Core objective: Support the archiving and documentation of existing data sets within the scientific mission of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to enable secondary analysis by the scientific community.
Target recipient: Eligible organizations include Higher Education Institutions, Nonprofits, For-Profit Organizations (including Small Businesses), Local Governments, Federal Governments, and other entities like Independent School Districts and Faith-based Organizations, all capable of managing and sharing scientific data.
SECTOR-SPECIFIC
Geographic scope: Organizations based in the United States are eligible. Foreign entities are not eligible, but foreign components within a U.S. organization's application may be allowed.
Key filtering criteria: Projects must focus on child health and human development data, involve archiving existing data (data collection must be complete), and are not permitted to include clinical trials. The maximum direct costs are $50,000 per year.
Grant frequency: This is a reissue (PAR-25-092 reissues PAR-24-256), indicating it is a recurring funding opportunity that supports data sharing within NIH's broader scientific mission.
Financial Structure
Award instrument: Grant (financial assistance).
Budget limitation: Applications are limited to $50,000 in direct costs per year.
Maximum project period: The maximum project period is 2 years, leading to a maximum total direct cost award of $100,000 over the project duration.
Cost sharing: Cost sharing, as defined by NIH, is not required for this funding opportunity.
Eligible costs: Direct costs associated with archiving and documenting existing data sets are eligible, including activities like assembling, cleaning, harmonizing, documenting, creating metadata, and disseminating data via appropriate repositories.
Ineligible costs: Funding will not support freestanding archives, specialty data collections, or data collection activities that are not complete at the time of application.
Financial reporting: Recipients must submit annual Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) and financial statements as per NIH Grants Policy Statement. A final RPPR, invention statement, and expenditure data are required for award closeout.
Pre-award costs: Pre-award costs are only allowable as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Audit requirements: Recipients are subject to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200).
Eligibility Requirements
Eligible Organizations
Higher Education Institutions: Includes Public/State Controlled and Private Institutions of Higher Education.
Nonprofits: Includes 501(c)(3) IRS status and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits (other than institutions of higher education).
For-Profit Organizations: Includes Small Businesses and other For-Profit Organizations.
Local Governments: Encompasses State, County, City or Township, Special District Governments, and both Federally Recognized and other Indian/Native American Tribal Governments.
Federal Governments: Includes Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government and U.S. Territory or Possession.
Other: Specific types include 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, and Regional Organizations.
Geographic Location
Applicants must be U.S. domestic entities. Foreign Organizations are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible.
Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed within the context of a U.S. organization's application.
Project Scope Restrictions
Applications must not propose clinical trials.
Proposed activities must align with archiving data within the scientific mission of NICHD.
Projects must involve archiving existing data for which data collection is complete at the time of application.
The highest priority is given to archiving original data collected with NICHD funding.
Registration Requirements
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain active registrations with:
System for Award Management (SAM) (requires annual renewal).
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) (obtained via SAM.gov registration).
eRA Commons (must be active by submission, requiring a Signing Official and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator account).
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs) must have an eRA Commons account affiliated with the applicant organization.
Exclusion Criteria
Support for freestanding archives or specialty data collections is considered non-responsive.
Archiving data outside the scientific mission of NICHD is non-responsive.
Archiving data where data collection is not complete at the time of application is non-responsive.
Archiving data solely to meet data sharing requirements for grant applications submitted to NIH for January 25, 2023, and subsequent receipt dates is non-responsive.
Duplicate or highly overlapping applications will not be accepted if currently under review.
Application Process
Application Submission Process
Applications must be submitted electronically via one of the following:
All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications early to allow time for addressing any errors before the due date.
If a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
It is the applicant's responsibility to track the application status in eRA Commons and ensure successful submission.
Key Dates
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): January 16, 2025.
Application Due Dates:
New Applications: February 16, 2025; June 16, 2025; October 16, 2025.
Renewal / Resubmission / Revision Applications: March 16, 2025; July 16, 2025; November 16, 2025 (latest deadline).
Expiration Date for the opportunity: November 17, 2025.
Required Documentation and Materials
Applicants must adhere to the Research (R) Instructions in the 'How to Apply - Application Guide', with specific instructions noted in this NOFO.
Key components include: SF424(R&R) forms (Cover, Project/Performance Site Locations, Other Project Information, Senior/Key Person Profile), R&R or Modular Budget, R&R Subaward Budget, PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement, PHS 398 Research Plan, and Other Plan(s).
Research Strategy: Must detail the importance of the data resource, plans for data preparation, user documentation, and data sharing, and how the resource will advance scientific progress or challenge existing paradigms.
Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan: A required attachment summarizing the elements of the DMS Plan relevant to the project.
Timeline and Milestones: A detailed timeline and milestones for data preparation, user documentation, metadata creation, and deposit in an appropriate archive are required.
Resource Sharing Plan: Required as per the Application Guide.
