NCMRR Early Career Research Award (R03 Clinical Trial Optional)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), offers the NCMRR Early Career Research (ECR) Award (R03 Clinical Trial Optional) to support the development of independent rehabilitation scientists. This funding opportunity specifically focuses on early-career researchers whose work aligns with the mission of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR). It aims to facilitate the collection of sufficient preliminary data that can form the foundation of future R01 applications. The R03 mechanism offers a small grant designed to support discrete, well-defined projects that can be completed in a two-year period. The program is tailored for early-stage investigators conducting basic or clinical research in the rehabilitation sciences. It supports a wide range of research focus areas within the NCMRR’s mission, including pathophysiology and management of chronically injured systems (e.g., stroke, spinal cord injury), motor function recovery, neuroplasticity, pharmaceutical and technological rehabilitation strategies, pediatric rehabilitation, and assistive technology development. The funding opportunity allows for hypothesis-driven, discovery-driven, or technology design-directed projects. The inclusion of preliminary data is not mandatory but allowed, and applicants are expected to produce work that positions them well for future R01-level research. One distinguishing requirement of this R03 funding opportunity is the mandatory submission of a “Plan for Inclusion of People with Lived Experience (PWLE)” as a one-page document. This plan must detail how the research will incorporate the perspectives of individuals with disabilities or relevant lived experiences. This element is a required part of both the scientific review and programmatic funding decision-making process. Projects must also comply with NIH policies on data sharing, particularly for clinical research, and investigators are encouraged to use standardized data elements and to deposit clinical datasets in the NICHD DASH repository. The funding parameters stipulate that the total direct costs must not exceed $200,000 over the project period, with no more than $100,000 in any single year. The maximum project duration is two years. Clinical trials are optional under this NOFO, but those proposed must be early-stage, such as Phase I or feasibility studies. Later-stage trials, such as Phase II and beyond, or those focused on treatment efficacy, are not eligible. Ineligible research areas include projects focusing solely on cognitive rehabilitation without physical components, sports medicine for non-disabled populations, and animal model development. Eligible applicants include a wide range of U.S. and non-U.S. entities, including institutions of higher education, nonprofits, for-profit entities, local and tribal governments, and foreign organizations. To qualify, Principal Investigators must be independent researchers within eight years of receiving their most recent terminal degree and cannot have served as PD/PI on significant NIH or equivalent awards. Applicants currently supported by mentored K awards may apply, provided NIH effort requirements are maintained. Only one application per PD/PI per due date is permitted. Applications are accepted on a recurring basis using NIH’s standard R03 due dates: February 16, June 16, and October 16 annually, through January 2028. The earliest submission date for this NOFO is January 16, 2025. Applications must be submitted electronically via NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or institutional system-to-system platforms. Registration in several federal systems is required prior to submission, including SAM.gov, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov. All applications must conform strictly to the application guide and program-specific instructions. Review of applications is conducted by NICHD through peer review panels and includes an overall impact score, scored review factors (Significance, Innovation, Approach), and additional criteria related to protections for human subjects, data sharing plans, and budget justification. Award decisions will consider peer review scores, alignment with program priorities, and availability of funds. Questions regarding eligibility and proposal alignment are encouraged prior to submission and should be directed to the program contact, Dr. Maria Nurminskaya (maria.nurminskaya@nih.gov).

Applicants should explicitly show how R03 work will support a future R01; inclusion of people with lived experience is mandatory and must be detailed meaningfully; research scope must align with NCMRR mission to avoid being marked non-responsive.