Grants8 | The most comprehensive grants search on the web

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Grant Purpose and Target

Core Objective: Foster excellence in cancer research and facilitate the translation of scientific discoveries into improved prevention, diagnosis, and therapy by supporting NCI-designated Cancer Centers.
Target Recipient Type and Size: Established NCI-designated Cancer Centers or institutions with substantial existing cancer research funding aiming for NCI designation.
Designation: SECTOR-SPECIFIC (Healthcare/Cancer Research).
Geographic Scope and Location Requirements: Limited to institutions within the United States.
Key Filtering Criteria: Applicant must be a research institution with a significant existing base of NIH-funded cancer-focused research ($6,000,000 or $10,000,000 in direct annual costs, depending on Center type), or be an existing NCI-designated Cancer Center.
Grant Frequency and Program Context: This is a recurring grant, a reissue of a previous funding opportunity (PAR-20-043), indicating a continuous program to support the infrastructure of top cancer research institutions.

Financial Structure

Budget Range: Application budgets are not limited, but they must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
Eligible Costs:
- Central administration for resources, services, fiscal management, and reporting.
- Salaries for the chief administrator, secretarial staff, Center-specific travel, and supplies for administrative functions.
- Partial salary support for staff linking with state health departments, CDC, or an informatics lead.
- Support for Shared Resources' operating costs (salaries of key personnel, small equipment maintenance contracts, service contracts, minimal supplies, replacement of small equipment up to $25,000).
- Developmental Funds for:
  - Recruitment packages (staff, technicians, grad students, postdocs) for new faculty-level scientists to initiate research programs (cannot cover recruitment process costs, training, or large equipment purchases).
  - Pilot projects (innovative, high-risk, underserved populations, new technologies, early phase clinical trials).
  - Purchase of peer-reviewed shared services from other NCI-designated Cancer Centers.
  - Salary support for Staff Investigators (Research, Clinical, Special Populations) who contribute beyond their individual research.
  - Salary support (up to 20% effort per investigator) for Early Stage Clinical Investigators (non-tenured, assistant professor level or lower).
- Salary support for individuals in pivotal leadership positions in the Center.
- Budgetary support for planning and evaluation activities (e.g., external advisory committee, scientific/technical consultants, seminar series, retreats).
- Clinical Protocol and Data Management (CPDM) staff and activities (e.g., protocol analysis, trial activation, data submission to CTRP).
- Protocol Review and Monitoring System (PRMS) personnel, administrative support, equipment, and supplies.
Ineligible Costs:
- Non-research educational activities, public relations, fundraising, general grant application/manuscript preparation.
- Duplication of parent institution responsibilities (services normally covered by indirect costs or provided to other research units).
- Duplication of costs for NIH training awards.
- Developmental Funds cannot pay for training, routine equipment purchases, upgrades for established Shared Resources, or salary support for Senior/Program leaders or Shared Resource personnel. They cannot be used to develop new Shared Resources (these can be proposed under Shared Resource Management).
Matching Fund Requirements: Not explicitly required as 'cost sharing' but significant institutional financial and in-kind commitments are expected, especially for consortium partners (e.g., direct financial support, discretionary funds, protected research time, leadership positions, physical space).
Co-financing: Not a mandatory requirement for applicants to provide co-financing beyond the substantial institutional commitment mentioned.
Payment Schedule: Not detailed, but the grant mechanism is a 'Grant' providing money or property.
Financial Reporting: Required through specific data tables (e.g., DT5 for budget) and other financial documentation as part of the application and ongoing reporting.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Eligibility

Eligible Organization Types:
- Higher Education Institutions (Public/State Controlled, Private)
- Nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) IRS Status)
- Governments (State, County, City, Township, Special District, Indian/Native American Tribal Governments - Federally Recognized and Other, U.S. Territory or Possession)
- Other: Independent School Districts, Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities, Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Faith-based or Community-based Organizations, Regional Organizations.
Specific to this FOA: Applicant must be, or qualify to become, an NCI-designated Cancer Center.

