a lead organization. Senior/Key Personnel may be listed on a maximum of one Written Proposal per Topic Announcement.

Topic Description
Quantum computing and quantum information processing systems sit at the cusp of a watershed moment: through years of federally funded foundational discovery in quantum phenomena coupled with more recent industry investment in the buildout of quantum components and systems, the world is about to witness a new era in modern computation. Future quantum computing is expected to rapidly accelerate scientific discovery and use-driven applications in a range of technology sectors, while unlocking entirely new frontiers beyond the reach of classical computing. But to realize future functional and connected quantum systems will require further investment in foundational platform technologies centered on quantum interconnects and integrated quantum photonics, which will be key enablers to combine different quantum capabilities into a single system. 

Future quantum systems are expected to rely on interconnects to transfer quantum information – coherence and entanglement – between discrete physical subsystems. Quantum photonic technologies that utilize photons as robust carriers of quantum information in distributed architectures offer a compelling pathway toward scalable quantum computing, sensing and metrology, and networking. Integrated quantum photonics will further extend this capacity by enabling dense integration of optical components (e.g., entangled sources, interferometers, filters, switches, and detectors) onto compact chips and packages. 

NSF X-Labs in this Topic will focus on the research and development of technologies to enable next-generation quantum interconnects, integrated quantum photonics and/or their supporting technologies. NSF X-Labs teams will target specific platform technologies that, if successful, will provide a roadmap for the integration of second-generation quantum systems. Examples of relevant, currently unmet R&D challenges may include, but are not limited to: scalable modular architectures based on the interconnection of discrete processing units; interconnection of heterogeneous quantum sub-systems via quantum transducers; reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits for compact multi-qubit operations; and next-generation quantum light sources, low-loss waveguides, and integrated single-photon detectors. NSF X-Labs in this Topic will aim to develop foundational platform solutions that can form the basis for broad industry adoption and integrated, system-level capabilities. 

An NSF X-Labs Mission in this Topic must be transformative, accelerating breakthrough R&D in quantum technologies towards creating or reshaping new lines of research and technologies. Successful teams will develop platform technologies, overcome technical barriers facing quantum systems, demonstrate measurable impact on the U.S. science and technology landscape, and position their technologies for widespread use and investment. 

Examples of challenges not considered in scope for this Topic include computational or software solutions without practical integration into a quantum system, solutions that are inherently unsuitable for future scaling and commercial adoption, development of technologies where the impact is narrow and not widely deployable, fundamental research without potential for application in platform technologies, incremental advancement of the state-of-the-art, or advancement of technologies that are already appropriately developed to the point of full-scale commercialization.

Full sponsor guidelines are linked here. 

Upcoming Webinars 

Thursday, June 4, 2–3 p.m. EDT
Introduction to NSF X-Labs Funding Opportunity - Quantum Systems: Interconnects and Integrated Photonics
Register for the June 4 webinar.

Tuesday, June 30, 2–3 p.m. EDT
Q&A for NSF X-Labs - Quantum Systems: Interconnects and Integrated Photonics 
Register for the June 30 Q&A session.

Limit: 3 // Tickets Available: 0

G. Martin-Alemañy (Nutritional Sciences and Wellness)
B. Tanriover (COM-T)
S. Kharait (COM-T)

Limiting Language
A limit of three proposals from each sponsoring academic institution is imposed to enable fair and broad support for DCI-affiliated investigators.

Overview 
The Paul Teschan Research Fund (PTRF) of Dialysis Clinic, Inc. (DCI) offers grant support for research
related to human kidney disease. Research methods may range from basic science to clinical and
epidemiologic research. Support from this fund, named to honor Paul Teschan, MD, a distinguished
investigator, clinician and advisor to DCI, is intended to promote investigations of current or eventual clinical
significance that might not be able to achieve funding from NIH or other national sources because of their
clinical nature, their early stage of work, or other reasons. The PTRF is a source of funding for worthy
projects where other sources are unavailable.

