Research Program Award (R35 Clinical Trial Optional)
Funding Agency:
- National Institutes of Health
The majority of grant awards are limited to 2-5 years and support individual projects, rather than the overall research program of an investigator's laboratory or research group. PD/PIs spend a considerable portion of their time writing grant applications rather than performing and overseeing research and directly mentoring individuals in their laboratories. The NINDS RPA aims to support the NINDS-related research of an investigator's laboratory or research group for a sustained period. The award is intended to increase funding stability, reduce the time investigators spend writing grant applications, and facilitate a more flexible research environment. This should allow for increased time for investigators to be directly involved in the research in their laboratories, fostering more creative and/or long-term research goals, enabling more engagement with students and postdoctorates, and assuring a high level of rigor and attention to experimental design – all of which contribute to advancing the mission of NINDS.
Because the RPA is intended to support most, if not all, of the NINDS-related research in an investigator's laboratory, investigators receiving an RPA must relinquish their other NINDS research grants, with a limited number of exceptions, see below. PD/PIs can retain non-overlapping grant support from other NIH ICs, provided they maintain the required level of effort on the RPA (see below). The grant awards that PDs/PIs receive from leading or participating in NINDS multiple-PD/PI research grants, program project grants, and/or Center grants will also be incorporated into the RPA, but the investigator will be expected to continue the collaboration with support from the RPA.
By replacing all or most of an investigator's NINDS funding, the RPA should support research that is the major focus of the investigator’s laboratory or research group. Therefore, the PD/PI must devote at least 6 person months (i.e., the equivalent of 50% effort on a full-year appointment, 66.67% on a 9-month appointment, or 100% on a 6-month appointment) to the RPA throughout the duration of the award. Applications from PD/PIs committing less than the required amount will not be accepted. When applicable, PDs/PIs will be expected to renegotiate their time and effort on other non-NINDS awards to accommodate the level of effort required by the RPA.
The budget for the RPA will be set at a fixed level that is generally commensurate with the PD/PIs funding over the prior four years. No RPA budget will exceed $750K direct costs (DC) per year, and no RPA will be awarded for less than $350K direct cost (DC) per year. Applicants should refer to Section II, Award Budget for guidance on preparing their budget, and NINDS R35 FAQs (e.g., How should I determine my RPA budget? Could you provide a template for calculating and providing my budget?) for examples. When considering an RPA application, investigators should balance this funding paradigm against the benefits of the RPA, which include:
- Funding stability for up to eight years, contingent upon National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council approval of scientific progress during the first five years
- Support for an investigator's currently-funded NINDS research grants will in effect be extended through the RPA, without requiring submission of separate renewal applications;
- Reduced administrative burden and relief from the constant pressure to write multiple grant applications and manage multiple grant awards.
- Increased flexibility to pursue new ideas and scientific opportunities as they arise since the award does not require specific aims and is not predicated on completing specific, pre-defined research objectives.
The goal of the RPA mechanism is not to expand an investigator's current level of NINDS funding. However, NINDS acknowledges that there are circumstances where a flat budget may limit the ability of productive research programs, particularly for those investigators with limited external sources of funding, to capitalize on new and emerging scientific opportunities. Furthermore, NINDS recognizes that the research programs of investigators earlier in their career may require additional funding as their programs mature. Therefore, NINDS offers supplemental funding for PDs/PIs to request budget increases along with their year -06 RPPR via an administrative supplement.
As part of the consolidation of an investigator’s NINDS research into the RPA, institutions will be required to relinquish their financial interests in current NINDS-funded research grants where the applicant investigator is listed as a PD/PI (e.g., research project grants (RPGs), P01s, P50 and other Center awards [including leads on subprojects/project leaders]).
Applicants may request up to a maximum of $750,000 direct costs (DC) per year.
July 13, 2022
Alisa Schaefer, Ph.D., National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) E-mail: alisa.schaefer@nih.gov