Reissuance of NIDCR Small Grant Program for New Investigators (R03)

January 2024

Division of Extramural Research

Goal

The objective of the NIDCR Small Grant Program for New Investigators (R03) is to provide support for research conducted by scientists who are in the early stages of establishing their independent research career in dental, oral, and craniofacial research. This program supports pilot or feasibility studies and developmental research projects with the intention of obtaining enough preliminary data for a subsequent investigator-initiated Research Project Grant (R01) or equivalent application.

A New Investigator (NI) is a research grant applicant who has not yet competed successfully for a substantial, competing research grant (R01). Whereas an Early-Stage Investigator (ESI) is a subset of NIs who have completed their terminal research degree or medical residency—whichever date is later—within the past 10 years and have not yet competed successfully for a substantial, competing NIH research grant.

Background

This NIDCR Small Grant Program for New Investigators aims to support NIs whose proposed research addresses any of the goals described in the NIDCR Strategic Plan. The NIDCR mission is dedicated to advancing knowledge of dental, oral, and craniofacial health and disease through fundamental discoveries and the clinical and population-based application of these discoveries. Detailed information regarding scientific areas of interest and programs can be found on the NIDCR website.

The NIDCR Small Grant Program is intended to support research projects in basic science and clinical, behavioral, and population science areas. The focus on early career stage presents an opportunity to build a robust pipeline of investigators. This program will support small pilot or feasibility studies and developmental research projects with the intention of obtaining enough preliminary data to support the subsequent submission of a competitive investigator-initiated R01 or equivalent research application. The R03 is not intended to sustain research careers. This mechanism does not support clinical trials in any phase or biomarker validation studies. However, research in basic, clinical, and behavioral topics that do not fit the NIH definition of clinical trials are included in this program. Examples of behavioral-social projects include, and are not limited to, those that strive to identify potential causal mechanisms that drive healthier dental, oral, and craniofacial-related behaviors that could be reinforced through interventions—and/or to generate causal-related hypotheses that, when targeted through an intervention, could affect more profound healthier behaviors. Causal mechanisms may be behavioral, biological, psychological, social, and/or biopsychosocial-neuroimmunological studies. Individuals proposing clinical trials are directed to use the NIDCR Clinical Trials Program that uses the UG3/UH3 mechanism.

This Program Announcement (PAR) was first published in FY2007 and six PARs have been issued (PAR-07-418, PAR-10-275, PAR-13-348, PAR-16-409, PAR-19-370, and PAR-21-084). Unlike the parent NIH R03 mechanism (PA-20-200) which provides $50K direct cost/year for two years, this PAR allows for direct cost up to $100K per year for two years.

As an NIDCR specific PAR, peer review is conducted by the NIDCR Special Grants Review Committee (DSR). Unique to this PAR, applicants must include a description of how the R03 project will lead to a conceptual framework for a subsequent R01 or equivalent application. The required ‘future research plan’ is a scorable criteria for scientific reviewers.

This funding opportunity continues to be well received by the community, especially those having no prior experience with the peer review process. A portfolio analysis conducted in 2023 revealed:

• The overall success rate was 22%.
• R03 awardees were 1.6 times more likely to apply for a R01 compared to unsuccessful counterparts.
• R03 awardees were 2.4 times more likely to be awarded a subsequent R01 compared to unsuccessful counterparts.
• R03 awardees were 1.4 times more likely to be awarded a subsequent R01 compared to NIDCR NIs who never applied for NI R03.

The table below provides a listing of total applications received and the percentage awarded for each of the last four announcement cycles. This analysis was based on the number of unique projects (-01 and -01A1 submissions were counted once per application).

*As of October 30, 2023