health · HHS-NIH11

NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (DP1 Clinical Trial Optional)

National Institutes of Health · RFA-RM-27-001

23 days left

Award Range

$700K – $700K

Total Program Funding

$8.0M

Expected Awards

Deadline

September 9, 2026

GRANTQUICK SUMMARYPlain-English Overview

NIH's most prestigious individual investigator award: the Pioneer Award gives $700K/year for 5 years to scientists with EXCEPTIONALLY creative research ideas that could transform their field. Only 8 awards from $8M. Unlike New Innovator (early-career), Pioneer is open to ANY career stage — but the bar for "pioneering" is the highest in all of NIH. No preliminary data required.

Who Should Apply

Individual scientists at any career stage (early to senior) at domestic research institutions proposing truly pioneering, high-impact biomedical research. Must be willing to devote at least 51% effort to the project.

Who Should NOT Apply

Foreign institutions, teams (this is individual PI only), or researchers proposing incremental science. If your idea isn't "pioneering" by NIH's standards, use R01 instead.

Key Requirements (Plain English)

•Must propose pioneering, high-impact research
•Must commit 51%+ effort to the project
•Must be at a domestic US institution
•No preliminary data required
•Individual PI only (not team grants)
•Only 8 awards nationally

💡 GrantQuick Tip

This is NIH's "genius grant" — 8 awards from all of biomedical science. Your idea must be something that, if successful, changes how an entire field thinks. Past winners proposed things like optogenetics, CRISPR applications, and single-cell sequencing approaches. The 51% effort requirement is real — you're expected to make this your primary focus, not an add-on to existing work.

Competitiveness: Extremely high — 8 awards from hundreds of applications across all of biomedicine. The most competitive NIH mechanism.

What This Grant Funds

The NIH Director"s Pioneer Award supports individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose bold and highly innovative research projects with the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important areas relevant to the mission of NIH. To be considered pioneering, the proposed research must reflect substantially different scientific directions from those already being pursued in the investigator"s research program or elsewhere. Applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH are welcome. Research may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. The NIH Director"s Pioneer Award is a component of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) program of the NIH Common Fund.

Attachments

PDF

RFA-RM-27-001-Full-Announcement.html

Who Can Apply

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 allowed.

Eligible Applicant Types

Nonprofits without 501(c)(3)Special District Governments501(c)(3) NonprofitsCity/Township GovernmentsFor-Profit OrganizationsSmall BusinessesOther (see NOFO for details)Public And Indian Housing AuthoritiesPublic Colleges & UniversitiesState GovernmentsIndependent School DistrictsOther Tribal OrganizationsPrivate Colleges & UniversitiesCounty GovernmentsFederally Recognized Tribal Governments

Funding Details

Minimum Award: $700K
Maximum Award: $700K
Total Program Funding: $8.0M
Expected Number of Awards: 8
Cost Sharing Required?: No
Funding Instrument: grant

Key Dates

Posted: June 29, 2026

Application Deadline: September 9, 2026 (23 days remaining)

Agency Contact

NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program PioneerAwards@mail.nih.gov

PioneerAwards@mail.nih.gov

Ready to apply?

View the full NOFO and submit your application on Grants.gov

View on Grants.gov