NIH Research Software Engineer (RSE) Award (R50 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
Last verified by NonDilute: 2026-06-08. Official notice and agency instructions control.
If you're a skilled software engineer embedded in biomedical research or a small team building health tech tools, this covers your salary while you develop and train others on your platform.
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What this is
This NIH R50 award funds salary support for Research Software Engineers working on biomedical software, tools, and algorithms—not clinical trials. Applicants can be nonprofits, small businesses, universities, government entities, tribal organizations, and for-profit companies. The award emphasizes both software development and training prospective users, making it ideal for RSEs embedded in research institutions or biotech contexts who need dedicated funding for their specialized engineering work.
Who can apply
Nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), small businesses, universities, city/county/state governments, Native American tribal organizations, for-profit companies, and other entities are eligible. Clinical trial software is explicitly excluded; focus must be on biomedical/behavioral/health software development and user training.
Eligible applicant types
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- City or township governments
- Private institutions of higher education
- County governments
- Small businesses
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
- Special district governments
- State governments
- Independent school districts
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
Full description — from the agency
The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is to provide salary support for exceptional Research Software Engineers (RSEs) that contribute their skills to the development and dissemination of biomedical, behavioral or health related software, tools, and algorithms as well as to the training of prospective users of these tools.
Topics: research software engineer · biomedical software development · health informatics tools · nih rse funding · software engineering salary support
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.