Biomedical Research Environment & Sponsored Programs Administration Development (BRE-SPAD) Program

Biomedical Research Environment & Sponsored Programs Administration Development (BRE-SPAD) Program is sponsored by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Aims to support resource-limited institutions in conducting research and enhancing research environments.

Biomedical Research Environment & Sponsored Programs Administration Development (BRE-SPAD) Program | National Institute of General Medical Sciences The Biomedical Research Environment & Sponsored Programs Administration Development (BRE-SPAD) Program ( PAR-24-268 ) aims to support resource-limited institutions to conduct research, enhance their research environments, and increase sponsored programs administration capacity.

The BRE-SPAD program is designed to support the needs of organizations that are in different stages of biomedical research capacity building.

All applications should propose plans in at least two of the developmental funding areas listed below: Sponsored Programs Administration Development: For activities to increase sponsored programs administration capabilities, including staff, resources, training, policy development and other activities related to grants, contracts, activities to increase organizational funds available for research, and technology transfer.

Research Environment: For activities to cultivate growth in research and research education activities. Example activities include, but are not limited to, faculty grant writing training, student research training activities, course-based research development, research symposia, and research oversight policies and implementation.

Pilot Research Project Program: For the development of a program to administer internal pilot research project funding to faculty conducting biomedical research with the goal of generating preliminary data to enhance the competitiveness of securing external research funding. For more information see Section VI of PAR-24-268 . The administrative and funding instrument used for this program will be the cooperative agreement.

For more information see Section VI. 2 of PAR-24-268 . For any questions about BRE-SPAD, please email NIGMSBRE-SPAD@nigms.

nih. gov . BRE-SPAD Interactive Portfolio Dashboard IMPORTANT - NEW BIOSKETCH FORMAT NEEDED A new format is required for the biosketches in BRE-SPAD applications due 1/27/26.

Notice NOT-OD-26-018 , published on 12/2/2025, states that applications due on or after 1/25/26 should use the new SCIENV format (The Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement) for biosketches. Please ensure that you submit new biosketches following the instructions linked in this Notice. NIH will withdraw applications containing biosketches that use prior formats.

Organizational Eligibility See Section III of PAR-24-268 for complete eligibility information. This table summarizes BRE-SPAD program-specific criteria for organizations with different levels of involvement in a potential program. These written instructions [PDF] walk through organizational eligibility and how to determine NIH funding and biomedical Ph.

D. conferment levels. Characteristics of Eligible Organizations Receives Developmental funding -Submits the BRE-SPAD application.

-Considered to be a participating organization . HBCUs and Tribal entities as defined in PAR-24-268 Limited amount of: NIH funding & biomedical PhDs conferred as described here [PDF] Additional participating organization(s)(optional) -Works with the applicant organization. -Only one member organization of a group of participating organizations serves as the applicant organization .

All HBCUs and Tribal entities as defined in PAR-24-268 Limited amount of: NIH funding & biomedical PhDs conferred as described here [PDF] Partner organization(s)(optional) -Collaborates with the participating organization(s) to provide expertise and services. -May receive consulting or service fees, for example. No BRE-SPAD specific characteristics are required for eligibility.

Sponsored programs or research development associations can be applicant organizations provided other BRE-SPAD eligibility criteria are met.

However, if such organizations apply, any funds requested cannot go toward development of the professional association, but must go toward building research capacity at one or more organizations of higher education that meet the NIH funding level and doctoral degree conferment, or HBCU, Tribal entity status eligibility criteria above. Instructions on how to determine NIH funding and biomedical Ph. D.

conferment levels are here [PDF] . Applications with the following characteristics will be considered low priority for funding, even if other aspects review favorably: Fail to demonstrate that there will be sufficient faculty or staff time for research, mentoring of student researchers, grant writing, or student activities. Propose to fund ongoing activities currently supported through organizational funds.

BRE-SPAD is intended to build capacity that would not be possible without the funds, not to free up organizational funds. Eligible organizations are expected to propose plans for at least two developmental funding areas based on the needs identified in an organizational assessment. Programs are expected to assemble a team of individuals who will promote lasting change at the participating organization(s).

This team should include organizational leaders, administrators, and biomedical research faculty, experienced mentors, and knowledgeable steering committee members.

Applications among multiple participating organizations are encouraged and may promote sharing of research administration functions, personnel, electronic systems, or forming alliances to organize central offices such as Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs).

The award may be renewed once, for a maximum of up to 10 years of funding per organization; however, renewal applications are not guaranteed funding and are dependent upon successful outcomes. Things to Do Before Applying Read the NOFO PAR-24-268 including any Related Notices in the Overview Section. Review required and suggested application page lengths for key application components here [PDF] .

Consider reaching out to NIGMS BRE-SPAD staff to discuss organizational eligibility and proposed program's fit to this funding opportunity. Sending a one-page summary including the information below to NIGMSBRE-SPAD@nigms. nih.

gov will help facilitate the non-binding feedback: List the application organization, any other participating organization(s), and any partner organization(s). State the two or three developmental funding areas that will be proposed in the application. Briefly describe the need for proposed programming.

A brief overview of the primary goals and activities for the proposed plans. If you are interested, plan to attend the optional BRE-SPAD Question & Answer "Office Hour" Session on Thursday, November 13, 2025 from 12-1pm Eastern Time. Registration is not required.

The link will be posted on this page closer to the event. If you cannot attend, you can always reach out by email with any questions. Review NIH's Application Form Instructions , Research Instructions (the SF424).

Complete the Required Registrations needed for the applicant organization to submit an application, which can take six weeks or more. Failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions for BRE-SPAD Slides from Applicant Webinar BRE-SPAD Applicant Video Series Overview of Application Information Segment 1 — How to find the application instructions: the SF424 Application Guide and the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Segment 3 — A walk through of Section IV of the BRE-SPAD NOFO, highlighting content needed for select application documents Segment 2 — A List of the major BRE-SPAD application components with required & suggested page lengths Segment 4 — Next Steps How Pilot Research Project Funding Works How Pilot Research Project Funding Works Video Slides from the Pilot Research Project Funding Video Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) Eligibility Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the program director(s)/principal investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support.

The contact PD/PI must be from the applicant organization and is expected to have a full-time appointment at the applicant organization unless extremely well-justified. Each participating organization(s) that is an organization of higher education should have at least one PD/PI that is an academic administrator (for example, chair, dean, provost).

For applicants that are not organizations of higher education, a PD/PI in a leadership position, as defined by the applicant organization, is required.

NIH Instrumentation Grant Program for Resource-Limited Institutions (RLI-S10) NIH Modern Equipment for Shared-Use Biomedical Research Facilities: advancing Research-Related Operations (S15) NIH Extramural Construction Programs (C06) NIH Funded SuRE Resource Center’s, Office of Sponsored Programs Seed Grants Suggested Reporting/Evaluation for BRE-SPAD Awardees BRE-SPAD awardees are required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR ) annually.

Tracking progress of biomedical research activities and environment and sponsored programs administration development is critical to increasing biomedical research capacity. Below are additional, suggested ways to describe some accomplishments or outcomes that could be included in RPPRs. Examples of accomplishments/outcomes that could be listed Conference attendance and presentations supported by this award*.

Sabbaticals or other faculty research opportunities resulting from this award*. Equipment and/or research supply purchases from the award and their usages*. Publications or other biomedical research or training-related scholarship outcomes.

Number of faculty with protected time to conduct research or write grants (e.g., sabbaticals, course buy-outs). This page last updated on