NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional)

The NIH Director's Early Independence Award (RFA-RM-27-004) is a high-risk, high-reward grant designed to support exceptional new researchers in establishing independent research programs immediately following their doctoral or clinical training, bypassing traditional postdoctoral training. This assistance award accepts applications on any topic aligned with the NIH mission and provides funding of up to 350,000 dollars in direct costs per year for a project period of up to five years. For fiscal year 2027, the NIH Common Fund expects to allocate approximately 5.7 million dollars to fund about 10 awards. Applications are due by September 10, 2026, and are limited to two per institution. Eligible applicants must be single Principal Investigators who can secure a guaranteed independent research position by the project start date. The evaluation process involves a two-phase peer review consisting of topic expert reviews and an editorial panel review, with a strong emphasis on investigator qualities and the institutional environment. Required application components include a research strategy essay with science area designations and reference letters limited to two pages. Awardees are subject to a site visit near the end of the first year to verify institutional support and independence. Additionally, the program mandates strict adherence to cybersecurity incident reporting within 48 hours of discovery and requires active registration in SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.