Award Overview

What is the NIH Director's New Innovator Award?

The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2 mechanism), established in 2007, supports highly innovative research from promising Early Stage Investigators (defined as those within 10 years of completing their terminal research degree or postgraduate clinical training and who have not yet received substantial NIH support). No detailed experimental plan or preliminary data are required. The major component of the application is a 10-page essay describing (1) the significance of the problem/challenge being addressed; (2) the general approach to be taken to address the problem/challenge; (3) why the project is unusually innovative; and (4) the qualities and experiences of the investigator that make him/her especially well-suited to pursue such research.