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Simpler Grants

No. PAR-25-122 · National Institutes of Health

Open

Pilot Projects Investigating Understudied Proteins Associated with Rare Diseases (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Dealbreakers No cost share required Audit: not stated
Not reimbursement-only
“Grant: A financial assistance mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.” — From the announcement
Award range
Up to $100,000
Expected awards
Not specified
Application deadline
Nov 16, 2027
Posted
Oct 28, 2024
Last verified
Yesterday

At a glance

AI summary

This program funds small one-year pilot or feasibility projects that generate preliminary data and tools to study understudied proteins linked to rare diseases. It is open to a wide range of U.S. and foreign-eligible organizations, including nonprofits, universities, governments, small businesses, and tribal organizations, but foreign organizations and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. Awards are limited to $100,000 in direct costs for one year, and the number of awards depends on NIH appropriations and the number of meritorious applications. No cost sharing is required. Applications must focus on one or more of the listed eligible proteins and a rare disease, and clinical trials, clinical drug development studies, and applications not focused on rare diseases will not be reviewed.

AI-generated summary — verify against the announcement

What it funds

  • Health
  • Research & Discovery
  • Other / needs-review
  • Biomedical & Disease Research
Official description from grants.gov

The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is to solicit applications for pilot projects to elucidate a role for understudied proteins in rare disease. Awards will support generation of preliminary data and/or tools around eligible understudied protein(s). A list of eligible proteins is provided and are members of druggable protein families that have a known association with a rare disease. This NOFO is intended to jumpstart research on understudied proteins that are associated with rare diseases and provide applicants with sufficient funding to perform basic biochemical and/or biological work to further the characterization of understudied proteins within the context of rare disease.

Who can apply

  • City or township governments
  • County governments
  • For-profit organizations other than small businesses
  • Independent school districts
  • Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
  • Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized)
  • Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
  • Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
  • Others
  • Private institutions of higher education
  • Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
  • Public housing authorities / Indian housing authorities
  • Small businesses
  • Special district governments
  • State governments
Geographic restriction None found in the announcement — likely nationwide

Program history

USASpending.gov

Assistance listing 93.121 · Oral Diseases and Disorders Research

Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.121), not just this notice.

Fiscal year Awards Median award Middle half
FY 2026 (so far) 155 $429,000 $306,500 – $571,863
FY 2025 277 $429,000 $310,295 – $829,259
FY 2024 301 $491,193 $310,985 – $1,283,003
FY 2023 320 $444,000 $298,673 – $1,756,575
FY 2022 295
FY 2021 305

For comparison, this notice advertises Up to $100,000.

Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 1,653 — award counts are complete.

Who wins it Higher education (1,224), Nonprofit (242), Business (71) of 1,653 awards — categories can overlap.
Top states CA (124) · PA (83) · MA (82) · NY (70) · TX (35)
Largest recent awards
  1. TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, THE $6,128,166 · FY 2023
  2. THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION $4,961,133 · FY 2023
  3. RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK $4,002,156 · FY 2023
  4. DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE, INC. $3,742,682 · FY 2025
  5. TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY $3,736,064 · FY 2023

Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 16, 2026

Assistance listing 93.173 · Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders

Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.173), not just this notice.

Fiscal year Awards Median award Middle half
FY 2026 (so far) 170 $416,419 $134,042 – $648,731
FY 2025 238 $418,797 $187,647 – $1,008,401
FY 2024 283 $464,268 $152,978 – $1,268,772
FY 2023 260 $689,002 $272,758 – $1,868,608
FY 2022 286 $570,000 $145,264 – $2,113,099
FY 2021 246

For comparison, this notice advertises Up to $100,000.

Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 1,483 — award counts are complete.

Who wins it Higher education (1,127), Nonprofit (192), Business (83) of 1,483 awards — categories can overlap.
Top states MA (107) · CA (101) · NY (89) · PA (78) · MD (30)
Largest recent awards
  1. REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA $4,621,171 · FY 2022
  2. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES $4,589,310 · FY 2023
  3. THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY $4,474,844 · FY 2022
  4. OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY $3,863,432 · FY 2022
  5. THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY $3,579,023 · FY 2022

Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 16, 2026

Assistance listing 93.242 · Mental Health Research Grants

Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.242), not just this notice.

