Parent Announcements (For Unsolicited or Investigator-Initiated Applications)
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Logo
HHS URL Link
Skip to Main Content
Funding Opportunities
Funding Opportunities (RFAs, PAs) & Notices
Unsolicited Applications (Parent Announcements)
Research Training & Career Development
Small Business (SBIR/STTR)
Contract Opportunities
 
NIH-Wide Initiatives
New and Early Stage Investigators
Stem Cell Information
NIH Common Fund
OppNet (Behavioral & Social Sciences)
 
Award Data
NIH Reports (RePORT)
Search NIH Awards (RePORTER)
 
Global OER Resources
Glossary & Acronyms
Frequently Used Links
Question Mark - FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
Parent Announcements (For Unsolicited or Investigator-Initiated Applications)

NIH and other agencies serviced by eRA Commons want your investigator-initiated applications. Electronic grant applications must be submitted in response to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)**. We have developed Parent announcements for use by applicants who wish to submit what were formerly termed investigator-initiated or ‘unsolicited’ applications. Apply using the electronic application package for your chosen mechanism, listed in the table below. Read More About Parent Announcements. Not all Institutes and Centers participate in all FOAs. Please read announcements carefully to determine participation.

The following Parent Announcements are available (sorted by Activity Code):

[ Research (R) | Research Training (T) | Career Development (K) | Fellowships (F) | Admin Supplements ]

Research (R) Announcements

Activity
Code(s)
Title Announcement
Number
Issuing
Organization
Release
Date
Opening Date
(SF424 Only) Opening Date is the earliest date an electronic application may be submitted to Grants.gov - Applies only to SF424 electronic applications. Click on Question Mark for more information.
Expiration
Date
R01 Research Project Grant (Parent R01) PA-11-260 NIH 07/22/2011 08/12/2011 09/08/2014
R03 NIH Small Research Grant Program (Parent R03) PA-11-262 NIH 07/22/2011 08/12/2011 09/08/2014
R13,U13 NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (Parent R13/U13) PA-12-212 NIH 06/19/2012 07/12/2012 09/08/2014
R15 Academic Research Enhancement Award (Parent R15) PA-12-006 NIH 11/02/2011 01/25/2012 01/08/2015
R21 NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21) PA-11-261 NIH 07/22/2011 08/12/2011 09/08/2014
R41,R42 PHS 2012-02 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH for Small Business Technology Transfer Grant Applications (Parent STTR [R41/R42]) PA-12-089 NIH 01/31/2012 03/05/2012 01/08/2013
R43,R44 PHS 2012-02 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, FDA and ACF for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44]) PA-12-088 NIH 01/31/2012 03/05/2012 01/08/2013

Research Training (T) Announcements

Activity
Code(s)
Title Announcement
Number
Issuing
Organization
Release
Date
Opening Date
(SF424 Only) Opening Date is the earliest date an electronic application may be submitted to Grants.gov - Applies only to SF424 electronic applications. Click on Question Mark for more information.
Expiration
Date
T32 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grants (Parent T32) PA-11-184 NIH 03/25/2011 04/25/2011 05/08/2014
T35 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Short-Term Institutional Research Training Grants (Parent T35) PA-11-185 NIH 03/25/2011 04/25/2011 05/08/2014

Career Development (K) Announcements

Activity
Code(s)
Title Announcement
Number
Issuing
Organization
Release
Date
Opening Date
(SF424 Only) Opening Date is the earliest date an electronic application may be submitted to Grants.gov - Applies only to SF424 electronic applications. Click on Question Mark for more information.
Expiration
Date
K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01) PA-11-190 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014
K02 Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02) PA-11-191 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014
K07 Academic Career Award (Parent K07) PA-11-192 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014
K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08) PA-11-193 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014
K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23) PA-11-194 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014
K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (Parent K24) PA-11-195 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014
K25 Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award (Parent K25) PA-11-196 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014
K99,R00 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00) PA-11-197 NIH 04/08/2011 05/12/2011 09/08/2014

Fellowship (F) Announcements

Activity
Code(s)
Title Announcement
Number
Issuing
Organization
Release
Date
Opening Date
(SF424 Only) Opening Date is the earliest date an electronic application may be submitted to Grants.gov - Applies only to SF424 electronic applications. Click on Question Mark for more information.
Expiration
Date
F30 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral MD/PhD and Other Dual Doctoral Degree Fellows (Parent F30) PA-11-110 NIH 02/10/2011 03/13/2011 05/08/2014
F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (Parent F31) PA-11-111 NIH 02/10/2011 03/08/2011 05/08/2014
F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Parent F31 - Diversity) PA-11-112 NIH 02/10/2011 03/13/2011 05/08/2014
F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (Parent F32) PA-11-113 NIH 02/10/2011 03/08/2011 05/08/2014
F33 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Senior Fellows (Parent F33) PA-11-114 NIH 02/10/2011 03/08/2011 05/08/2014

Administrative Supplements Announcements

Activity
Code(s)
Title Announcement
Number
Issuing
Organization
Release
Date
Opening Date
(SF424 Only) Opening Date is the earliest date an electronic application may be submitted to Grants.gov - Applies only to SF424 electronic applications. Click on Question Mark for more information.
Expiration
Date
Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements(Parent Admin Supp) PA-12-100 NIH 02/13/2012 02/13/2012 01/31/2013

 

 

Additional Tips for Identifying Opportunities

  • Applicants may also want to search RePORTER to find out if projects in their area have been funded by NIH and what NIH Institutes and Centers have shown an interest in their area in the past. This may help narrow their search for a suitable opportunity. RePORTER is part of the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT), which provides access to reports, data, and analyses of NIH research activities, including information on NIH expenditures and the results of NIH-supported research.

  • Don’t be afraid to contact staff at NIH Institutes/Centers (PDF - 4.5 MB) to discuss your application.

Helpful Links

More about Parent Announcements

An important procedural change with electronic submission of grant applications is that all applications must be submitted in response to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)*. NIH and other HHS Agencies have developed omnibus Parent announcements for use by applicants who wish to submit what were formerly termed “unsolicited” applications. Responding to such an omnibus or umbrella Parent FOA ensures that the correct application package is used and enables NIH to receive the application from Grants.gov. This process in no way diminishes the interest of NIH Institutes and Centers in investigator-initiated, unsolicited research grant applications. Parent announcements are NIH-wide, but some NIH institutes may limit their participation, so check the announcement's statement of interest. For institute-specific opportunities in your area of science, search the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.

While Parent announcements mark a big change in the way R01s have traditionally been received at NIH and other HHS agencies, Parent announcements are not new to NIH.  NIH has required a Parent announcement for small research grants (R03) and exploratory/developmental grants (R21) for many years. Parent announcements are now also used for conference grants (R13), AREA grants (R15), SBIR grants (R43, R44), STTR grants (R41, R42), Career Development awards (K01, K08, K23, K24, K25 and K99/R00) and Individual Fellowships (F31, F32 and F33), and will be issued for and Institutional Research Training Grants (T32 and T35) in the future. Most NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) participate in these Parent announcements. Parent announcements are not generally available for other highly specialized grant mechanisms (e.g. resource programs, construction grants, or education projects) and thus individual ICs will be issuing specific FOAs.

** Note: FOA is Grants.gov’s terminology for what NIH refers to as Program Announcement (PA), Request for Application (RFA), Program Announcement with special receipt, referral and/or review consideration (PAR) and Program Announcement with a set aside (PAS).