Pilot Projects Enhancing Utility and Usage of Common Fund Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), under the Department of Health and Human Services, intends to release a funding opportunity announcement titled "Pilot Projects Enhancing Utility and Usage of Common Fund Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)", identified as NOT-RM-25-015. This initiative is managed by the Office of Strategic Coordination within the Office of the NIH Director and seeks to enhance the value and usability of various data sets produced through the NIH Common Fund. The opportunity is part of the federal government's discretionary funding efforts focused on supporting biomedical and health-related research. The forthcoming Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) aims to foster new research that leverages multiple Common Fund (CF) data sets, with an emphasis on pilot projects. The overarching goal is to demonstrate and increase the practical utility of these data sets by encouraging projects that integrate, analyze, and innovate upon the datasets to address pressing biomedical questions. Eligible projects may include analysis across two or more CF datasets and special categories for MoTrPAC-only projects. Researchers are also permitted to incorporate other publicly available non-CF data sets to broaden analytical scope. The intention is to generate exploratory or validation data that may support further research applications in the future. The funding will support the development of workflows, simulation tools, and analytic platforms that facilitate the integrated analysis of multiple CF data sources. Additionally, up to 20 percent of the requested direct budget may be allocated to experimental approaches that explore or validate computational findings. This approach underscores NIH's commitment to promoting translational science that bridges the gap between big data and actionable health outcomes. This NOFO does not permit clinical trials, maintaining its focus solely on data-driven and analytical approaches. NIH anticipates making approximately 13 awards under this program, with an estimated total funding pool of $4,000,000. Specific award ceilings and floors have not been announced in the forecast. Applications are expected to open on September 19, 2025, and the closing date for submissions will be November 19, 2025. Awards are projected to be made by July 1, 2026, with the same date set for project start. The opportunity is open to a broad range of applicants including state and local governments, educational institutions, public housing authorities, tribal governments and organizations, small and for-profit businesses, and nonprofit organizations. More specifically, eligible entities include county and state governments, public and private institutions of higher education, independent school districts, nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions), public housing authorities, Native American tribal governments (both federally recognized and not), small businesses, and for-profit entities. Contact for this grant opportunity is George Papanicolaou at the NIH Office of Strategic Coordination, reachable at george.papanicolaou@nih.gov or by phone at 301-402-7617. While the notice is still in the forecast stage, applicants are encouraged to begin planning and engaging with the data sets referenced to be best positioned for submission once the opportunity opens. The opportunity is forecasted as of June 30, 2025.