NIH Directors Pioneer Award Program (DP1 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA RM 25 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 25 001

The NIH Directors Pioneer Award Program (DP1, clinical trial optional) is a National Institutes of Health grant opportunity designed to back individual scientists who have a strong track record of creativity and who want to pursue bold, unusually innovative research ideas. The core purpose is to fund high-risk, high-reward projects that may not fit comfortably within conventional funding mechanisms but that could reshape or significantly advance broad and important areas tied to the NIH mission. In practical terms, this program is looking for investigators with transformative concepts, not incremental next steps, and it is positioned as a flagship pathway for work that could open up new directions for entire fields.

This funding opportunity is open to a very wide range of scientific topics as long as they align with NIHs broad mission. That includes research spanning behavioral science, social science, biomedical science, applied science, and formal sciences, and it can cover basic, translational, or clinical research. Because the notice is labeled "clinical trial optional," proposed projects may include a clinical trial, but a clinical trial is not required. The emphasis is on the novelty and potential impact of the scientific idea rather than adherence to a narrow topic area or a single methodological approach, which makes the program attractive to investigators working at boundaries between disciplines or pursuing unconventional approaches.

The Pioneer Award sits within the NIH Common Fund as part of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) Program. That context matters because the Common Fund is intended to support cross-cutting initiatives that can benefit multiple institutes and centers, and the HRHR portfolio is specifically oriented toward ideas that could deliver outsized scientific returns. Applicants should expect that review and selection will prioritize originality, potential for major impact, and the applicants ability to carry out ambitious work, rather than extensive preliminary data or highly predictable outcomes.

NIH also explicitly encourages applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds, including scientists from underrepresented groups, referencing the agencys stated interest in diversity. The program further encourages participation from the full spectrum of eligible institutions across all geographic locations, signaling that proposals will be welcomed from a broad set of organizational settings rather than being implicitly limited to a small group of research-intensive universities.

Eligibility spans many common U.S.-based organizational types. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status, excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and multiple levels of government such as state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts. The eligibility list also includes public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, and Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) as well as Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized. Additional eligible applicant types called out include eligible federal government agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. Foreign organizations (non-U.S. entities) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, which generally means certain project elements can be carried out abroad under NIH rules even though the applicant organization must be U.S.-based and eligible.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity from NIH in the health funding activity category, with CFDA number 93.310. The funding opportunity number is RFA-RM-25-001, and the original closing date is listed as 2025-09-09. The stated award ceiling is $700,000, which indicates the maximum amount that can be awarded under the terms described in the notice (applicants should still review the full announcement for the exact budget structure, project period expectations, and any limits by year or by direct versus total costs). Overall, the opportunity is best understood as NIHs invitation for exceptional individual researchers to propose daring, field-changing work that aligns with NIH priorities, with broad topic flexibility and a strong emphasis on innovation and potential impact.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIH Directors Pioneer Award Program (DP1 Clinical Trial Optional)" 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 2025-06-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-09. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $700,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

Apply for RFA RM 25 001

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