Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: February 19, 2025 | January 27, 2026 | January 27, 2027
Funding Amounts: Up to $500,000 direct costs per year for up to 5 years (cooperative agreement, renewable once for a total of 10 years)
Summary: Supports resource-limited U.S. organizations in building biomedical research capacity and enhancing sponsored programs administration.
Key Information: Limited submission: only one application per organization; clinical trials are not allowed; eligibility is restricted to specific resource-limited institutions.
Description
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Research Environment and Sponsored Programs Administration Development (BRE-SPAD) Program is designed to broaden participation in the biomedical research ecosystem by supporting U.S. organizations with limited research resources and few biomedical doctoral students. The program aims to help these institutions conduct research, enhance their research environment, and increase their capacity for sponsored programs administration.
BRE-SPAD is intended for resource-limited institutions (RLIs), including certain minority-serving institutions, tribal entities, and other organizations that have not received significant NIH funding and confer few biomedical research doctorates. The program supports activities in at least two of the following areas:
- Sponsored Programs Administration Development
- Research Environment Enhancement
- Pilot Research Project Program (for internal pilot funding to generate preliminary data)
The program encourages collaboration among eligible institutions and the development of sustainable improvements in research infrastructure and administration.
Due Dates
- February 19, 2025 (New applications)
- January 27, 2026 (New applications)
- January 27, 2027 (New applications)
- Expiration Date: January 28, 2027
All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
Funding Amount
- Maximum direct costs: $500,000 per year
- Project period: Up to 5 years (renewable once for a total of up to 10 years)
- Funding mechanism: Cooperative Agreement (UC2)
- No cost sharing or matching required
- Number of awards: Contingent on NIH appropriations and number of meritorious applications
Eligibility
Eligible applicants must be U.S.-based and include:
- Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education)
- Other eligible organizations (see below)
Specific eligibility criteria:
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribal entities (federally recognized tribes, tribal colleges/universities, tribal health programs, or consortia)
- Other RLIs that:
- Have not received more than $6 million/year in NIH support (direct + indirect) in 4 of the last 7 fiscal years (excluding certain activity codes)
- Have awarded five or fewer biomedical research doctorates (Ph.D.s) per year on average in the most recent five years (see NSF NCSES data)
Additional eligible organizations:
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
Restrictions:
- Only one application per organization is allowed.
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign components are not eligible.
- The applicant must have a unique entity identifier (UEI) and NIH eRA Institutional Profile File (IPF) number.
Application Process
- Submission: Applications must be submitted electronically via NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or an institutional system-to-system solution.
- Required registrations: SAM.gov, eRA Commons, Grants.gov (can take 6+ weeks; start early)
- Application format: Follow the NIH How to Apply - Application Guide and the specific instructions in the funding announcement.
- Research Strategy: Must address at least two of the three funding areas; limited to 30 pages if applying for all three.
- Letters of Support: Required from senior organizational officials; mentor letters strongly encouraged.
- Limited submission: Only one application per organization; an organization can only hold one active BRE-SPAD award at a time.
Key application components:
- Organizational assessment and eligibility documentation
- Plans for sustainability beyond the funding period
- Evaluation plan with milestones
- Governance and team structure (including required mentors and steering committee)
- Budget justification
Additional Information
- Clinical trials are not allowed. Pilot research projects may include human subjects research (with appropriate approvals), but not clinical trials.
- Renewal: The award may be renewed once, for a total of up to 10 years, contingent on successful outcomes.
- Collaborations: Multiple RLIs may collaborate, but only one serves as the applicant organization.
- Funding priorities: Applications that do not demonstrate sufficient faculty/staff time for research or propose to fund ongoing activities already supported by organizational funds will be considered low priority.
External Links
Contact Information
Additional scientific contacts for specific NIH institutes are listed in the full announcement.