Collaborative Science to Achieve Disruptive Innovations in Dental, Oral and Craniofacial (DOC) Research (RM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DE 25 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DE 25 004

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), is offering the funding opportunity "Collaborative Science to Achieve Disruptive Innovations in Dental, Oral and Craniofacial (DOC) Research (RM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-DE-25-004. It is a discretionary grant program in the health area (CFDA 93.121) designed to back ambitious, tightly coordinated research efforts that can push the dental, oral, and craniofacial fields forward in a major way. The core idea is to fund projects that are not just incremental, but genuinely challenging and potentially transformative, where success would meaningfully advance knowledge, methods, or capabilities aligned with the NIDCR mission.

A central requirement is that each proposed project must pursue a unified, well-defined scientific goal and be built for true team science. NIDCR is explicitly looking for highly integrated research teams that bring together diverse perspectives and specialized expertise spanning multiple intellectual or technical areas. The work should be the kind of problem that cannot realistically be tackled by one or two investigators alone, either because of its scope, complexity, or the need for coordinated approaches across disciplines. The expectation is that the team will operate with real synergy, meaning that the combined effort produces outcomes that would be difficult to achieve through loosely connected subprojects. As a result, applicants should be prepared to describe how team interactions will be structured and managed to keep the collaboration productive and focused on shared milestones.

This opportunity uses the RM1 mechanism and is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which signals that applications must not propose a clinical trial as defined by NIH. In practice, this means the research plan should stay on the non-clinical-trial side of the line (for example, basic, mechanistic, preclinical, or other non-trial human-related studies that do not meet the NIH clinical trial definition). Applicants typically need to be careful here, since NIH definitions can be technical; if any part of the study design resembles a prospective assignment of people to an intervention to evaluate health outcomes, it may trigger the clinical trial definition and become noncompliant with the FOA.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common applicant types: state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, there are important restrictions related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply as applicant organizations, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" are allowed as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S.-based applicant may be able to include certain types of substantive project activities performed outside the United States if they meet NIH requirements and are proposed appropriately. This distinction matters because it affects how international collaboration can be structured: the applicant organization must be domestic, but specific foreign work may still be permissible when justified and compliant.

Key administrative details included in the notice are that the opportunity was created on 2024-08-13 and lists an original closing date of 2024-11-19. The award ceiling is noted as 750,000 (as provided in the source data). The overall message of the announcement is that NIDCR wants to invest in well-managed, collaborative, multidisciplinary teams pursuing a single compelling scientific vision in dental, oral, and craniofacial research, with an emphasis on integration and synergy rather than a collection of independent projects.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Collaborative Science to Achieve Disruptive Innovations in Dental, Oral and Craniofacial (DOC) Research (RM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-08-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-19. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $750,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

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