The NINDS Sustainable Transformation of Institutional Research Rigor (STIRR) Program aims to support the establishment of programs to enhance research rigor and transparency practices within academic and research institutions to promote a culture of high-quality neuroscience research.
Donor Name: National Institutes of Health
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/17/2025
Size of the Grant: $3.5 million
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
Objectives
The objective of this NOFO is to provide resources to create model programs for the broader neuroscience community to evaluate, modify, and emulate. Successful programs from this NOFO that are then adopted by multiple institutions have the potential to transform the scientific enterprise and promote a culture that more highly values rigor and transparency. Promising practices and principles derived from the literature or from existing programs at other institutions may be leveraged to inform applicants’ approaches and/or expansion of past efforts in novel ways. This initiative is intended to allow institutional entities to develop and pilot innovative approaches to improving research rigor and transparency through changes in community resources, policies, and/or practices. It is envisaged that sharing impactful initiatives and lessons learned broadly will encourage other institutional entities to adopt similar measures.
Applicant entities must support or perform neuroscience research that is relevant to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) mission, although the research does not need to be exclusive to these fields [e.g., a Cell Biology Department containing a critical mass (i.e., at least 25%) of faculty members working on neuroscience projects relevant to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) mission would be eligible to apply]. Applicant entities may include departments, offices, libraries, inter-departmental collaborations, or equivalent intra-institutional organizational structures, but the program’s goals must include increasing rigor and transparency of neuroscience research performed by investigators within the institution or organization. Support from this NOFO should catalyze sustainable culture change at the level of the intra-institutional entity applying for the award and the cohort of researchers in the local scientific community targeted by the program. The proposed activities, therefore, must be implemented by and/or applicable to more than one laboratory or scientific group.
Program activities should be generally applicable to a wide variety of scientists and projects and should aim to change scientists’ knowledge, behavior, and culture around scientific rigor and transparency. Examples of activities responsive to this NOFO include, but are not limited to:
- Implementing recognition or awards to promote awareness of best practices in rigor and transparency (e.g., prizes for publication of null results, special opportunities for researchers who champion better research practice)
- Hiring or appointing dedicated personnel to integrate new rigor and transparency practices into research workflows (e.g., statisticians, data managers, research methodologists, quality control specialists)
- Restructuring trainee program requirements to incentivize high-quality research over novelty and quantity of research outputs
- Modifying hiring, promotion, and tenure criteria to emphasize research rigor, transparency, and quality and to deemphasize bibliometrics and journal impact factor
- Developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and incorporating new infrastructure to support good research practice (e.g., error reporting software, electronic lab notebooks, quality management systems)
- Updating policies to better enforce rigor and transparency (e.g., minimal reporting standards for publication submissions, required dissemination of null results to reduce publication bias, course releases for time spent on championing rigor or replicating important experiments)
- Creating comprehensive educational and/or professional development programs on the principles of rigorous research for trainees, faculty, and other scientific staff
- Partnering with external organizations to provide transformative rigor and transparency-focused services to research personnel within the institution and improve how the applicant entity operates.
Funding Information
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) intends to commit an estimated $3.5 million in direct costs annually for at least 5 awards. The number of awards is contingent upon the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications, the size and scope of the most meritorious applications, and NIH appropriations.
- Application budgets need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project; however, it is anticipated that most awards will be between $150,000-$800,000 direct costs per year, commensurate with the scope of the proposed program.
- Award Project Period: The maximum project period is 3 years.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible Organizations:
- Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
- The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
- Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
- Local Governments
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or Township Governments
- Special District Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
- Federal Government
- Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
- U.S. Territory or Possession
- Other
- Independent School Districts
- Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
- Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
- Regional Organizations.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
