NICHD Resource Program Grants in Bioinformatics (P41 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 24 301

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 24 301

The NICHD Resource Program Grants in Bioinformatics (P41, Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity (PAR-24-301) is an NIH discretionary grant program designed to keep high-value bioinformatics database resources running, improving, and widely usable for researchers who study embryonic developmental processes using animal models. The core goal is not to launch entirely new short-term research projects, but to sustain and strengthen established, unique database-driven resources that the broader developmental biology community depends on. In practice, NICHD is looking to fund resources that serve as field-defining or field-enabling infrastructure: databases, associated software/tools, and supporting services that help researchers store, find, analyze, and interpret data relevant to embryonic development in model organisms.

The scope of supported work focuses on continued operation and maintenance, along with meaningful enhancements that keep the resource scientifically current and technically robust. That includes ongoing development to improve database content, functionality, performance, and user experience; routine and reliable updates; and long-term stewardship so that the resource remains stable, accurate, and accessible. Another major emphasis is dissemination and user support. Awardees are expected to make the resource broadly available, promote its use across the community, and provide user training and services such as documentation, tutorials, helpdesk-style support, workshops, webinars, or other methods that reduce barriers for new and existing users. The NOFO also highlights community-generated data: applicants should be positioned to accept, store, curate, and manage submissions from outside groups, with appropriate quality control and annotation practices to keep the data consistent and trustworthy.

Interoperability is a clear priority as well. NICHD wants these resources to work smoothly with other NIH-supported bioinformatics resources, which typically means adopting widely used data standards, persistent identifiers, and modern APIs or data exchange mechanisms. The intent is to reduce siloing and enable cross-resource discovery and integration, so users can connect datasets, annotations, and tools across platforms without needing custom, one-off workflows. Overall, the program is aimed at maximizing the practical, day-to-day utility of the database resource for the developmental biology research ecosystem, while ensuring the infrastructure can evolve as data types, methods, and community needs change.

This opportunity is administered by the National Institutes of Health under CFDA 93.865, with the activity category listed as Health, Income Security and Social Services. The funding instrument is a grant using the P41 mechanism, and the NOFO explicitly states that clinical trials are not allowed, meaning proposed activities should not include prospective assignment of human participants to interventions to study health-related outcomes. The focus here is bioinformatics infrastructure supporting animal model research on embryonic development, not clinical research.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and includes state, county, city/township, and special district governments; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other eligible entities. The NOFO also calls out additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it places firm limits on foreign involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply.

Key administrative details from the source listing include an original closing date of 2027-09-25 and a creation date of 2024-09-24. The listing does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the provided fields, so applicants would need to consult the full NOFO text for budget guidance, review criteria, and any program-specific expectations about scale, sustainability plans, governance, metrics of use/impact, and data sharing or security requirements.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NICHD Resource Program Grants in Bioinformatics (P41 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2027-09-25.
• 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 24 301

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