The Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) is a program office in the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) dedicated to supporting research infrastructure and related research resource programs.
Donor Name: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/18/2026
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 5 Years
Details:
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) encourages grant applications for Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers. These Centers provide support for special colonies of laboratory animals and associated services, as well as other resources such as informatics tools, reagents, cultures (cells, tissues, and organs) and genetic stocks that serve the biomedical research community in a variety of research areas on a local, regional, and national basis. The goal of projects supported by this NOFO is to provide research resources that facilitate optimization and enhancement of scientific rigor, transparency, and experimental reproducibility of biomedical research. Proposed Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers must have broad application to multiple NIH Institutes or Centers (ICs) to align with the ORIP’s NIH-wide mission. This funding opportunity is designed to support both continuation of existing resources and to develop new ones when appropriate. Of special interest of the announcement is a requirement of the Center’s close coordination with efforts to develop new approach methodologies (NAMs) that complement traditional animal-based research. These include cell culture, organoids, computational models, and microphysiological systems. Applied Research Component should include studies to generate comparative data to increase applicability of NAMs and promote integration of the most predictive human disease models. Prior to preparing an application, all applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with Scientific/Research staff to be advised on appropriateness of the intended resource plans for this program, competitiveness of a potential application, and ORIP’s program priorities.
Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers should have the following characteristics:
- There should be a demonstrated need for the resource in the wider biomedical research community. Evidence of the depth and breadth of impact on a scientific community must be provided. Examples could include up to 15 letters of support from institutions, individuals, groups, or consortia; website usage; a statement from a scientific society; and/or a published white paper. Applications exceeding the 15 letters limit will be administratively withdrawn without review. Support letters from the institution submitting the P40 application are not counted towards this limit/cap.
- The Centers should serve the needs of investigators in a variety of research areas where work is sponsored by multiple NIH ICs.
- The Centers must be available and utilized by investigators on a national basis.
- The Centers must ensure the quality and welfare of distributed animals and describe how their activities assist and promote optimization and enhancement of scientific rigor, transparency and experimental reproducibility of biomedical research.
- The Centers must have an Applied Research Component to generate new approaches or to enhance existing ones that will improve the resources and services provided to the community. Hypothesis driven R21- or R01-like research is not considered applied research. Applied Research Component should include studies to generate comparative data to increase applicability of NAMs and promote integration of the most predictive human disease models. The Applied Research Component may comprise no more than 15 percent of the direct costs associated with the P40 grant.
- The Centers must have a Curation and Informatics component to support development and maintenance of in-house data management systems, curate stocks of animals and biomaterials, and maintain a searchable web portal with an integrated client friendly request/ordering system and outreach presentations.
- The Institution submitting the P40 application must be committed to the Center being proposed. Evidence of such support must be provided. The application should include a letter of support from the Institution.
- A critical component of improving scientific reproducibility of the research is to develop approaches for unique identification of research resources in public databases, including publications. The Center should register catalogs of their resources with current resource tagging and identification initiatives, such as FORCE 11. The Center should also work with the investigators to encourage the use of a resource identification system in their publications and reports.
- The Centers required to develop approaches to maintain critical resources in reliable and cost-effective ways. Long-term preservation of the genetic stock of animal models is needed to ensure efficiency, rigor, and reproducibility in biomedical research. Cryopreservation of the germplasm should be considered when it is appropriate. In addition, the Center should have a disaster preparedness plan to minimize total loss of resources in the event of a catastrophic disaster, such as loss of power or potable water, fire, flooding, data breach, pandemic or public health emergency.
- The Center is required to develop an active program for monitoring and collecting information for reporting purposes and evaluating the impact of their ongoing activities and services provided to the biomedical community. Examples should include tracking user information (such as Institute affiliation and location), sources of funds, associated grant numbers for purchases made with Government funds, and/or outcomes of the studies using obtained animal models and biomaterials. Such information should also be included in progress reports to the NIH.
Funding Information
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to commit $1.3 M in FY 2023-2025 to fund at least two awards per fiscal year.
- Those calculations do not include the budget for adding a new Curation and Informatics component (up to $300,000 of additional total cost per year) unless the renewal application already had a Curation and Informatics component added via a revision application or existing from the previous project period. In these cases, the 5 percent increase cap for direct cost includes this component.
Project Period
The maximum project period is 5 years.
Eligibility Criteria
Higher Education Institutions – Includes all types
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- 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
Federal Governments
- Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
- U.S. Territory or Possession
Foreign Organizations/International Collaborations
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organization) are not eligible to apply.
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
- Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
