Short-term Mentored Career Enhancement Awards for Mid-Career Investigators to Integrate Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences (K18 - No Independent Clinical Trials) | PAR 18 349

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 349

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity PAR-18-349 supports Short-term Mentored Career Enhancement Awards (K18) aimed at mid-career investigators who want to broaden or redirect their research by integrating basic behavioral and social sciences (bBSSR) with more applied behavioral-social science and/or biomedical research. The core idea is to create stronger collaboration and cross-training between researchers who typically work in different traditions or settings, including studies involving human participants and studies using model animal systems. The award is meant to be mentored and time-limited, giving established investigators a structured way to gain new conceptual tools, methods, or perspectives that help bridge basic and applied work and promote more unified, synergistic research programs.

This FOA is categorized as a discretionary grant program under the broad activity areas of education and health. It is tied to multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.173, 93.213, 93.279, 93.307, 93.398), reflecting NIH’s multi-institute interests in behavior, social processes, and their connections to health and disease. The mechanism is specifically a K18 career development award, which generally emphasizes protected time for learning and development under the guidance of an experienced mentor, rather than primarily funding a large independent research project. As stated in the title, this version is “No Independent Clinical Trials,” meaning applicants are not supposed to propose running their own standalone clinical trial as the central activity under this award.

A key emphasis in the description is integration: NIH is looking for proposals that help bring together (1) basic and applied behavioral-social science researchers, (2) human-subjects and animal-model approaches when relevant, and (3) behavioral-social science with biomedical science. In practical terms, the program is designed for investigators who already have an established track record but need a formal, mentored period to gain expertise in a new area that complements and strengthens their long-term research direction. The expectation is that the short-term mentored experience will position the investigator to pursue new collaborations, incorporate new methodologies, and ultimately build more competitive, interdisciplinary research programs after the K18 period ends.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of applicant organizations. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; Native American tribal governments (federally recognized); Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant types 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 agencies of the federal government, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized entities. This breadth signals an intent to encourage participation from a wide range of institutional settings, including those serving historically underrepresented populations and community-facing organizations that can support meaningful behavioral and social science research connections.

There are important limits around foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) and non-domestic (non-U.S.) institutions are not eligible to apply as the primary applicant organization. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible, and foreign components (as NIH defines them in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed. In other words, while a foreign institution generally cannot be the applicant, collaborations or project components that involve foreign work may be permissible under NIH’s foreign component rules if the main applicant is a U.S.-eligible organization and all NIH policy requirements are met.

From the administrative details provided, the opportunity was created on 2017-11-07, with an original closing date of 2019-03-06. The listing does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided text, which usually means applicants would need to consult the full FOA and NIH institute-specific guidance for budget and award planning assumptions. Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as a targeted career enhancement mechanism: it helps mid-career researchers quickly build capacity in a complementary area through mentorship and structured development, specifically to strengthen the integration of basic behavioral and social science perspectives with broader behavioral and biomedical research approaches, without proposing an independent clinical trial as the main project.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Short-term Mentored Career Enhancement Awards for Mid-Career Investigators to Integrate Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences (K18 - No Independent Clinical Trials)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.173, 93.213, 93.279, 93.307, 93.398.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-03-06. (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 18 349

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: