RFA-RM-25-002: NIH Directors New Innovator Award Program (DP2 Clinical Trial Optional)
Closed
This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of National Institutes of Health notices from 2025.
National Institutes of Health offered grants of up to $475,000 to nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses and businesses. Applications closed on August 19, 2025.
From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed June 13, 2025. Checked November 7, 2026.
- Award ceiling$475,000
- Cost sharingNot required
- Funding typeGrant
About this NIH notice
- Activity codeDP2
- Clinical trialsOptional
- Funded byNIGMS, NCI, NIBIB
- Median yearly award$761,620
- Typical project length5 years
- DP2, NIH Director's New Innovator Award. Support for an early-stage investigator's highly innovative project. Other open DP2 notices.
Projects funded under RFA-RM-25-002 were run by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS, 8 projects), National Cancer Institute (NCI, 7 projects), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB, 4 projects) and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS, 4 projects), and 11 more. Contact the program officer at the institute that fits your project before you apply; the notice lists them.
Application due dates, page limits and budget limits are set in the notice. Read RFA-RM-25-002 in the NIH Guide.
Other notices with this title
| Notice | Posted | Deadline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RFA-RM-24-003 | March 19, 2024 | Closed August 19, 2024 | Closed |
| RFA-RM-23-005 | March 28, 2023 | Closed August 18, 2023 | Closed |
| RFA-RM-22-019 | April 7, 2022 | Closed August 19, 2022 | Closed |
| RFA-RM-21-016 | May 20, 2021 | Closed August 20, 2021 | Closed |
Key dates
| Posted | June 12, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Deadline | August 19, 2025 |
| Archived by Grants.gov | September 24, 2025 |
Who can apply
This opportunity was open to nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses and businesses.
All 15 applicant types the notice lists
- 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 (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
Other Eligible Applicants include the following: Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government; Faith-based or Community-based Organizations; Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized); Regional Organizations; U.S. Territory or Possession; Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are not eligible to apply. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Is this a realistic fit?
- Projects NIH funded under this notice had a median yearly award of $761,620; it allows up to $475,000 per award.
- Most of the program's money (72% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
- No cost sharing or match is required.
What the grant funds
The NIH Directors New Innovator Award Program supports early stage investigators of exceptional creativity who propose bold and highly innovative research projects with the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important areas relevant to the mission of NIH. For the program to support the best possible researchers and research, applications are sought which reflect the full diversity of the research workforce. To support innovative and novel research across the vast NIH mission, individuals from diverse backgrounds (including those from underrepresented groups; see Notice of NIHs Interest in Diversity) and from the full spectrum of eligible institutions in all geographic locations are encouraged to apply to this Notice of Funding Opportunity. Applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH are welcome, including, but not limited to, behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. The NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program complements other ongoing efforts by NIH and its Institutes and Centers to fund early stage investigators. The NIH Directors New Innovator Award Program is a component of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) Program of the NIH Common Fund.
Funded under RFA-RM-25-002 so far
NIH funded 42 projects under RFA-RM-25-002 in fiscal 2026, at 30 institutions. The median yearly award was $761,620.
| Project | Institution | Fiscal year | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decoding the Immunological lipidome | University of Washington | 2026 | $838,375 |
| Understanding Early Development of the Human Placenta: A Crucial Step Toward Solving the Preeclampsia Puzzle. | University of Colorado Denver | 2026 | $749,379 |
| Targeting the immune synapse for programmable cellular function | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2026 | $762,122 |
| Harnessing Myeloid Olfactory Receptors to Reprogram Tumor Immunity | Augusta University | 2026 | $731,500 |
| Predictive Design of Tissue Architecture Using Synthetic Cell Adhesion | University of Pennsylvania | 2026 | $771,875 |
| Reimagining Chelator Design to Unlock the Next Generation of Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals | UT-Battelle, LLC-Oak Ridge National Lab | 2026 | $855,000 |
| The Impacts of Consultants on Financial, Operational, and Quality Outcomes in the U.S. Health System | University of Chicago | 2026 | $779,000 |
| Bifunctional small molecules for biosensing and continuous enzyme evolution | University of California Santa Cruz | 2026 | $714,870 |
Who has won Trans-NIH Research Support grants before
From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Trans-NIH Research Support (93.310) awarded $5.9 billion across 4,433 grant awards, an average of $1.3 million per award.
| Recipient | State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke University | North Carolina | 66 | $219 million |
| The Leland Stanford Junior University | California | 104 | $176 million |
| University of Pittsburgh - of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education | Pennsylvania | 82 | $154 million |
| The Johns Hopkins University | Maryland | 95 | $152 million |
| Yale Univ | Connecticut | 85 | $149 million |
Applying now
This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.
The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.
Questions people ask
Is RFA-RM-25-002 still open?
No. It closed on August 19, 2025.
Who can apply for NIH Directors New Innovator Award Program (DP2 Clinical Trial Optional)?
National Institutes of Health accepted applications from nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses and businesses. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.
What is the deadline for NIH Directors New Innovator Award Program (DP2 Clinical Trial Optional)?
Closed August 19, 2025. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.
How much funding is available?
Awards of up to $475,000 each.
Who has been funded under RFA-RM-25-002?
NIH RePORTER lists 42 projects funded under RFA-RM-25-002 in fiscal 2026, at 30 institutions. The most were at Stanford University, University of California, San Francisco, University of Washington.
Who has won Trans-NIH Research Support grants before?
The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Duke University, The Leland Stanford Junior University, University of Pittsburgh - of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education. The program made 4,433 awards worth $5.9 billion in that time.
Similar open grants
- Change of Recipient Organization (Type 7 Parent Clinical Trial Optional)
- NIH Director's New Innovator Award (DP2 Clinical Trial Optional)
- Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
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- Single Source for the Continuation of the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) Study Research Center (Collaborative U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
- Data Coordinating Center for the Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Brain Atlas (AD-MBA) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)