NIDA Core "Center of Excellence" Grant Program (P30 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 18 225

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 225

The NIDA Core "Center of Excellence" Grant Program uses the NIH P30 center mechanism to support a coordinated, core-based research hub focused on drug abuse and addiction. The central idea is to bring together investigators who already hold active research support (from NIH and/or other federal, state, local, philanthropic, or other non-federal sources) and make their collective work stronger and more impactful through shared infrastructure, coordinated scientific direction, and intentional integration across projects. Rather than funding a collection of loosely related studies, the program is designed to create a true center with an organizing scientific theme and shared resources that allow investigators to do work they could not do as effectively on their own.

A key expectation is that the Center meaningfully transforms knowledge in its scientific area. The opportunity is explicitly not aimed at incremental progress or routine extensions of ongoing work. Instead, NIDA is signaling that it wants applications that leverage existing funded projects as a platform for new, creative directions in drug abuse and addiction research. In practice, that means the proposed cores and center activities should be designed to accelerate innovation, enable cross-project collaboration, and open up new lines of inquiry or new capabilities (for example, shared methods, harmonized datasets, advanced analytics, specialized clinical/research infrastructure, dissemination resources, or other center-wide assets). Each core is expected to clearly connect back to the center's integrating theme and to demonstrably improve the productivity, quality, or reach of the affiliated research projects.

The program also emphasizes community-building and field-building. Centers are expected to provide research opportunities and experiences for new investigators, which commonly includes structured mentoring, pilot opportunities, access to shared tools and expertise, and pathways for early-career researchers to plug into the center's ecosystem. Another major expectation is responsible sharing of findings, data, and resources. NIDA is looking for centers that do not operate as closed silos, but instead contribute to broader progress by making outputs available in ways that are consistent with program goals and NIH policies.

This is a discretionary grant opportunity administered by the National Institutes of Health, specifically NIDA, and it is identified under Funding Opportunity Number PAR 18 225 and CFDA 93.279. The activity area is categorized under Education and Health, and the funding instrument is a grant using the P30 core center model. The title notes "Clinical Trial Optional," which indicates that the program can accommodate applications that include clinical trial activity when appropriate, but it is not inherently limited to clinical trials; applicants can propose a center that is clinical-trial focused, trial-enabled, or not trial-based depending on the scientific plan and NIDA requirements for the specific application.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governments. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and 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/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education where applicable); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other eligible entities. The opportunity also highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISI institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, tribal governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the opportunity draws a firm boundary around foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply. Non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. In addition, foreign components, as NIH defines them in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed. These restrictions mean the applicant organization and the proposed center activities must be structured so that the work and the organizational components funded under the award remain domestic under NIH rules.

The opportunity record lists an original closing date of 2020-01-07 and a creation date of 2017-11-30, and it does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided source text. Overall, the program is best understood as NIDA support for a high-impact, theme-driven research center that uses shared cores to integrate and amplify existing funded projects, deliberately pushes into innovative directions in addiction science, trains and supports new investigators, and shares outputs and resources to advance the field.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIDA Core "Center of Excellence" Grant Program (P30 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-01-07. (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 18 225

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