Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35 - Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 19 367

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 367

The Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) is an NIH grant opportunity from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) designed to support an investigator's overall research program rather than a narrowly defined project. Offered under the R35 mechanism (clinical trial optional), it focuses on research that fits within the NIGMS mission, with the broader intent of making NIGMS funding work more efficiently for both investigators and the agency. Instead of requiring applicants to lock themselves into highly specific aims far in advance, MIRA is meant to fund the direction and momentum of a laboratory, giving the principal investigator room to adjust as science evolves.

A central theme of the program is stability. By providing more consistent support to NIGMS-funded investigators, MIRA is intended to make it easier for labs to take on ambitious problems, pursue creative approaches, and sustain productive long-term research trajectories. That stability is also framed as a practical benefit for trainees and staff, since a steadier funding environment can allow investigators to invest more time in mentorship and training, and less time scrambling between frequent grant submissions.

The opportunity also emphasizes flexibility and responsiveness. MIRA is structured to let investigators follow new leads and emerging opportunities within the NIGMS mission without being constrained by a rigid, pre-specified set of experiments. In practice, that means the award is aimed at supporting the investigator's broader scientific vision and capacity, so the lab can shift attention to promising new directions when the data point that way.

Another goal is to distribute NIGMS resources more broadly across talented and promising scientists to increase overall scientific productivity and improve the odds of major breakthroughs. The program explicitly links this to reducing administrative burden as well: by decreasing the time researchers spend writing and reviewing multiple grant applications, MIRA aims to redirect effort back toward conducting research and training people in the lab.

This funding announcement allows both new applications from eligible NIGMS-funded investigators and renewal applications from current MIRA grantees (including established investigators and early-stage MIRA awardees). In other words, it is not limited only to first-time applicants; it is also designed as a continuing mechanism for investigators already supported by MIRA to seek renewed support for their ongoing research programs.

Eligibility spans a wide range of applicant organizations that commonly participate in NIH funding. This includes public and private institutions of higher education, state and local governments, federally recognized tribal governments, certain tribal organizations, independent school districts, special district governments, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) entities outside higher education), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. The announcement also highlights categories of institutions and organizations that are eligible, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is limited. Non-U.S. organizations and non-U.S. institutions are not eligible to apply as applicants, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed when they meet the NIH definition in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S.-based applicant can include certain foreign elements of the project if they are justified and compliant with NIH policy.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed as discretionary grant funding in the health category, with CFDA number 93.859, and it is associated with NIH as the sponsoring agency. The funding opportunity number is PAR-19-367, and the original closing date shown in the source information is May 17, 2022. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided listing, which usually means applicants must rely on the full FOA text and NIH/NIGMS budget guidance for the most precise expectations about award size and program capacity.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35 - Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-05-17. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PAR 19 367

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