Any candidate with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) is invited to work with his/her mentor and organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. Multiple PDs/PIs are not allowed.
By the time of award, the individual must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status).
Current and former PDs/PIs on NIH research project (R01), program project (P01), center grants (P50), other major individual career development awards (e.g., K01, K07, K08, K22, K23, K25, K76, K99/R00), or Project Leads of program project (P01) or center grant (P50) sub-projects, or the equivalent are not eligible. Current and former PDs/PIs of an NIH Small Grant (R03), Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21), Planning Grant (R34/U34), Dissertation Award (R36), or SBIR/STTR (R41, R42, R43, R44) remain eligible, as do PD/PIs of Transition Scholar (K38) awards and individuals appointed to institutional K programs (K12, KL2).
Candidates for the K25 award must have an advanced degree in a quantitative area of science or engineering (e.g., MSEE, PhD, DSc) and have demonstrated research interests in their primary quantitative discipline (including research outside of biomedicine, behavioral sciences, bioimaging, or bioengineering). The candidate should have demonstrated professional accomplishments consonant with his or her career stage.
The K25 award is intended for research-oriented investigators at any level of experience, from the postdoctoral level to senior faculty level, who have shown clear evidence of productivity and research excellence in the field of their training, and who would like to expand their research capability, with the goal of making significant contributions to behavioral, biomedical (basic or clinical), bioimaging or bioengineering research that is relevant to the NIH mission.