FOA-Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): NIH Research Project Grant (R01) Applications from Individuals from Diverse Backgrounds, Including Under-Represented Minorities; May 8, 2023

 

Notice Number:

NOT-NS-21-049

 

Key Dates

 

Release Date:

May 3, 2021

 

First Available Due Date:

June 05, 2021

 

Expiration Date:

May 08, 2023

Related Announcements

PA-20-185 - NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
PA-20-183 - NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required)
PA-20-184 - Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

NOT-DA-21-053 - Notice of NIDA's participation in NOT-NS-21-049

NOT-AA-21-031 - Notice of NIAAA's participation in NOT-NS-21-049

Issued by

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as per NOT-DA-21-053
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as per NOT-AA-21-031

Purpose

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke seeks to promote diversity in all of its research programs and to increase the participation of underrepresented groups. As the US population becomes increasingly diverse, reflection of that diversity among the biomedical research workforce is vital to our science enterprise and the NIH research mission (See NOT-OD-20-031). NIH is committed to implementing approaches to address the funding gap for researchers from diverse backgrounds and “committed to instituting new ways to support diversity, equity, and inclusion, and identifying and dismantling any policies and practices that may harm our workforce and our science”.

This Notice is being issued to highlight interest in receiving research project applications submitted by investigators from diverse backgrounds, such as:

  1. Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis (see data at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/showpub.cfm?TopID=2&SubID=27) and the report Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering). The following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. In addition, it is recognized that underrepresentation can vary from setting to setting; individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can be demonstrated convincingly to be underrepresented by the grantee institution should be encouraged to participate in NIH programs to enhance diversity. For more information on racial and ethnic categories and definitions, see the OMB Revisions to the Standards for Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1997-10-30/html/97-28653.htm).
  1. Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended. See NSF data at, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17310/static/data/tab7-5.pdf.
  1. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who meet two or more of the following criteria:
    1. Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Definition:https://nche.ed.gov/mckinney-vento/);
    2. Were in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families (Definition:https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/focus-areas/foster-care);
    3. Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years (Definition:https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/income-eligibility-guidelines);
    4. Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (seehttps://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf);
    5. Were eligible for Federal Pell grants (Definition:https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/eligibility.html);
    6. Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child (Definition:https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-eligibility-requirements).
    7. Grew up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer (https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health),or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas(qualifying zipcodes are included in the file). Only one of the two possibilities in #7 can be used as a criterion for the disadvantaged background definition

Students from low socioeconomic (SES) status backgrounds have been shown to obtain bachelor’s and advanced degrees at significantly lower rates than students from middle and high SES groups (see https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tva.asp), and are subsequently less likely to be represented in biomedical research. For background see Department of Education data at, https://nces.ed.gov/;https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tva.asp;https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.pdf.

  1. Literature shows that women from the above backgrounds (categories A, B, and C) face particular challenges at the graduate level and beyond in scientific fields. (See, e.g., From the NIH: A Systems Approach to Increasing the Diversity of Biomedical Research Workforce https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5008902/)

This NOSI utilizes the NIH parent R01 announcement to encourage Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) from diverse backgrounds to conduct and contribute to the research areas of the NINDS. The long-term goal of this effort is to enhance diversity in the biomedical research workforce.

Application and Submission Information

This notice applies to due dates on or after June 5, 2021 and subsequent receipt dates through May 8, 2023. 

Submit applications for this initiative using one of the following funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) or any reissues of these announcement through the expiration date of this notice.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the funding opportunity announcement used for submission must be followed, with the following additions:

Applications nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will not be considered for the NOSI initiative.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to the Scientific/Research, Peer Review, and Financial/Grants Management contacts in Section VII of the listed funding opportunity announcements.

 

Link to Full Announcement

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-NS-21-049.html