NIH Directors New Innovator Award Program (DP2 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA RM 25 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 25 002

The NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program (DP2, clinical trial optional) is a competitive NIH grant opportunity designed to back unusually bold, high-impact ideas from early stage investigators who have shown exceptional creativity and the potential to become highly influential independent researchers. The core purpose is to give promising, newer investigators the resources and flexibility to pursue high-risk, high-reward projects that could meaningfully change thinking or practice in broad areas connected to the NIH mission. This program sits within the NIH Common Fund's High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) portfolio, and it is meant to complement, not replace, more traditional NIH mechanisms that typically expect extensive preliminary data or incremental steps.

The scope of research is intentionally wide. NIH welcomes applications across essentially the full range of NIH-relevant topics, including behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences. Projects may be basic, translational, or clinical in nature, and because the announcement is labeled "clinical trial optional," applicants can propose research that includes a clinical trial, but they are not required to do so. The emphasis is less on staying within a narrow topic area and more on whether the proposed work is genuinely innovative, ambitious, and capable of producing a major impact if successful.

A major theme of this opportunity is building a strong and diverse research ecosystem. The notice explicitly encourages applications that reflect the full diversity of the research workforce, including individuals from underrepresented groups (as described in NIH's diversity interest notices), and it encourages participation from eligible institutions across all geographic regions. In practice, that means NIH is not only looking for standout scientific ideas, but also aiming to broaden who gets to lead transformative research and where that research is conducted.

Eligibility for applicant organizations is broad and spans many sectors. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and several other organizational types. Additional eligible applicants specifically called out include eligible federal agencies, faith-based and community-based organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments (including those other than federally recognized), regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. On the other hand, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. That said, foreign components, as NIH defines them in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, meaning a U.S.-based applicant can include certain foreign activities or collaborations when justified and compliant with NIH policy.

Administratively, the funding opportunity is issued by the National Institutes of Health under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-RM-25-002. It is a discretionary grant in the Health funding activity category, associated with CFDA number 93.310. The listed application due date (original closing date) is 2025-08-19. The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $475,000, which signals the maximum amount that may be awarded under the terms as presented in the source summary.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIH Directors New Innovator Award Program (DP2 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 2025-06-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-08-19. (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 $475,000.00 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 25 002

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