Deadlines
Internal Submission: November 22, 2024
Sponsor Letter of Intent: December 16, 2024
Sponsor Final Submission: January 17, 2024
Amount per grant: Up to $8,000,000
Funding Opportunity Number: PAR-25-061
This Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement (NOFO) invites eligible institutions of higher education and research organizations to seek funding to modernize and improve existing shared-use research facilities (e.g., core laboratories, animal research or breeding facilities, or other collaborative research spaces), or to construct new biomedical research space that will be furnished with essential construction infrastructure and eligible integrated equipment (subject to the requirements described below under Funding Restrictions), or other necessary casework. The objective of this NOFO is to support the development of modern facilities that will enable and enhance the conduct of high impact, cutting-edge biomedical research with national or regional significance. Thus, any facility supported by this NOFO must serve a broad research community at local (within the applicant’s own institution), regional (beyond the applicant’s own institution), or national level.
NIH recognizes that modern physical infrastructure is necessary for the conduct of advanced, innovative research. As science progresses and new technologies become available, dedicated space is required to house specialized equipment and to carry out novel experimental protocols. Both Institutions of Emerging Excellence (IEE, as defined in 42 USC 283k(c)(2)) and non-IEE institutions as well as highly resourced and under resourced institutions, such as NIH R15 Research Enhancement Award eligible institutions, are encouraged to apply. Projects are expected to be tailored to the current institutional infrastructure and long-term institutional strategic plans. Focusing on the advancement of science through the modernization of physical space will be an essential and integral feature of all proposed projects. Upon completion, construction/modernization projects will have a significant impact by enabling innovative and new research opportunities and significantly enhancing research capacities and capabilities. Institutions may request funds to modernize a core facility to create an environment required and specialized research-driven technological services. Likewise, funds may be requested to consolidate space for an institution-wide core which would provide streamlined workflows for contemporary multi-disciplinary investigations. Modernizing shared laboratory space to meet the evolving needs aligned with an institution’s strategic vision for biomedical research is such an appropriate request. A successful construction/modernization project will serve diverse research teams and a broad range of research efforts. However, laboratory space exclusively dedicated to individual Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs), or single research groups, is not supported under this NOFO.
Please note: this NOFO supports all areas of biomedical and biobehavioral research. Facilities that support collaborative research in the following special areas or expand animal breeding capacities are of special interest to this NOFO:
1), Facilities that support research on Women’s Health, including crosscutting research that bridges gaps in knowledge about female-specific conditions as well as diseases which affect women differently or disproportionately, research that improves the health of women across the lifespan including the application of interdisciplinary approaches, or research that addresses pressing conditions and diseases which negatively impact the health of women.
2), Construction of new or modernization of existing infrastructure to support small (<$3 million) to mid-scale ($3 million to $5 million) physical laboratory facilities focusing on emerging New Approach Methods (NAMs) or Complement-Animal Research in Experimentation research. The research areas under NAM include in vitro, in chemico, or in silico (computer-based) approaches to model human biology, to reduce, complement, or in some cases, replace traditional animal models.
3), Small (<$3 million) to mid-scale ($3 million to $5 million) expansion or modernization of existing facilities to increase the breeding capacity of specific pathogen free (SPF) nonhuman primates (NHPs) to help address the national NHP shortage of Indian-origin SPF rhesus macaques, in particular. Note, while construction of new buildings at existing NHP facilities may be responsive to this NOFO, proposing construction of an entirely new NHP center is not within the scope of this opportunity.
For more detailed information, please see Limited Submission instructions.