Cancer Research Education Grants Program - Research Experiences (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 21 279

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 21 279

The Cancer Research Education Grants Program - Research Experiences (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) designed to strengthen cancer-focused research education and help build a well-prepared biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research workforce. Offered under the NIH Research Education Program (R25), this grant supports structured educational activities that complement and enhance existing training pathways, with the central emphasis in this announcement placed on hands-on research experiences. In practical terms, the program is meant to help institutions create or refine immersive research education models that give participants meaningful exposure to cancer research environments, methods, and career paths, rather than simply delivering classroom-based instruction alone.

The goal is to support creative, modern, and high-impact education programs that align with NCI's mission and directly relate to cancer. Proposed programs are encouraged to be innovative and state-of-the-art, and they can span a wide range of cancer-related topics, including the causes of cancer, approaches to diagnosis, strategies for prevention, treatment development and evaluation, cancer rehabilitation, and ongoing care needs for cancer patients as well as the families and caregivers who support them. The overall intent is workforce development: preparing more people, and more diverse groups of people, to contribute effectively to cancer research and ultimately to improvements in cancer outcomes.

A key boundary in this funding opportunity is that clinical trials are not allowed under this specific R25 announcement. That means applicants should design research education experiences that do not involve conducting an NIH-defined clinical trial as part of the funded activities. Programs can still be highly clinically relevant and may engage learners with clinical research concepts, datasets, biospecimens, observational research skills, informatics, translational science, laboratory research, population science, implementation science, and other cancer research areas, but they must stay within the "no clinical trial" limitation described by the opportunity.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can deliver high-quality education and training experiences. 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; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status, excluding higher education institutions where applicable); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and other Native American tribal organizations. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility reflects an interest in reaching diverse communities and building education pipelines across many settings.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant in the education and health activity category, associated with CFDA number 93.398. The funding opportunity title is "Cancer Research Education Grants Program - Research Experiences (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and the opportunity number is PAR 21 279. The posting lists an original closing date of 2023-09-29 and a creation date of 2021-08-26. While the source data does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards, the core program purpose is clear: support well-designed cancer research education initiatives centered on substantive research experiences that expand and strengthen the cancer research workforce, without supporting clinical trial conduct under this specific mechanism.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cancer Research Education Grants Program - Research Experiences (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.398.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-08-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-09-29. (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 21 279

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