Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award (Parent K25 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Last verified by NonDilute: 2026-04-29. Official notice and agency instructions control.
If you're a strong quantitative scientist (math, CS, stats, physics) wanting to apply your skills to health problems, this award gives you 3+ years of salary, mentorship, and protected time to make the pivot.
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What this is
The K25 is a mentored career development award designed to recruit talented quantitative researchers from non-health fields and help them integrate their expertise into NIH-relevant health research. Awardees get dedicated time and structured mentorship to build a new research program. This version specifically prohibits leading your own clinical trial as the main project, though you can participate in mentor-led trials. It's aimed at mid-career professionals ready to pivot, not students or junior postdocs.
Who can apply
Broadly eligible: nonprofits, universities (public and private), state/local governments, small businesses, tribal organizations, and for-profit entities. Individual applicants must be affiliated with an eligible institution. No geographic restrictions. Applicant must have quantitative training but limited prior health/biomedical research focus.
Eligible applicant types
- State governments
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Small businesses
- County governments
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Special district governments
- Independent school districts
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- City or township governments
- Private institutions of higher education
Full description — from the agency
The purpose of the Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award (K25) is to attract to NIH-relevant research those investigators whose quantitative science and engineering research has thus far not been focused primarily on questions of health and disease. The K25 award will provide support and "protected time" for a period of supervised study and research for productive professionals with quantitative (e.g., mathematics, statistics, economics, computer science, imaging science, informatics, physics, chemistry) and engineering backgrounds to integrate their expertise with NIH-relevant research.This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. Applicants to this FOA are permitted to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Applicants proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion FOA ().
Topics: career development award · quantitative research mentorship · NIH K25 · computational biology · biomedical research transition · protected research time · mathematician to medicine
Public-source funding discovery only. This summary is generated from public agency data and may be incomplete or stale. NonDilute is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any government agency. Official notices and agency instructions control. NonDilute does not determine eligibility, provide grant-writing advice, or guarantee funding.