Mid-Career Enhancement Awards to Integrate Basic Behavioral, Biomedical, and/or Social Scientific Processes (K18 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required) | PAR 20 226

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 20 226

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the OppNet Research Career Enhancement Award (K18) program (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-20-226), offers a discretionary grant designed specifically for independent, mid-career investigators who want to broaden and strengthen their research by gaining new expertise outside their current core area. The central idea of this opportunity is to help established researchers deliberately expand their skill set and scientific perspective so they can better study how behavioral and social factors connect with biological and biomedical mechanisms. This particular announcement is designated as "Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required," meaning the supported work is expected to involve basic experimental research conducted with human participants.

At its core, this K18 is a career enhancement and research training mechanism rather than a traditional large-scale research project award. It supports a structured period of training and professional development paired with a small-scale research project. The intention is that the investigator uses the award period to acquire new knowledge and hands-on competencies in areas such as basic psychological processes, sociological processes, and/or biomedical pathways. The training is meant to be genuinely additive, pushing the applicant beyond their existing expertise, so that after the award they are better positioned to lead independent research that integrates multiple levels of analysis.

A defining feature of the program is its emphasis on integration across domains that are often studied separately. The announcement explicitly highlights interrelationships among behavioral factors and biological systems, including endocrine, epigenetic, immune, inflammatory, neurological, and psychological processes, along with broader social processes. In practice, that means the program is looking for investigators who want to connect the dots between what people do, think, and experience in their environments and the underlying biological and physiological pathways that may help explain health, behavior, and social outcomes. The supported small project is meant to serve as a practical vehicle for building these integrative research capabilities, not just as an isolated pilot study.

Eligibility is framed around the investigator being independent and at a mid-career faculty rank or equivalent level, rather than early-career trainees. While the program is investigator-focused, the funding opportunity lists a wide range of eligible applicant organizations, reflecting NIH's broad institutional eligibility for grant submissions. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education, state and local governments, federally recognized tribal governments, certain tribal organizations, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, small businesses, and other eligible entities. The announcement also calls out categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies, underscoring that a variety of institutional settings may submit applications on behalf of a qualified investigator.

Restrictions around foreign involvement are also clearly stated. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which generally means certain well-justified elements of the project may be conducted with foreign involvement when permitted under NIH rules, even though the applicant organization itself must be domestic.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is categorized as a grant with activity areas spanning education/training and health, and it is associated with CFDA numbers 93.121, 93.213, 93.398, and 93.846. The original closing date listed for this opportunity was 2023-03-17, and the announcement record shows a creation date of 2020-06-03. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided listing, so applicants typically need to consult the full NIH funding opportunity announcement and related NIH policy documents for budget structure, allowable costs, project period expectations, and review criteria.

Overall, PAR-20-226 is best understood as a mid-career "re-tooling" and expansion grant for established researchers who want to move into more integrative human experimental science at the intersection of behavioral, social, and biomedical processes. The program supports a deliberate combination of training and a modest research effort so the investigator can credibly launch or redirect an independent research trajectory that more fully captures the complex, multi-system pathways linking human behavior, social context, and biology.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, employment, labor and training, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mid-Career Enhancement Awards to Integrate Basic Behavioral, Biomedical, and/or Social Scientific Processes (K18 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.213, 93.398, 93.846.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-06-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-03-17. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PAR 20 226

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