Exploratory/Developmental Bioengineering Research Grants (EBRG) (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)
Encouraging grant applications for bioengineering innovations in cancer research and healthcare to enhance quality, speed, and accessibility.
Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: June 16, 2025 (New) | July 16, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | October 16, 2025 (New) | November 16, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | February 16, 2026 (New) | March 16, 2026 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | June 16, 2026 (New) | July 16, 2026 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | October 16, 2026 (New) | November 16, 2026 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | February 16, 2027 (New) | March 16, 2027 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | June 16, 2027 (New) | July 16, 2027 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | October 16, 2027 (New) | November 16, 2027 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision)
Funding Amounts: Up to $275,000 direct costs over 2 years; no more than $200,000 in any single year; 2-year maximum project period.
Summary: Supports exploratory/developmental bioengineering research to demonstrate feasibility and utility of new or improved solutions for biomedical, pre-clinical, or clinical research and care, with a focus on cancer.
Key Information: Clinical trial optional; phase III clinical trials are not supported; foreign organizations are eligible.
Description
This opportunity, offered by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) through the NIH, supports exploratory and developmental bioengineering research projects (R21 mechanism) that aim to demonstrate the feasibility and potential utility of new capabilities or improvements in quality, speed, efficacy, operability, cost, and/or accessibility of solutions to problems in basic biomedical, pre-clinical, or clinical research, clinical care delivery, or accessibility. The focus is on early-stage, innovative engineering approaches that can advance cancer research and healthcare.
Projects may include, but are not limited to:
- Assessing the feasibility of novel tools for clinical intervention
- Exploring new approaches to modeling complex biological systems
- Improving or integrating existing technologies to address unsolved biomedical problems
- Establishing preliminary evidence for transformative bioengineering approaches
Applications proposing phase III clinical trials or basic science studies of cancer biology (e.g., cellular pathways, tumor microenvironment) are not responsive to this opportunity.
