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National Institutes of Health · United States

Limited Competition: Small Grant Program for NHLBI K01/K08/K23/K25 Recipients (R03 Clinical Trial Optional)

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National Institutes of Health expects to make 29 awards of up to $85,000 each, from a total budget of $3.9 million. Applications close on 7 Nov 2028. Eligible applicant types include for profit organizations other than small businesses, special district governments, others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification) and 12 more.

About this call

This is a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a Limited Competition that invites applications from eligible organizations to apply. Please see Section III. Eligibility for additional information. In accordance with NIH standard peer-review processes, the applications will be peer-reviewed, and only meritorious applications will be considered. The purpose of this NOFO is to solicit current or recently completed NHLBI K01, K08, K23, and K25 awardees for small grant support to expand their current research objectives or to branch out to a new study emerging from their K award research. This NOFO is intended to facilitate the transition to research independence for these NHLBI K awardees. Current NHLBI K01, K08, K23, and K25 awardees may apply for this R03 support starting in the third year of their K award Project Period. Recently completed NHLBI K01, K08, K23, and K25 award recipients are eligible to apply or resubmit A1 applications if the earliest potential R03 award start date is within two years of the end of their K award Project Period.The R03 grant mechanism supports research projects that can be completed within two years and with limited resources. These projects are expected to generate preliminary data to bolster a subsequent R01-equivalent application. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, pilot or feasibility studies; proof of concept studies; secondary analysis of existing data; small, self-contained research projects; development of new research methodologies or technologies, or creation of novel experimental model systems.Applicants are required to maintain a minimum of 40% protected research effort during the R03 award period. This requirement can be fulfilled through a combination of effort on the proposed R03 project and other research projects, irrespective of funding source.For current and former K23 awardees, the research proposed in the R03 application may or may not include patient-oriented research.

Who can apply

• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Special district governments
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• County governments
• Independent school districts
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• State governments
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Private institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• City or township governments
• Small businesses

Only the following NHLBI K01, K08, K23, and K25 awardees are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity.Refer to Section III. Eligibility Information in the NOFO for additional information on eligibility.Foreign Organizations/International Collaborations:Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are not eligible to apply.Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.

Applicant categories are a starting point. The official call decides eligibility.

Topics

Health

How to apply

1. Read the full notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) linked from the official page: eligibility, cost sharing and evaluation criteria.
2. Make sure your organisation has an active SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID (UEI); registration can take several weeks.
3. For NIH: the organisation and the principal investigator also need eRA Commons accounts; applications are usually submitted through Grants.gov (for example with ASSIST).
4. Prepare the required forms, narrative, budget and attachments exactly as the NOFO specifies.
5. Submit before the deadline and keep the tracking number. Check for amendments before you submit.

From the call text

Who can apply

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Company stage

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Single applicant or consortium

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Where applicants must be based

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Where to apply

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Contact

National Institutes of Health · NHLBI_R03@nih.gov · 301-402-2541

Where these facts come from

Official sources

Official call page

Facts on this page come from the funder’s official data, taken on 13 Nov 2026. The funder's own documents, including later amendments, always take precedence.

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