Pilot Projects to Enhance the Human Virome Program (R03, Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA RM 25 006

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is this funding opportunity?

This is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) small pilot grant opportunity titled "Pilot Projects to Enhance the Human Virome Program (R03, Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-RM-25-006.

Which NIH effort is this opportunity connected to?

It is tied to the NIH Common Fund Human Virome Program (HVP), which is focused on building a more complete picture of the human virome (viruses associated with humans) and creating practical tools, model systems, and methods to study how the virome varies across people and how it may relate to health and disease.

What is the main purpose of these R03 pilot projects?

The purpose is to support small, targeted pilot projects that extend and strengthen the goals of the Human Virome Program (HVP). A central theme is improving the usefulness and reliability of tools emerging from the HVP by validating them, refining them, or complementing them with additional capabilities.

What does NIH mean by “enhance” rather than “duplicate” HVP work?

NIH indicates that proposed work should not overlap with ongoing HVP efforts. Projects should be additive by filling gaps, validating tools that are not yet validated, extending tools into new contexts, or addressing practical bottlenecks that the main HVP program has not already covered.

What types of projects are encouraged under this R03?

The notice describes several broad categories of encouraged projects, including: validating and improving HVP tools, models, and methods; expanding cohorts and/or adding biospecimen sampling sites to improve virome characterization; developing additional tools and methods for studying the human virome (including lab and computational approaches); and early-stage work defining interactions between the human virome and the host.

What does “validation and improvement of HVP tools” include?

This includes pilot studies that test whether an HVP method works as intended, identify limitations, refine performance, improve reliability, or make a tool easier to apply across different specimen types, populations, or research settings.

What does “expanding existing cohorts and/or adding biospecimen sampling sites” mean in this context?

It refers to efforts that improve virome characterization by increasing diversity or representativeness of sampling, adding new collection contexts, or strengthening the ability to capture variation across people or environments.

What types of “additional tools and methods” are in scope?

Examples described at a high level include laboratory methods, computational approaches, reference materials, assay optimization, and analytic pipelines that make virome characterization more accurate, reproducible, or informative.

Are projects on virome-host interactions allowed?

Yes. One encouraged area is early-stage work to define interactions between the human virome and the host, including how viruses may relate to host biology such as immune responses or other host features, as long as the work stays within the non-clinical-trial scope of this funding opportunity.

Are clinical trials allowed under this funding opportunity?

No. Clinical trials are not allowed under this opportunity, so projects should stay within tool validation, methods development, observational approaches, preclinical work, or similar non-trial activities (consistent with NIH definitions).

What grant mechanism is being used?

The mechanism is the NIH R03 small grant, intended for narrowly scoped research that can be completed relatively quickly with limited resources.

What is the maximum award amount for this R03?

The award ceiling listed is $100,000, signaling that NIH expects pilot-scale projects rather than full-scale research programs.

What resources are applicants expected to leverage?

Projects are expected to take advantage of Human Virome Program (HVP)-connected resources, particularly human specimens collected from HVP-supported cohorts. The opportunity also notes that animal samples may be used when helpful for testing, benchmarking, or translating HVP tools and approaches.

Can animal samples be included in a project?

Yes. The opportunity states that animal samples may be used when they help with testing, benchmarking, or translating HVP tools and approaches.

Is collaboration part of the program goals?

Yes. Collaboration is an explicit goal. These pilot projects are intended to encourage interaction across the HVP community and broaden participation in the consortium.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is broad and includes many U.S.-based organizations and governments, including: state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The notice also highlights additional eligible groups such as eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Are small businesses eligible?

Yes. Small businesses are listed among eligible applicants.

Are for-profit organizations eligible?

Yes. For-profit organizations other than small businesses are listed among eligible applicants, and small businesses are also listed as eligible.

Are nonprofits eligible even if they do not have 501(c)(3) status?

Yes. The eligibility description includes nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (with the caveat described in the notice regarding nonprofits that are not institutions of higher education in those categories).

Are tribal governments and tribal organizations eligible?

Yes. Federally recognized Native American tribal governments are eligible, and tribal organizations that are not federally recognized are also listed as eligible.

Are U.S. territories eligible?

Yes. U.S. territories or possessions are specifically highlighted among eligible groups.

What is the funding area and CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

This is a discretionary grant in the health funding area and is associated with CFDA 93.310.

What is the application deadline?

The original application closing date listed is 2025-11-24.

When was this opportunity record created?

The creation date for the opportunity record is 2025-09-22.

How should an applicant think about the scope of a “pilot” for this program?

Based on the R03 mechanism and the $100,000 ceiling, NIH is looking for short, focused studies that can quickly demonstrate whether a method works, uncover limitations, improve performance or usability, or expand applicability of HVP tools and approaches without proposing a full-scale research program.

What is the overall “best fit” for this opportunity?

This R03 is positioned as a focused entry point into the Human Virome Program ecosystem, supporting small projects that make HVP tools more trustworthy and usable, broaden the specimens and settings where those tools can be applied, or generate new methods for virome study, while strengthening collaboration and avoiding duplication of ongoing HVP-funded work.