NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional)

The NIH Director's Early Independence Award supports rigorous and promising investigators who wish to pursue independent research soon after completion of their terminal doctoral degree or post-graduate clinical training, thereby forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period and accelerating their entry into an independent research career.

To support innovative and novel research across the vast NIH mission, individuals from diverse backgrounds (including those from underrepresented groups) and from the full spectrum of eligible institutions in all geographic locations are encouraged to apply. Applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH are welcome, including, but not limited to, topics in the behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible, investigators must complete their terminal doctoral degree or clinical training sometime between May 1, 2023, and September 30, 2025. To be consistent with the NIH definition of Early Stage Investigators, eligible clinical training includes clinical residency and clinical fellowship (see Section III. Eligibility Information in the RFA for more information).

The PD/PI must not have served as a post-doctoral fellow for more than 12 months following a previous, non-terminal doctoral degree (this only applies to PD/PIs with multiple doctoral degrees who served in a 12+ month post-doctoral fellowship before their terminal degree).

Individuals are eligible only if they do not have research independence at the time of application submission. Research non-independence is defined functionally rather than by position title and must have all the following characteristics:

1. The PD/PI's current research agenda is set through concurrence with mentors.
2. The PD/PI's research is funded primarily through support to other investigators (mentored fellowships such as NIH F31 or F32 Fellowships or NSF Graduate Research Fellowships do not preclude eligibility).
3. The PD/PI does not have any space assigned directly by the institution for the conduct of their research.
4. The PD/PI cannot apply for an NIH R01 grant without a special waiver or exemption from the institution according to institutional policy.

Though PD/PIs must not be functionally independent at the time of application submission, they may become functionally independent prior to time of award and still retain eligibility.

Application Instructions

Please submit:

1. A one‐page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach.
2. If the final application requires a diversity statement or statement of broader impacts, please summarize your plans to address the specific requirements on an additional page.
3. CV (not biosketch) of the PI including past grant funding.
4. A letter of support from the PD/PI’s mentor or Chair documenting the applicant’s approval to serve as PI on the project.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Proposals are due to the sponsor 9/6/2024, so you will need to have your materials in to the Office of Sponsored Programs by 8/27/2024 if given the go‐ahead by the Limited Submissions review committee.