Investigator Initiated Research in Computational Genomics and Data Science (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 21 254

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 21 254

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Investigator Initiated Research in Computational Genomics and Data Science (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-21-254; CFDA 93.172) supports investigator-driven research that advances computational methods and resources for genomics. The central aim is to fund a broad range of foundational work in computational genomics, data science, statistics, and bioinformatics that is relevant to basic and/or clinical genomic science and that ultimately has broad utility across human health and disease areas. The emphasis is on enabling research that strengthens the genomics field as a whole rather than narrowly tailored solutions for a single disease, cohort, or biological system.

This FOA is intended for projects that develop innovative analytical methodologies and approaches, create or prototype new tools and software in early stages, and improve, refine, or "harden" existing tools that are already valuable to the biomedical genomics community. In practice, that means NIH is looking for work that can become widely used infrastructure: algorithms, statistical frameworks, pipelines, software packages, and generalizable computational strategies that help researchers interpret and leverage genomic data more effectively. A key expectation is that funded approaches should be broadly applicable across diseases and biological contexts, positioning the outcomes as reusable methods or platforms rather than one-off analyses.

A major requirement woven into the announcement is scalability. Applications are expected to clearly explain how the proposed methods will scale as genomic datasets continue to grow in size and complexity. This reflects the reality that modern genomics increasingly involves very large cohorts, multi-omic integration, and high-dimensional data types, and NIH wants to fund solutions that will remain practical as data volumes expand. In reviewing projects, this often translates into attention to computational efficiency, robust software engineering practices, and realistic plans for managing, analyzing, and sharing results from increasingly large datasets.

The award mechanism is an R01 research project grant, and the opportunity is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the proposed work should not include a clinical trial as defined by NIH. The opportunity falls under the Health funding activity category and is listed as a discretionary grant program. The original closing date provided in the source information is January 7, 2025.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic applicants: state, county, city, and township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant groups, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility reflects NIH's interest in drawing strong computational genomics proposals from many kinds of institutions and communities.

Overall, PAR-21-254 is designed to strengthen the computational backbone of genomics research by funding generalizable methods and high-value tools that can be adopted broadly, remain useful as datasets grow, and accelerate discovery across many areas of human biology, health, and disease without supporting clinical trial activity.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Investigator Initiated Research in Computational Genomics and Data Science (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.172.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-07-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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 PAR 21 254

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