Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA
Due Dates: October 31, 2025 | October 30, 2026
Funding Amounts: Up to $5,750,000 total costs per year | 5-year project period | One award anticipated
Summary: Funding for a national center to lead multidisciplinary research, translation, and outreach to improve construction worker safety and health in the U.S.
Key Information: Only one application per institution; multi-component, multi-institutional collaboration required; letter of intent due 30 days before application deadline.
Description
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), invites applications for a cooperative agreement to establish a National Center for Construction Safety and Health Research and Translation. The Center will serve as a national leader in applied and intervention research, hazard identification and control, research translation, and research-to-practice (r2p) activities to protect construction workers across the United States.
The Center is expected to:
- Integrate and advance research, translation, best practices, policy, and capacity building.
- Develop and implement evidence-based solutions to address critical safety and health problems in the construction industry.
- Build partnerships with academic, nonprofit, and occupational safety and health organizations.
- Disseminate research findings and best practices widely, including through a publicly accessible online repository.
- Address both physical and mental health risks, including emerging issues such as opioid use and suicide among construction workers.
The Center must be structured as a multi-component, multidisciplinary program, with required cores in planning/administration, data/statistics, communication/outreach/education, research-to-practice, and applied research projects.
Due Dates
- Letter of Intent: Required, due 30 days prior to the application deadline.
- Application Deadlines:
- October 31, 2025
- October 30, 2026
- Earliest Start Date: September 1 of the following year after review.
Funding Amount
- Total Funding Available: Up to $5,750,000 total costs (direct + indirect) per year.
- Award Floor: $3,000,000 total costs per year.
- Project Period: Up to 5 years.
- Anticipated Number of Awards: 1 (one national center).
- Total Program Funding: Approximately $28.75 million over 5 years.
Budget allocations are suggested for each core (e.g., up to 20% for administration, up to 30% for research-to-practice, etc.), but applicants may justify alternative distributions.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants include:
- Public and private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education)
- For-profit organizations (including small businesses)
- State, county, city, township, and special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Federally recognized and other Native American tribal governments and organizations
Notes:
- Only one application per institution (as defined by UEI) is allowed.
- Foreign institutions and components are not eligible.
- Multi-institutional collaboration is required.
- The CDC does not make awards to individuals directly.
Application Process
- Letter of Intent: Submit to the NIOSH program contact (see below) with project titles, PI(s), component leads, and participating institutions.
- Application Submission: Use the NIH ASSIST system or an institutional system-to-system (S2S) solution. Grants.gov Workspace is not supported for multi-project applications.
- Application Format: Must follow the NIH Multi-Project (M) SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the specific instructions in the NOFO.
- Required Components:
- Overall
- Planning, Administration, and Evaluation Core
- Construction Industry Data and Statistical Core
- Communication, Outreach, and Education Core
- Research-to-Practice Core
- Applied Research Projects (1–15 projects)
- Page Limits: 12 pages per component for Research Strategy/Program Plan; 6 pages for past performance/accomplishments (appendix).
- Data Management Plan: Required for all public health data collections.
- Human Subjects/IRB: Compliance with HHS Common Rule and sIRB policy required for multi-site studies.
Additional Information
- Scope: The Center must address national needs and demonstrate impact on construction worker safety and health, including addressing disparities and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Research Focus: Projects should address NIOSH and NORA construction sector strategic and intermediate goals, including but not limited to: injury prevention, musculoskeletal disorders, respiratory diseases, mental health, and substance use.
- Required Activities: Participation in NIOSH meetings, annual reporting, maintaining a public data portal, and providing consulting services to external stakeholders.
- Restrictions: No training-only, service-only, or non-research proposals; no surveillance-only projects; no large institution-based worker safety program proposals.
External Links
Contact Information
External Links