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November 18, 2016

Archived: New NIGMS Technology Development Program Announcements

We would like to tell you about two new technology development funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) recently published in the NIH Guide. We previously wrote about the approval of these programs by our Advisory Council. They are part of an ongoing effort to facilitate early stage, investigator-initiated work to create or improve tools for biomedical research. We think the two FOAs briefly described below will stimulate early stage technology research and development by allowing scientists to focus on making the technology work before they begin to apply those tools to biomedical research questions. Exploratory Research for Technology Development (PAR-17-046): This program will support modest 2-year R21 grants to develop a new technology or radically improve an existing one. Projects will be high-risk and have no preliminary data. The proposed technology should be justified by a significant biomedical research need, but the proposal should not include the application of the technology to a biomedical problem—it should focus on technology development. Focused Technology Research and Development (PAR-17-045): This program will support R01 grants that are entirely focused on the development of an emerging technology with a strong potential to impact biomedical research. The program will not allow inclusion of a significant biomedical research problem because the technology will not be ready for that until the project is over. These grants will be renewable only once. The deadline for the first round of applications is February 16, 2017. To help investigators determine which technology development program is right for their project, we’ve posted a decision tree on the NIGMS website. It includes descriptions of the programs designed to support all stages of technology development. We welcome questions or comments about these FOAs or our technology development programs in general.

About the Authors

Jean Chin

Before her retirement in March 2017, Jean managed research grants in membrane biochemistry and biophysics, transport and lipid metabolism, and she served as the NIGMS contact for Academic Research Enhancement Awards (R15). Her other activities included supporting the development and maintenance of research resources, such as the Lipidomics Gateway and the PSI:Biology Materials Repository.

Douglas Sheeley

Before transferring to NIH's National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in October 2017, Doug co-lead the Biomedical Technology Research Resources program and served as the program director for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study. He also was the project team leader for the NIH Common Fund Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways program.