Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: June 17, 2025 (New) | July 16, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | October 20, 2025 (New) | November 16, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | Additional cycles through November 16, 2026
Funding Amounts: Up to $50,000 in direct costs per year, for a maximum of 2 years (total up to $100,000 direct costs)
Summary: Supports small research projects examining the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of human genetics and genomics, with clinical trial optional.
Key Information: Open to international and U.S. applicants; broad eligibility across disciplines and organization types; direct stakeholder engagement is encouraged but not required.
Description
This NIH opportunity funds small, self-contained research projects focused on the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of human genetics and genomics. Projects may use single or mixed research methods and are encouraged to involve key stakeholders or communities where appropriate. The program is particularly interested in normative or conceptual analyses (e.g., legal, economic, philosophical, anthropological, or historical) of new or emerging issues in genomics, as well as projects collecting preliminary data or conducting secondary analyses of existing data. Both empirical and conceptual work are welcome, and applied research addressing real-world ELSI issues is considered responsive.
Due Dates
- Upcoming Deadlines:
- June 17, 2025 (New applications)
- July 16, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision)
- October 20, 2025 (New)
- November 16, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision)
- February 17, 2026 (New)
- March 16, 2026 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision)
- June 18, 2026 (New)
- July 16, 2026 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision)
- October 16, 2026 (New)
- November 16, 2026 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision)
- Expiration Date: November 17, 2026
All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
Funding Amount
- Maximum Direct Costs: $50,000 per year
- Project Duration: Up to 2 years (total up to $100,000 direct costs)
- Budget should include: Costs for data management and sharing, and resource sharing plans as required by NIH policy.
Eligibility
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Eligible Applicants:
- Public and private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status)
- For-profit organizations (including small businesses)
- State, county, city, township, and special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Native American tribal governments and organizations (federally recognized and other)
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Faith-based and community-based organizations
- Regional organizations
- U.S. federal agencies and territories
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) and foreign components of U.S. organizations
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Eligible Individuals: Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as PD(s)/PI(s).
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Multiple Applications: Allowed if each application is scientifically distinct.
Application Process
- Submission Platforms: NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or institutional system-to-system solutions.
- Required Registrations: SAM, eRA Commons, Grants.gov, and (for foreign organizations) NCAGE code.
- Application Guide: Follow the NIH How to Apply - Application Guide.
- Page Limits: As described in the NIH Table of Page Limits.
- Resource Sharing: All applications must include a Resource Sharing Plan and a Data Management and Sharing Plan.
- Clinical Trials: Applications may propose clinical trials but are not required to do so.
- Review Criteria: Significance, innovation, approach (rigor and feasibility), investigator(s), and environment.
Additional Information
- Stakeholder Engagement: Direct involvement of communities and stakeholders is encouraged but not required.
- Research Disciplines: Open to a wide range of fields, including bioethics, law, social sciences, humanities, clinical medicine, public health, and data science.
- Related Opportunities: For larger or exploratory projects, consider the ELSI R21 (PAR-25-369) or R01 (PAR-25-371) mechanisms.
- Data Sharing: Compliance with NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy and Genomic Data Sharing Policy is required.
- No cost sharing required.
- Foreign organizations are eligible and encouraged to apply.
External Links
Contact Information
Key ELSI Contacts (NHGRI):
- Dave Kaufman: dave.kaufman@nih.gov, 301-402-4997
- Sheethal Jose: sheethal.jose@nih.gov, 410-810-4862
- Nicole Lockhart: lockhani@mail.nih.gov, 301-402-4997
- Rene Sterling: rene.sterling@nih.gov, 301-435-1275
For additional contacts (including for other participating NIH institutes), see the full list in the NOFO.