NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Program: FIRST Cohort (U54 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA RM 21 025

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 21 025

The NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Program: FIRST Cohort (U54 Clinical Trial Optional) is a National Institutes of Health funding opportunity designed to help NIH-funded institutions change their internal research culture in a lasting way. Rather than focusing only on individual training or isolated diversity initiatives, the FIRST Cohort aims to create a durable, self-reinforcing community of scientists who actively practice and advance diversity and inclusive excellence across their institutions. The basic idea is that when institutions intentionally recruit and support a cohort of faculty who share both strong research potential and a demonstrated commitment to inclusive excellence, the resulting peer network and institutional investments can reshape norms, expectations, mentoring practices, and decision-making in ways that persist beyond the life of the award. NIH frames this as potentially transformational for biomedical research not only at the funded institutions, but also more broadly, by strengthening the scientific enterprise through more inclusive participation and improved research environments.

This opportunity is offered as a cooperative agreement (U54), which generally means NIH expects to have substantial involvement in the program as it is carried out, compared with a standard research grant. The activity category is health, and the CFDA (assistance listing) number is 93.310. The “Clinical Trial Optional” designation signals that applicants may propose research activities that include clinical trials if appropriate, but a clinical trial is not required. The program’s central mechanism for transformation is faculty recruitment tied to institutional culture change: participating institutions recruit faculty into advertised, research-focused tenure-track or equivalent positions, specifically at the Assistant Professor level (or equivalent). Importantly, candidates must not have previously held an Assistant Professor (or equivalent) position, indicating an emphasis on bringing in new early-career faculty at the point of entry into the independent faculty ranks. In addition to being competitive for these faculty roles, recruits are expected to have a strong, demonstrated commitment to promoting diversity and inclusive excellence, aligning the cohort’s professional values with the program’s culture-change goals.

Eligibility is limited to U.S.-based organizations. Eligible applicant types include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations (both those with and without 501(c)(3) status), as well as other entities as allowed under NIH rules. The opportunity explicitly highlights that several categories of minority-serving institutions are among eligible applicants, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). At the same time, the announcement makes clear that non-U.S. entities may not apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as NIH defines them in its Grants Policy Statement) are not permitted. This keeps the program’s institutional transformation work within domestic extramural institutions and within NIH’s standard policy boundaries for this mechanism.

Key administrative details included in the source information are that the opportunity number is RFA-RM-21-025, the sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health, the posting (creation) date was July 12, 2021, and the original application closing date was September 24, 2021. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided extract. Overall, this funding opportunity can be understood as an NIH-supported institutional change initiative that uses cohort-based recruitment of new Assistant Professor-level faculty, combined with intentional community-building around inclusive excellence, to produce sustained improvements in research climate, opportunity, and participation in the biomedical research workforce.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Program: FIRST Cohort (U54 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-07-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-09-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, 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, Others.

Apply for RFA RM 21 025

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