The NIH Directors Pioneer Award Program supports individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose highly innovative and potentially transformative research towards the ultimate goal of enhancing human health. For the program to support the best possible researchers and research, applications are sought which reflect the full diversity of the research workforce. Individuals from diverse backgrounds and from the full spectrum of eligible institutions in all geographic locations are strongly encouraged to apply to this Funding Opportunity Announcement.
In addition, applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH are welcome, including, but not limited to, topics in the behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. To be considered pioneering, the proposed research must reflect substantially different scientific directions from those already being pursued in the investigators research program or elsewhere. The NIH Directors Pioneer Award is a component of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program of the NIH Common Fund.
In the Pioneer Award program, emphases are on the qualities of the investigator, the innovativeness, and potential impact of the proposed research. Preliminary data and detailed experimental plans are not requested. To be considered pioneering, the proposed research must reflect substantially different ideas from those being pursued in the investigator’s current research program or elsewhere. The Pioneer Award is not intended to expand a current research program into the area of the proposed project. While the research direction may rely on the applicant’s prior work and expertise as its foundation, it cannot be an obvious extension or scale-up of a current research enterprise. Rather, the proposed project must reflect a fundamental new insight which may involve exceptionally innovative approaches and/or radically unconventional hypotheses. Applications for projects that are straightforward extensions of ongoing research should not be submitted.
Pioneer awardees are required to commit the major portion (more than 6 person-months or at least 51%) to activities supported by the Pioneer Award research project in the first three years of the project period. Effort expended toward teaching, administrative, or clinical duties should not be included in this calculation. Awardees may reduce effort to a minimum of 4 person-months (33%) and a minimum of 3 person-months (25%) in the fourth and fifth years, respectively, to help them transition to other sources of support since Pioneer Awards cannot be renewed. Applicants with current research commitments equal to 6 person-months or more must adjust their effort on existing grants during the award period to devote the required minimum effort to the Pioneer Award project. Investigators who will not be able to meet this requirement should not submit applications.
