HRHR Award Decision Tool Which Award Is Right For You? Click the button to use the decision tool to find the right award for you. Start Launch Independent Research Career 1. Are you looking to bypass postdoctoral training and launch your own independent research program? * Yes No Eligibility Window 2. Will you graduate with your doctoral degree or complete your clinical training sometime between June 1, 2020 and September 30, 2022? * Yes No Postdoctoral Time Limit 3. Before completing your latest doctoral degree or clinical training, were you ever a postdoc for 12 months or more? * Yes No Non-Independence Requirement 4. Are you currently in a non-independent position, meaning all the following are true at the time of application submission? * 1. Your research agenda is set through concurrence with mentors. 2. Your research is funded primarily through support to other investigators (not including mentored fellowships). 3. You do not have assigned research space from your institution. 4. You cannot apply for an NIH R01 without a special waiver from the institution. Yes No Host Institution 5. Do you have a domestic U.S. institution willing to support you and provide you with a future independent research position? And are you one of the two possible candidates selected by the institution to apply? * Yes No Effort Commitment 6. Are you able to commit 9.6 months each year towards the grant project for the first 2 years and 9.6 months towards independent research in general for the final 3 years of a 5-year project period? * Yes No Early Independence Award Enables outstanding early career scientists to move rapidly into independent research positions by skipping the traditional postdoc Single PI only Must complete doctoral degree or clinical training between June 1, 2020 and September 30, 2022 Must be in non-independent research position at time of application submission Limit of 2 applications per institution Preliminary data not required Requires 9.6 months of research effort each year for first 2 years Requires 3-5 Letters of Reference $250,000 direct costs per year for up to 5 years Learn More Not Eligible You are not eligible for any of the initiatives in the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Check out the NIH Grants & Funding website for more funding opportunities. Independent Research Position 8. Do you have an independent research position that allows you to apply for NIH R01s? * Yes No Domestic U.S. Institution 9. Is your institution a domestic U.S. institution? * Yes No Multiple PIs 10. Do you want to submit a multiple-PI application? * Yes No Award Focus 11. Are you interested in an award heavily focused on the qualifications of the PI or an award that is more project-focused? * PI-Focused Project-Focused Early Stage Investigator 12. Do you have Early Stage Investigator status, meaning the following are true? * 1. You are within 10 years of receiving your doctoral degree or completing your clinical training. 2. You have not yet received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant. Yes No Early Stage Investigators Only 13. Do you want to apply to an initiative that is only open to Early Stage Investigators? * Yes No Innovation 14. Do you have a highly innovative research idea with the potential for major impact? * Yes No Effort Commitment 15. Can you commit at least 25% research effort towards the grant project? * Yes No New Innovator Award Supports unusually creative early career investigators proposing innovative, high-impact research Single PI only Must be Early Stage InvestigatorWithin 10 years of completing doctoral degree or clinical training Never received NIH R01 or equivalent grant No preliminary data required Minimum of 25% research effort $1.5 million disbursed in first year of 5-year project period Learn More Unconventional Research 17. Do you have a groundbreaking, unconventional research idea with the potential to create new scientific paradigms? * Yes No Transformative Research Award Supports exceptionally innovative or unconventional research projects with the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms Open to all career stages Open to individuals or teams No preliminary data required Research effort commensurate to project needs Anonymized review process Flexible budgets No prior approval required for large budget requests Learn More You are not eligible for any of the initiatives in the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Check out the NIH Grants & Funding website for more funding opportunities. You are not eligible for any of the initiatives in the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Check out the NIH Grants & Funding website for more funding opportunities. Research Record 19. Do you have strong qualifications and an outstanding record of creativity? * Yes No New Research Direction 20. Are you proposing a new research direction with substantially different ideas from those being pursued in your current research program or elsewhere? * Yes No Effort Commitment 21. Can you commit at least 51% research effort to the grant project for the first 3 years of the 5-year project period? * Yes No Pioneer Award Supports individual scientists with outstanding records of creativity proposing pioneering approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research Open to all career stages Single PI only Must be new scientific research direction Minimum of 51% research effort in first 3 years Requires 3 letters of reference $700,000 in direct costs per year for up to 5 years Learn More You are not eligible for any of the initiatives in the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Check out the NIH Grants & Funding website for more funding opportunities.
