NORD Alert: NIH Announces New "Challenge Grants" Funding Opportunity

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed into law recently by President Obama, the NIH has designated at least $200 million in Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research to fund 200 or more grants.. In addition, Recovery Act funds allocated to NIH specifically for comparative effectiveness research may be available to support additional grants.

This new program will support research on "Challenge Topics" that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that will benefit from significant two-year jumpstart funds. Challenge areas defined by the NIH focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways.

We are writing to make sure you are aware of this funding opportunity, which has just been announced. The deadline for applications is April 27, 2009.

For an overview of the Challenge Grants program and to view the identified Challenge Topics, go to:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/challenge_award/

For more information on how to apply, go to:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-003.html.

Added March 10, 2009