Mentoring Networks to Enhance Diversity in NIDCD's Extramural Research Workforce (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 21 185

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 21 185

The grant opportunity "Mentoring Networks to Enhance Diversity in NIDCD's Extramural Research Workforce (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-21-185) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Education Program (R25) award administered within the mission space of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). It is designed to strengthen and diversify the pipeline of people pursuing research careers connected to NIDCD-related science, with a clear emphasis on supporting individuals from diverse backgrounds, including groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. Rather than funding a traditional research project, the R25 mechanism supports structured educational and career-development activities that help participants gain skills, guidance, and connections that make it more likely they will continue into research training and research careers.

The central programmatic focus of this specific FOA is mentoring. Applicants are expected to propose creative, well-organized mentoring networks and related mentoring-centered education activities. The intent is to build supportive systems that link trainees and early-career individuals with experienced mentors, peer communities, and professional development resources. While the announcement text is brief, the framing makes it clear that the funded effort should be more than ad hoc advising; it should function as a networked program that intentionally promotes persistence, advancement, and success in research for participants who might otherwise face structural barriers to entering and staying in the research workforce.

This is a discretionary grant in the health funding activity category (CFDA 93.173). Clinical trials are not allowed under this FOA, meaning the supported activities must be educational/mentoring in nature rather than interventional clinical research. The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $250,000, signaling that budgets are expected to fit within that upper bound (typically per year, depending on NIH-specific budget instructions in the full FOA). The listed original closing date is 2024-09-30, indicating the end of the application window as provided in the source information.

Eligibility is broad and includes many U.S.-based organization types that could reasonably operate mentoring networks at scale. Examples include public and private institutions of higher education, public/state-controlled universities, independent school districts, nonprofits (both with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and multiple levels of government such as state, county, city/township, and special district governments. Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments), and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities are also eligible. In addition, the FOA explicitly highlights other eligible applicants such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. This emphasis signals that NIH is encouraging applications from institutions and organizations with strong connections to the populations the program aims to support.

At the same time, there are important limits on foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) 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 typically means a U.S. applicant organization may include certain well-justified project elements carried out outside the U.S. under NIH rules, even though the applicant institution itself must be domestic.

In practical terms, a competitive application under this FOA would be expected to describe a coherent mentoring-network model: who the participants are, how they will be recruited and supported, what mentoring structures will be used (for example, mentor training, mentoring teams, near-peer mentoring, networking events, career development workshops, and structured progress monitoring), and how the program will measure success in ways tied to the overarching goal of diversifying and strengthening the NIDCD-related research workforce. The program is fundamentally about building durable, scalable mentoring and education infrastructure that increases entry, retention, and advancement of diverse trainees and early-career researchers into NIDCD-relevant research pathways, without proposing or conducting clinical trials.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mentoring Networks to Enhance Diversity in NIDCD's Extramural Research Workforce (R25 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): 93.173.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-04-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-09-30. (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 $250,000.00 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 PAR 21 185

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