Appendix: Limited to only blank questionnaires or blank surveys.
Project Implementation and Reporting
Project Period: The maximum allowable project duration is 2 years.
Data Dissemination: Grantees are required to archive and disseminate data through an existing public data archive. NICHD-supported archives like DASH or DSDR are strongly encouraged.
Final Data Availability: Final data and documentation must be broadly available to scientific researchers no later than the end of the award period.
Annual Reporting: Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) and financial statements are required annually.
Closeout Reporting: A final RPPR, invention statement, and Federal Financial Report expenditure data are required at closeout.
Post-Award Requirements
Award Notices: An official Notice of Award (NoA) will be issued to authorize funding.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Independent Ethics Committee (IEC) Approval: Required for protocols involving human subjects.
Mandatory Disclosure: Recipients must disclose any violations of federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity that could affect the federal award.
Evaluation Criteria
Overall Impact
Reviewers will assess the potential for the project to have a sustained, powerful influence on the relevant research field(s).
A strong application does not necessarily need to excel in all categories to demonstrate major scientific impact.
Scored Review Criteria
Factor 1. Importance of the Research (Significance and Innovation): Evaluates the importance of the data resource created, its potential to address critical problems, and its capacity to shift existing research paradigms through novel concepts or methodologies.
Factor 2. Rigor and Feasibility (Approach): Assesses the detailed plans for data preparation, user documentation, and data sharing, including the timeline and milestones for these activities.
Factor 3. Expertise and Resources (Investigator(s) and Environment):
Investigator(s): Evaluates the qualifications, training, and expertise of the investigator(s).
Environment: Assesses whether the institutional resources are adequate and appropriate for the successful completion of the proposed work.
Additional Review Criteria (Considered, but Not Separately Scored)
Protections for Human Subjects: Evaluation of ethical justifications, protection measures, potential benefits, and data safety monitoring.
Vertebrate Animals: Assessment of animal use justification, procedures, and measures to minimize discomfort.
Biohazards: Evaluation of potential hazards and proposed protective measures.
Resubmissions: The entire revised application is evaluated anew.
Additional Review Considerations (Not Scored, No Impact on Overall Score)
Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources: Review of plans to ensure the validity of these resources.
Budget and Period of Support: Evaluation of the justification and reasonableness of the proposed budget and project duration.
Funding Decisions
Scientific and technical merit, as determined by peer review, is a primary factor.
The availability of funds and the relevance of the proposed project to NICHD's program priorities also significantly influence funding decisions.
Compliance & Special Requirements
Regulatory Compliance
Awards are subject to Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 2 CFR Part 200 ('Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards').
Recipients must comply with all applicable non-discrimination laws and submit an Assurance of Compliance (HHS-690).
Adherence to all federal statutes and regulations relevant to federal financial assistance, including Public Policy Requirements and Appropriation Mandates, is required.
Data Protection and Sharing
Projects must protect and maintain confidentiality for research subjects, aligning with all consent forms.
Algorithms used for data cleaning, recoding, and harmonizing must be made publicly available.
Researchers are expected to maximize the sharing of scientific data generated, while safeguarding privacy, security, informed consent, and proprietary information.
Data resources may be available without restriction or with controlled access to ensure confidentiality.
Compliance with the 2023 NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing is mandatory, and the approved DMS Plan must be implemented.
For large-scale human genetic data, applicants must provide Provisional or Institutional Certification for sharing via NIH-approved repositories (e.g., dbGaP, Sequence Read Archive) consistent with the NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy.
Ethical Standards
Research involving human subjects or vertebrate animals must adhere to specific ethical guidelines and regulations (e.g., 45 CFR Part 46 for human subjects).
Risk Management
If applicable, proposed research involving biohazards will be evaluated for potential risks to personnel/environment and the adequacy of proposed protections.
Project Specific Requirements
This grant is explicitly for archiving and documenting existing datasets; projects involving new data collection where collection is not complete at the time of application are non-responsive.
Clinical trials are strictly not allowed.
The data must be relevant to the scientific mission of the NICHD.
Strategic Alignment
The highest priority is given to applications proposing to archive original data collected with previous NICHD funding.
Applications should demonstrate how the resulting data resource will address important scientific problems, overcome critical barriers, and support research that can challenge or shift current scientific or clinical practice paradigms.
Grant Details
child health
human development
data archiving
data documentation
data management
data sharing
scientific data
secondary analysis
research data
clinical trials data
patient registries data
imaging data
administrative data
survey data
biospecimen data
genomic data
metadata
public health
social sciences
behavioral sciences
demography
rehabilitation
disabilities
population dynamics
research infrastructure
scientific research
nih
nichd
grants
us government
healthcare
education
nonprofit
for-profit
small business
local government
federal government
tribal government
universities
research institutions
united states
Archiving and Documenting Child Health and Human Development Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
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