Fiscal year Awards Median award Middle half
FY 2026 (so far) 491 $451,000 $167,702 – $811,948
FY 2025 600 $731,738 $320,544 – $1,460,736
FY 2024 883
FY 2023 898
FY 2022 986
FY 2021 945

For comparison, this notice advertises Up to $100,000.

Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 4,803 — award counts are complete.

Who wins it Higher education (3,532), Nonprofit (816), Business (215) of 4,803 awards — categories can overlap.
Top states CA (166) · NY (127) · MA (104) · PA (79) · IL (22)
Largest recent awards
  1. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY $21,714,815 · FY 2025
  2. OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, THE $19,515,757 · FY 2025
  3. ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE $18,270,924 · FY 2025
  4. DUKE UNIVERSITY $15,039,330 · FY 2025
  5. ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI $12,007,972 · FY 2026

Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 6, 2026

Assistance listing 93.350 · National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.350), not just this notice.

Fiscal year Awards Median award Middle half
FY 2026 (so far) 106 $427,386 $166,500 – $755,137
FY 2025 110 $427,602 $178,000 – $1,833,042
FY 2024 137 $463,150 $176,720 – $2,139,478
FY 2023 131 $363,189 $155,500 – $3,024,000
FY 2022 106 $438,741 $156,117 – $1,906,971
FY 2021 76 $324,197 $28,713 – $1,276,814

For comparison, this notice advertises Up to $100,000.

Who wins it Higher education (344), Business (161), Nonprofit (137) of 666 awards — categories can overlap.
Top states CA (74) · NY (48) · NC (38) · MA (36) · PA (28)
Largest recent awards
  1. ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI $46,369,962 · FY 2022
  2. TRUSTEES OF TUFTS COLLEGE $44,451,810 · FY 2023
  3. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE $43,319,327 · FY 2023
  4. REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN $39,816,036 · FY 2023
  5. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER $39,349,638 · FY 2021

Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 30, 2026

Assistance listing 93.853 · Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders

Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.853), not just this notice.

Fiscal year Awards Median award Middle half
FY 2026 (so far) 654 $405,461 $120,825 – $587,738
FY 2025 923 $491,085 $157,949 – $1,077,840
FY 2024 1,031
FY 2023 1,194
FY 2022 1,228
FY 2021 1,132

For comparison, this notice advertises Up to $100,000.

Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 6,162 — award counts are complete.

Who wins it Higher education (4,669), Nonprofit (990), Business (259) of 6,162 awards — categories can overlap.
Top states CA (153) · NY (99) · MA (93) · PA (74) · TX (39)
Largest recent awards
  1. THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY $5,747,701 · FY 2025
  2. YALE UNIV $4,888,497 · FY 2025
  3. MAYO CLINIC $3,746,535 · FY 2026
  4. REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE $3,153,019 · FY 2025
  5. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES $3,109,857 · FY 2025

Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 23, 2026

Assistance listing 93.855 · Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research

Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.855), not just this notice.

Fiscal year Awards Median award Middle half
FY 2026 (so far) 1,817 $295,722 $146,402 – $737,210
FY 2025 1,596
FY 2024 1,720
FY 2023 1,711
FY 2022 1,576
FY 2021 1,857

For comparison, this notice advertises Up to $100,000.

Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 10,277 — award counts are complete.

Who wins it Higher education (7,336), Nonprofit (1,735), Business (694) of 10,277 awards — categories can overlap.
Top states CA (122) · MA (85) · NY (78) · PA (69) · TX (47)
Largest recent awards
  1. SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE $3,679,976 · FY 2026
  2. REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE $3,499,366 · FY 2026
  3. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON $3,414,775 · FY 2026
  4. UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA $3,389,992 · FY 2026
  5. ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE $3,204,071 · FY 2026

Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 23, 2026