Exploratory Grants for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control

The summary for the Exploratory Grants for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Institutes of Health, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Exploratory Grants for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control: The Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites the submission of behavioral research applications in cancer control from investigators from a wide range of behavioral and social science disciplines who wish to focus their research on the behavioral aspects of the cancer control continuum from prevention to end of life care. The Exploratory Grant Program is designed to encourage the growth of a diverse cohort of scientists with a high level of research expertise in behavioral cancer control research. This exploratory grant is a 2-year award designed to encourage exploration of new ideas and new methodologies in the target area and to provide support for the collection of pilot data to be used as the basis for later R01s. NIH Grants policies apply to these awards.The Behavioral Research Program (BRP) at NCI also issues an R03 program announcement http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/smallgrants/.) The two mechanisms, the R21 and the R03, are both considered small grants but are targeted to two different audiences. The BRP R21 targets new ideas and feasibility studies in areas new to seasoned investigators. The R03 is designed for new investigators. The R21 provides enough funding for a (small) collaborative team. The R03 guidelines until recently mandated a mentor relationship; this is still encouraged. The R21 applications are reviewed in the large pool of CSR study sections where the applications are evaluated by behavioral and/or prevention scientists who may or may not have primary interests in oncology. The R03 applications are reviewed by NCI. Hence, the PI must use different strategies in presenting the research design and other sections of the applicants. The R21 is often used as a vehicle to provide rich pilot data for a later R01, and PI s are encouraged to think ahead to the next step, should their R21 hypotheses test favorably; there is a lesser emphasis on the continuation into the R01 for the R03 applicant. In summary, seasoned investigators use the R21 mechanism to pursue new avenues of research with new populations; new investigators use the R03 to learn the factors involved in leading an investigation in an area they may have been working in since graduate school or as a post-doc.