Financial Qualifications

New (Type 1) applications: Must have a funding base of $10,000,000 (Clinical Cancer Centers) or $6,000,000 (Basic Cancer Centers) in annual direct costs of NIH funding that is cancer-focused (as defined by RCDC).
Renewal (Type 2) applications: Must have a funding base of at least $10,000,000 in annual direct costs of peer-reviewed, cancer-related funding.

Geographic Location Requirements

Only U.S. organizations are eligible to apply. Foreign institutions or non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible.
Foreign components (as defined by NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed within the grant activities.

Partnership or Consortium Requirements

Consortium arrangements: Only Renewal (Type 2) applications may propose new consortium arrangements; these must be fully functioning at the time of application. Type 1 applications cannot propose consortium arrangements.
Clinical consortium partners: Must hold at least $2.5 million in direct cost NIH-funded cancer research grants from a minimum of 10 PD/PIs.
Non-clinical consortium partners: Must hold at least $1.0 million in direct cost NIH-funded cancer research grants from a minimum of 5 PD/PIs.
A formal, written Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is required for consortiums, ensuring stability and integration.

Registration and Compliance

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain active registrations with: Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS), System for Award Management (SAM), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs) must have an eRA Commons account affiliated with the applicant organization.
Only one application per institution is allowed, identified by a unique DUNS number or NIH IPF number.

Application Process

Application Deadlines and Submission

Application Due Date: The final expiration date is January 08, 2026.
Submission Time: Applications must be submitted by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
Early Submission: Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit early to allow time for corrections.
Weekend/Holiday Rule: If the due date falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Submission Procedure

Application Access: Forms must be accessed through the NIH ASSIST system or an institutional system-to-system (S2S) solution.
Submission Platform: Applications are submitted to Grants.gov.
Tracking: Applicants must track the status of their application in eRA Commons, NIH's electronic system for grants administration.
Error Correction: NIH and Grants.gov systems check applications upon submission. Any errors must be corrected, and a changed/corrected application resubmitted by the due date.

Required Documentation and Materials

Application Guide: Applicants must follow the Multi-Project (M) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, along with any program-specific instructions.
Required Components:
- Overall Component: Includes Director's Overview, Six Essential Characteristics (Physical Space, Organizational Capabilities, Transdisciplinary Collaboration and Coordination, Cancer Focus, Institutional Commitment, Center Director), Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan, Resource Sharing Plan, Letters of Support, and various data tables (DT1, DT2A, DT2B, DT3, DT4, DT5 for Renewal applications).
- Admin Core (Cancer Center Administration).
- Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC) Core.
- Research Programs (Projects): Each program requires a narrative, data on externally funded projects, member lists, collaborations, and selected publications.
- CCSG Component: Specific components for Community Outreach and Engagement (for Clinical and Comprehensive Centers), Developmental Funds, Shared Resource Management, Leadership, Planning and Evaluation, Clinical Protocol and Data Management (for Clinical and Comprehensive Centers), and Protocol Review and Monitoring System (for Clinical and Comprehensive Centers).
- SR Component (Shared Resources).
Data Tables: Specific data tables (DT1-DT5) are required to provide detailed information on leadership, funding, patient data, clinical protocols, and budgets. Some tables (e.g., DT4) require data from the Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP).
Consortium Applications: Require a table of partner locations, separate funding listings (DT2A) for each partner, and a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU.pdf).
Biographical Sketches: A single biographical sketch for each Senior/Key person must be included.

Pre-Application Requirements

Registration: Organizations must complete DUNS, SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov registrations well in advance (can take 6+ weeks).

Support Available

This grant provides funding to support the infrastructure of NCI-designated Cancer Centers.

Evaluation Criteria

Overall Scientific Merit and Impact

Demonstrated strength in six essential characteristics of an NCI-designated Cancer Center:
- Physical Space: Appropriateness and adequacy of dedicated facilities for cancer research, Shared Resources, and administration.
- Organizational Capabilities: Effective promotion of collaborative scientific interactions and efficient administrative organization.
- Transdisciplinary Collaboration and Coordination: Substantial coordination, interaction, and collaboration among Center members and with external partners, enhancing research productivity and quality.
- Cancer Focus: Clear demonstration of cancer research focus through Research Programs, members' grants, publications, and collaborations.
- Institutional Commitment: Evidence of superior organizational status, sufficient funding, space, positions, and long-term stable support from the parent institution(s).
- Center Director: Qualifications, leadership experience, and effectiveness in managing the Center and advancing its scientific mission.

