NIDCD Research Career Enhancement Award for Established Investigators (K18 -Clinical Trials Required) | PAR 18 562

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 562

The NIDCD Research Career Enhancement Award for Established Investigators (K18 - Clinical Trials Required) is a National Institutes of Health grant opportunity intended for mid-career or senior researchers who already have an established record of accomplishment and want to meaningfully expand, update, or redirect their research program. The core idea is career enhancement through structured acquisition of new research skills, methods, or perspectives that the investigator does not currently have, but needs in order to tackle important questions in the mission areas of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). Those mission areas include hearing and balance, smell and taste, and disorders of voice, speech, and language. In practice, the award is meant to provide time and support for an experienced investigator to step into a new technical or conceptual space (for example, new clinical trial methodologies, new intervention approaches, new measurement tools, or new population-focused expertise) that will strengthen the investigator's long-term research trajectory.

This specific announcement is tailored for applicants who will be leading a clinical trial effort as part of the proposed research and career development plan. The "Clinical Trials Required" label is central: the applicant is expected to serve as the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, an independent clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary study that is clearly separated from, but linked to, an existing trial. The expectation is not simply to participate in someone else's clinical trial, but to take on leadership responsibility for designing and conducting the trial (or trial-related study) while using the K18 period to build the skills needed to do that well. If an investigator is not planning to lead an independent clinical trial, or if the goal is to gain experience within a clinical trial led by another investigator, the announcement directs those applicants to apply instead to a companion funding opportunity (referenced as PAR-18-NNN in the text).

Eligibility is broad across the typical NIH organizational landscape and includes many categories of domestic entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other eligible organizations. The opportunity also explicitly highlights additional eligible organization types such as 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, regional organizations, eligible federal government agencies, Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

There are important limits related to foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. At the same time, the announcement notes that foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed. That typically means a U.S.-based applicant can include a carefully justified foreign component of the project when it is scientifically necessary and consistent with NIH policy, even though the primary applicant institution must be domestic.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant mechanism under the NIH, categorized under health (CFDA 93.173) and issued as Funding Opportunity Number PAR-18-562. The original closing date listed in the provided source data is January 7, 2021. The source excerpt does not provide an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, so those details would normally be confirmed in the full FOA or NIH RePORT/Grants.gov listing. Overall, the program is best understood as a targeted career enhancement pathway for already-established investigators who want to add new capabilities and assume clinical trial leadership in areas central to NIDCD's mission, using a structured project and development plan to make that pivot credible and sustainable.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIDCD Research Career Enhancement Award for Established Investigators (K18 -Clinical Trials Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.173.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-01-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-01-07. (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.

Apply for PAR 18 562

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