NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers the Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21) aiming to support early-stage, conceptual research projects. These projects are expected to be exploratory and developmental in nature. They may entail significant risk, but also hold substantial promise for breakthroughs in any field of biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research.

The grant encourages projects that can lead to the discovery of new techniques, agents, methodologies, models, or applications that could potentially transform the field. Basic science experimental studies involving human participants, falling within the NIH's definition of a clinical trial and basic research, can apply for this grant.

Prospective basic science studies that qualify for this funding are those which assign human participants to conditions (in other words, experimental manipulation of independent variables) and track biomedical or behavioral outcomes. The purpose of these studies should be to explore the fundamental aspects of phenomena without having a specific application or product in mind.

However, studies with specific applications or products in their objectives should seek funding under the Clinical Trials Required or Clinical Trial Optional funding opportunity announcement (FOA). It's essential for proposed projects to align with the programmatic interests and scientific missions of one or more NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) participating in the grant program.