A limit of three proposals from each sponsoring academic institution is imposed to enable fair and broad
support for DCI-affiliated investigators. Each individual grants are limited to $60,000 per year, including
institutional overhead. The funding period for PTRF research grants is Jan 1 – Dec 31. The initial award
installment is contingent on the project passing DCI’s legal, compliance and regulatory review. This includes
obtaining IRB or IACUC approvals. Subsequent installments are contingent upon adherence to the award
letter.

Preference will be given to earlier research career investigators and to projects considered most relevant
to understanding and treatment of clinical kidney conditions and their complications. All proposals will be
reviewed for scientific merit and significance by external reviewers and also by a panel of DCI-affiliated
nephrologists (Application Review Committee) as part of the competitive application process. Renewal of
ongoing PTRF funding projects is given preference, but is not automatic. Grant awards are merit based.
PTRF grants may not be used to fund salaries of investigators, but may support other personnel active in
the project as approved by DCI. Capital equipment costing $1500 or more may not be included in PTRF
budgets. Overhead is limited to 20% ($10,000). Travel may be requested in the budget during Year 2 and
Year 3 if work from the PTRF project is being presented at a conference, but this may not exceed $1500
per year. No travel will be supported by Year 1 funds. Projects will only be funded for one year at a time
and may be funded for a total of three (3) consecutive years. Year 2 and Year 3 applications will undergo
competitive review by the Application Review Committee for continued funding based on progress
described in a DCI PTRF Study Progress Report. Applications for Year 2 and Year 3 funding will be
reviewed in the same way as an initial application, including reassessment of the scientific merit of the work
proposed as well as the addition of a detailed review of the work accomplished. Grants may not be renewed
in the absence of progress satisfactory reports.

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1 

Limiting Language
Only one application per institution (identified by NIH IPF number) is allowed.

Purpose
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) solicits applications to develop shared-use research facilities or research-supporting facilities that enable collaborative research and benefit broad research communities at large. The NOFO supports two existing construction programs: the Biomedical Research Facilities (BRF) program and the HIV/AIDS Research Facilities (HRF) program.

The BRF program supports the construction or modernization of biomedical research facilities that advance basic, translational, clinical, or behavioral science research in all areas. Intended facilities include shared research spaces, core facilities, biorepositories, or other shared-use resource facilities that serve a broad scientific community with a significant, long-term impact on biomedical research.

The HRF program funds the development of HIV/AIDS research or research-supporting resources that the empowered research activities must align with the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) priorities, as outlined at OAR HIV/AIDS Research Priorities, including research focusing on the long-term health consequences of HIV infection.

NIH encourages applications from institutions across all geographic regions of the country, including Institutions of Emerging Excellence (IEE) in biomedical research, to strengthen the nation’s research capacity.

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YIG - S. Adamo (Radiology and Imaging Sciences) 

The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) is coordinating this limited submission. For more information please contact: UACC-PreAward.

Limiting Language
The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) can nominate one proposal for the Breast Cancer Alliance Research Awards - either for the Young Investigator Grant (YIG) OR Exceptional Project Grant (XP) 2026.

Purpose of Award:

Breast Cancer Alliance provides seed money – scientific venture capital – to fund innovative breast cancer research with emphases on programs that have not yet qualified for federal grants. To secure federal funding, a researcher must prove a theory works. Breast Cancer Alliance creates the critical bridge between novel research and the opportunity to generate preliminary results with grants like our Exceptional Projects.

BCA encourages careers in breast cancer research and in clinical medicine. We award two year Young Investigator Grants to doctors and scientists in the early stages of their careers, often overlooked by the funding world until they have longer tenure. 

• YIG:
  • Breast Cancer Alliance invites clinical doctors and research scientists who are in the early stages of their careers, including post docs, whose current proposal is focused on breast cancer, to apply for a Young Investigator Grant.
  • This award helps advance the careers of young researchers who do not yet have their own major grant support, but who design and conduct their own independent research projects.
• XP:
  • Breast Cancer Alliance invites clinical doctors and research scientists at any stage of their careers, including post docs, whose current proposal is focused on breast cancer, to apply for an Exceptional Project Grant.
  • This award recognizes creative, unique and innovative research related to breast cancer.