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Find similar grantsHigh-Risk, High-Reward Research Program is sponsored by NIH Common Fund. This program supports exceptionally creative scientists conducting highly innovative research with the potential for broad impact in biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences within the NIH mission.
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High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) | NIH Common Fund High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) The NIH Director's HRHR Research Program The Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program was created to accelerate the pace of biomedical, behavioral, and social science discoveries by supporting exceptionally creative scientists conducting highly innovative research.
The program seeks to identify scientists with high-impact ideas that may be risky or at a stage too early to fare well in the traditional peer review process. The program encourages creative, outside-the-box thinkers to pursue exciting and innovative ideas in any area of biomedical, behavioral, or social science within the NIH mission .
Four initiatives were created for this purpose: The NIH Director’s Pioneer Award , established in 2004, challenges investigators at all career levels to pursue new research directions and develop groundbreaking, high-impact approaches within broad areas of biomedical, behavioral or social science.
The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award , established in 2007, supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or post-graduate clinical training and have not yet received a research project grant or equivalent NIH grant.
The NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award , established in 2009, promotes cross-cutting, interdisciplinary approaches and is open to individuals and teams of investigators who propose unconventional research that could create or challenge existing paradigms.
The NIH Director’s Early Independence Award , established in 2011, provides an opportunity for exceptional junior scientists who have recently received their doctoral degree or completed their post-graduate clinical training to skip traditional post-doctoral training and move immediately into independent research positions. Learn more about the different award requirements in our comparison table .
NIH Director's Pioneer Award For scientists with outstanding records of creativity pursuing pioneering approaches to major challenges Open to all career stages Must be new research direction Requires at least 51% research effort $700,000/year for 5 years Applications due September 9, 2026 NIH Director's New Innovator Award For exceptionally creative early career scientists proposing innovative, high-impact projects Must be an Early Stage Investigator Requires at least 25% research effort $475,000/year for 5 years Applications due August 17, 2026 NIH Director's Transformative Research Award For individuals or teams proposing groundbreaking, unconventional research with the potential to create new scientific paradigms Open to all career stages Open to individuals or teams Research effort commensurate to project needs Flexible budget for 5 years Applications due September 3, 2026 NIH Director's Early Independence Award For exceptional junior scientists bypassing postdoctoral training to launch independent research careers Recipient of terminal research degree or completed postgraduate clinical training within previous 16 months or expectation to do so within following 12 months of application submission date Must be in non-independent research position Limit of 2 applications per institution $350,000/year for 5 years Applications due September 10, 2026 This page last reviewed on
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Scientists at all career stages; specific eligibility requirements vary by the four constituent NIH Director's awards (Pioneer, New Innovator, Transformative Research, Early Independence). Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program is funded by NIH Common Fund. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
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