Pilot Projects Enhancing Utility and Usage of Common Fund Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA RM 24 006

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 24 006

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering a discretionary grant opportunity titled "Pilot Projects Enhancing Utility and Usage of Common Fund Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-RM-24-006 (CFDA 93.310). This announcement focuses on small, pilot-style research projects that make practical use of existing data sets produced by NIH Common Fund programs. Rather than funding the creation of new large-scale data resources, the goal is to help researchers actively demonstrate what these Common Fund data can do, how they can be used to generate new hypotheses, and how they can spark additional discoveries when analyzed in creative or rigorous ways.

A central theme of this opportunity is improving the real-world usefulness of widely available Common Fund data sets. Proposed projects are expected to show concrete examples of how a selected Common Fund data resource can be applied, reused, combined with other information, or analyzed to answer important questions in health and biomedical research. The NOFO emphasizes outcomes like hypothesis generation and discovery catalysis, which signals that NIH wants projects that go beyond simply describing a data set and instead deliver insights, proof-of-concept analyses, or workflows that make the data more actionable for the broader community. In addition to producing research findings, awardees are asked to provide feedback on the utility of the Common Fund data resources themselves, which can include comments on data quality, accessibility, documentation, gaps, usability barriers, or suggestions that would make the data easier to apply in future studies.

The funding mechanism is an NIH R03, which is typically used for short-term, limited-scope projects. The NOFO explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning applicants must not propose a clinical trial as defined by NIH policy. The work should instead center on secondary analysis, methodological development, exploratory computational approaches, or other non-trial activities that leverage existing Common Fund data sets. The activity category is Health, aligning the projects with biomedical and health-related research aims, even if the work is computational, informatics-based, or heavily data science oriented.

Eligibility is broad across many organization types. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. Academic institutions are eligible, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education. Tribal entities are also included, such as federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments. The announcement also allows nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education), as well as for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses. The NOFO further highlights additional eligible applicant categories, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal government agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

However, there are important restrictions related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. At the same time, the NOFO states that foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed. Practically, this means the applicant organization must be U.S.-based and eligible, but the project may still include certain kinds of foreign collaboration or performance sites if they meet NIH's definition and requirements for an allowable foreign component.

Key administrative details included in the listing are that the agency is NIH, the opportunity was created on 2024-04-04, and the original closing date is 2024-06-27. The listing does not provide an award ceiling or an expected number of awards in the provided text, so applicants would need to consult the full NOFO for budget limits, project period, and any additional constraints typical of the R03 mechanism. Overall, this opportunity is designed for teams that can quickly and convincingly show how Common Fund data sets can be used to produce meaningful scientific value, while also feeding practical user experience back to NIH to improve these shared data resources for everyone.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pilot Projects Enhancing Utility and Usage of Common Fund Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" 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 2024-04-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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.

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