High-Risk Research - Table

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Comparison of High-Risk, High-Reward Research Awards
	Pioneer Award	New Innovator Award	Transformative Research Award	Early Independence Award
Target Group	Individuals of exceptional creativity proposing pioneering approaches	Individual early stage investigators of exceptional creativity proposing research with uncommonly high impact potential	Individuals or teams proposing transformative research that may require very large budgets	Outstanding junior scientists wishing to "skip the postdoc" and immediately begin independent research
Eligibility	Open to all career stages	Receipt of most recent doctoral degree (e.g., PhD, MD, DDS, DVM, PharmD, or equivalent) or completion of postgraduate clinical training no more than 10 years prior to application submission date Must be a "new investigator" (never been awarded an NIH R01 or equivalent grant)	Open to all career stages	Must receive terminal research degree or complete postgraduate clinical training within previous 15 months or expect to do so within following 12 months of application submission date Maximum of two applications per institution (or grant submitting entity) Must be in non-independent position at time of application
Preliminary Data	Not required; may be included	Not required; may be included	Not required; may be included	Not required; may be included
Research Strategy	5-page limit; respond to questions about the challenge, potential impact, suitability for the award, investigator's innovativeness, and how the research qualifies as new research direction	10-page limit; respond to questions about significance and potential impact, innovativeness of approach, how risks and challenges will be addressed, suitability for the award, and investigator qualifications	12-page limit; respond to questions about the challenge, innovativeness of approach, potential impact, and appropriateness for the award	12-page limit; respond to questions about the challenge, innovativeness of approach, investigator's qualifications, and plans for development; in addition, host institution must provide details of commitment
Reference Letters	3 letters required	None accepted	None accepted	3-5 letters required
Effort	Major portion (at least 51%) of research effort must be devoted to activities supported by the award for first 3 years, followed by 33% effort in year 4, and 25% effort in year 5	Minimum of 25% research effort must be devoted to activities supported by the award	Effort should be commensurate with project needs and follow general guidelines for other NIH projects of similar size, complexity, and duration	9.6-person months (80% effort) must be devoted to award project for first 2 years, followed by 9.6-person months towards independent research in general
Budget	No detailed budget information submitted Awards of $700,000 per year for each of 5 years, plus standard F&A (indirect) costs	Minimal budget information submitted Awards of $1.5 million split into two multi-year segments during the 5 year project period, plus standard F&A (indirect) costs	No limit on budget up to maximum funds available for the entire initiative No prior approval required for budgets over $500,000 in direct costs in any year 5 year project period	Awards up to $250,000 per year for 5 years, plus standard F&A (indirect) costs
Multiple PIs	Only one PD/PI may be designated on the application	Only one PD/PI may be designated on the application	More than one PD/PI allowed	Only one PD/PI may be designated on the application
Review Format	Multi-phased, "editorial board," interview of finalists	Multi-phased, "editorial board"	Multi-phased, "editorial board," anonymized review being piloted	Multi-phased, "editorial board"
Website	commonfund.nih.gov /pioneer	commonfund.nih.gov /newinnovator	commonfund.nih.gov /TRA	commonfund.nih.gov /earlyindependence
Contact Email	PioneerAwards@ mail.nih.gov	NewInnovatorAwards@ mail.nih.gov	Transformative_Awards@ mail.nih.gov	EarlyIndependence@ od.nih.gov

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This page last reviewed on September 12, 2023

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