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Find similar grantsNIH Director's High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program (Pioneer, New Innovator, Transformative Research, Early Independence Awards) is sponsored by National Institutes of Health (NIH). These grants support exceptionally creative scientists pursuing highly innovative research with the potential for broad impact in biomedical, behavioral, or 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: Exceptionally creative scientists, early career investigators, and teams of principal investigators (eligibility varies by specific award). Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
NIH Director's High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program (Pioneer, New Innovator, Transformative Research, Early Independence Awards) is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
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PA-27-037 consolidates the Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Award into a single parent announcement across 20 NIH components, with the next deadline December 8, 2026. The eligibility gate is not the science — it is a mandatory change of institution and mentor between the F99 and K00 phases.
Read articleA draft executive order would have put OMB Director Russell Vought on a commission with final say over NIH awards after peer review. Sen. Collins killed it by pointing at a provision Congress already passed. Here is what the episode teaches applicants about the December 11 cliff.
Read articlePA-27-034, PA-27-035 and PA-27-036 replace the institute-specific R25 announcements that research education programs have been built around for a decade. NCI, NIDA and NIGMS have already expired theirs early. Here is what the consolidation actually changes: an 8% indirect cost ceiling, a US-citizens-and-permanent-residents participant rule, a cooperative agreement variant that only exists on one of the three, and no clinical-trial-allowed companion anywhere.
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