Quality of Research Programs and Productivity

Each formal Research Program should be highly interactive, focused on cancer research, and have adequate size and quality for significant scientific impact.
Research Programs must typically include at least seven fully cancer-focused, peer-reviewed funded research projects (equivalent to an NIH R01, meaning $125,000 direct costs per year for at least three years) from a minimum of five different, independent PD/PIs.
Evidence of collaborative research projects, joint publications, and other meaningful interchanges.
Effectiveness of scientific leadership within each Program.

Translational and Clinical Impact

Ability to facilitate movement of scientific findings through the translational pipeline (e.g., from basic to clinical development).
For Clinical and Comprehensive Cancer Centers: Quality and impact of clinical research, including accrual to clinical trials (national, institutional, industry-sponsored) and inclusion of diverse populations (women, minorities, individuals across the lifespan).
Relevance of research to the Center's catchment area.

Community Outreach and Engagement (for Clinical and Comprehensive Centers)

Scope, quality, and impact of activities in engaging the community and reducing the cancer burden within the defined catchment area.
Thorough analysis of demographics and cancer burden in the catchment area.
Partnerships with healthcare systems and community agencies for dissemination of evidence-based findings.

Infrastructure and Administrative Effectiveness

Effectiveness of centralized Shared Resources in enhancing scientific interaction and productivity, ensuring stability, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and quality control.
Rigor of processes for soliciting, reviewing, and selecting pilot projects and allocating Developmental Funds.
Soundness of Clinical Protocol and Data Management (CPDM) for central oversight of clinical trials.
Rigor of Protocol Review and Monitoring System (PRMS) for scientific oversight of all cancer clinical studies.
Robustness of Data and Safety Monitoring (DSM) for clinical trials.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Adherence to NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Compliance with updates to Non-Discrimination Legal Requirements for NIH Recipients (as per NOT-OD-21-181).
Applications must meet all SF424 (R&R) Application Guide requirements; non-compliance may lead to delays or rejection.

Data and Privacy Regulations

Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan is required for all applications involving generation of scientific data.
All applications, regardless of direct costs, must address a Data Sharing Plan.
Compliance with NIH requirements for human subjects research, clinical research, and NIH-defined clinical trials (using the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form).
Inclusion of women, minorities, and individuals across the lifespan in clinical research is mandatory, unless clear and compelling justification for exclusion is provided.
Publications resulting from CCSG-supported Shared Resources or Developmental Funds must have PubMed Central (PMC) ID numbers.

Ethical Standards

Ethical considerations related to human subjects research and clinical trials are governed by NIH policies (e.g., 45 CFR 46) and ethical guidelines.

Intellectual Property Policies

If CCSG resources are used in partnership with industrial resources, applicable federal law governs the public availability of any final products of the research.

Risk Management Expectations

Data and Safety Monitoring (DSM) is required for all clinical trials, with monitoring commensurate with risk.
Establishment of Data and Safety Monitoring Boards (DSMBs) is required for multi-site clinical trials involving potential risks to participants.

Organizational Structure and Governance

Applicant institutions must demonstrate robust organizational capabilities and institutional commitment, including formal organizational status for the Cancer Center and clear lines of authority for the Center Director.
Consortium arrangements (for Renewal applications) must be fully functioning with a formal, written Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to ensure stability and integration.
Institutional policies are expected to recognize and reward team science in promotion and tenure decisions.

Unique Aspects and Strategic Opportunities

This grant supports infrastructure that enhances collaborative, transdisciplinary cancer research productivity, rather than individual research projects.
The grant encourages strategic use of Developmental Funds for research innovation, addressing new scientific directions, faculty recruitment in strategic areas, and supporting pilot projects.
Emphasis on Community Outreach and Engagement (for Clinical and Comprehensive Centers) to address the cancer burden in specific catchment areas, including underserved populations.
Opportunities for NCI-designated Cancer Centers to serve as regional and national resources, contributing to knowledge creation and dissemination.

Grant Details