The National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) announces the Limited Competition: NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program Research Education Grants Program (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed). The overarching goal of this program is to support educational activities that enhance the clinical and translational science workforce and contribute to the nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. This opportunity specifically supports research experiences to complement formal training mechanisms.
The program funds innovative educational activities with a primary focus on research experiences. Activities should focus on clinical and translational science, emphasizing the translational research process, agnostic to any specific disease. Proposed experiences must provide participants with a hands-on, full-time research opportunity for 10 to 15 weeks. Acceptable participant groups include undergraduates, graduate research and clinical students, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, and junior faculty. The program encourages proposals that extend research experiences beyond academic settings, such as industry, regulatory agencies, and patient-advocacy organizations. Applications must outline how these experiences will advance participants' careers in clinical and translational science.
Eligible applicants include institutions with active or concurrent Clinical and Translational Science Awards (UM1). Only one R25 application is allowed per institution, and applications must be submitted concurrently with or after the associated UM1 application. Partnering institutions are not eligible to apply independently. Institutional support, including staff, facilities, and resources, must be demonstrated. The program encourages recruitment of participants and faculty from underrepresented groups as outlined in NIH’s diversity policies.
The funding limits include a maximum budget of $100,000 in direct costs per year, with a project period not exceeding five years. Allowable costs include participant salaries, travel, housing stipends, and research-related expenses. Institutional personnel costs must align with the number of participants. Indirect costs are reimbursed at eight percent of modified total direct costs. The program does not permit full-time participant support for a continuous 12-month period.
The application process includes submission through Grants.gov or NIH ASSIST, with compliance to the NIH Application Guide. Applicants must submit a letter of institutional support, a coordination and integration plan describing how the R25 program aligns with the UM1, and an evaluation plan for program outcomes. Recruitment strategies to enhance diversity must be detailed, and the plan for instruction in responsible conduct of research is mandatory.
Applications will be reviewed based on significance, investigator qualifications, innovation, approach, and institutional environment. Additional considerations include diversity recruitment, protections for human subjects, and rigor in reproducibility training. Successful applications will demonstrate a clear, innovative strategy for providing meaningful research experiences, coordinated integration with the UM1 program, and robust evaluation metrics to assess program success.
Applications are due on March 13, 2025, May 28, 2025, and subsequent standard NIH due dates through May 28, 2027. Awards are contingent on the associated UM1 award and availability of funds. For additional information, prospective applicants can contact NCATS program officials or refer to the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
