Limited Competition: Small Grant Program for NIDDK K01/K08/K23/K25 Recipients (R03 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 19 365

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 365

The Limited Competition: Small Grant Program for NIDDK K01/K08/K23/K25 Recipients (R03 Clinical Trial Optional) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) opportunity from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) designed specifically to help certain NIDDK-funded career development awardees build momentum toward research independence. In practical terms, it gives investigators who already hold an NIDDK-supported K01, K08, K23, or K25 a chance, during the later years of their K award period, to apply for a small R03 research grant. The core purpose is to strengthen the awardee's ability to run an independent line of research by supporting a focused, limited-scope project that can be completed relatively quickly and can generate evidence, preliminary results, or methods that position the investigator for a larger follow-on grant such as an R01 (or an equivalent research project grant).

This program uses the NIH R03 "Small Grant" mechanism, which is intended for research that is narrow, well-defined, and feasible with modest time and resources. The announcement highlights several common R03-appropriate project types: pilot and feasibility studies (often used to test recruitment, procedures, measures, or early signals of effect), secondary analysis of existing datasets, small self-contained research projects that answer a targeted question, development or refinement of research methodology, and development of new research technology. Because the R03 is built for short, resource-limited work, the expectation is not a massive multi-aim project, but rather a tight project that fills a key gap and produces concrete outputs that can be leveraged into a subsequent, larger application.

The competition is "limited" in the sense that it is aimed at a defined pool of eligible investigators: recipients of NIDDK-supported K01, K08, K23, and K25 awards who are far enough along in their K award period to benefit from an additional, smaller research award while completing their transition to independence. The clinical trial aspect is listed as optional, meaning an applicant can propose a project that does not involve a clinical trial or, if scientifically justified and aligned with NIH definitions and policy, propose a project that does involve a clinical trial.

Eligible applicant organizations span a wide range of U.S.-based entities typically allowed under NIH grant policy, including public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and multiple levels of government (state, county, city/township), along with special district governments, independent school districts, and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The announcement also explicitly calls out several institution types and community-linked organizations as eligible, 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 and certain tribal governments or tribal organizations.

On the non-U.S. side, the rules are more restrictive: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. At the same time, the notice clarifies that foreign components, as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, which generally means a U.S. applicant organization can include certain foreign elements in the project when they are well-justified and meet NIH policy requirements, even though the applicant organization itself must be domestic.

Key administrative details provided include the Funding Opportunity Number PAR-19-365, the activity category being health-related (Food and Nutrition, Health) with CFDA number 93.847, and an award ceiling listed at 75,000. The opportunity is categorized as a discretionary NIH grant program. The source information also lists an original closing date of 2022-09-07 and a creation date of 2019-09-09, which is useful for understanding the timeline of the announcement as published.

Overall, this R03 program is best understood as a bridge: it is meant to help NIDDK K award recipients convert career development progress into tangible, fundable research products by supporting a compact project that can be executed efficiently, produce publishable results or enabling tools, and strengthen the investigator's next step toward independent NIH funding.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Small Grant Program for NIDDK K01/K08/K23/K25 Recipients (R03 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.847.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-09-07. (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 $75,000.00 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.

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