Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams (RM1) | PAR 17 340

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 17 340

The Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams (RM1) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) intended to back highly integrated, tightly coordinated research teams. The core idea is to fund projects that are genuinely team-science driven: each application must be built around a group of three to six Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PDs/PIs) working together on a single, ambitious scientific problem that matters to the NIGMS mission. The program is aimed at big, difficult questions that are not realistically solvable by one lab, or even by a loosely connected set of labs. Reviewers are looking for strong evidence that the project needs deep scientific and managerial integration, where the outcomes depend on synergy, shared strategy, and deliberate coordination rather than parallel, independent work packages.

A key expectation is that the team will pursue far-reaching objectives capable of producing major advances in their field. In practical terms, that means the proposal should articulate a compelling overarching vision, explain why the problem is both important and hard, and show how combining distinct expertise across the PD/PI group creates capabilities that no single investigator could assemble alone. The FOA emphasizes “managed team interactions,” which signals that successful applications typically need a credible plan for leadership, decision-making, communication, conflict resolution, and coordination of milestones across the team. The project should read like one coherent program with interdependent aims, not a bundle of separate subprojects that could just as easily be funded as individual grants.

At the same time, the FOA draws clear boundaries around what it does not want to support. Applications that are primarily about building, expanding, or maintaining community resources are considered out of scope. Likewise, proposals centered mainly on creating new technologies, constructing infrastructure, or general platform development are not appropriate for this program. Those activities can be valuable, but under this announcement they cannot be the main thrust. The emphasis is on answering a major biological or biomedical research question through an integrated, multidisciplinary approach, rather than delivering a tool, database, resource center, or facility as the primary output.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common U.S. applicant organization types, such as public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) organizations), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and various levels of government (state, county, city/township, and special district governments), as well as independent school districts. It also includes Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments), along with public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The announcement explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is limited in a specific way. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions/organizations) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, “foreign components” as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S.-based applicant may include certain foreign activities or collaborations if they meet NIH’s definition and requirements for a foreign component. In other words, the application must be led by an eligible U.S. applicant organization, but it can incorporate approved international elements when justified.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health funding category under CFDA 93.859. The opportunity number is PAR-17-340, created on September 22, 2017, with an original closing date listed as January 29, 2020. The excerpted source data does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, so those details would typically be confirmed in the full FOA text and any related NIH notices.

Overall, this RM1 program is best understood as support for high-risk/high-reward, mission-relevant team science where the structure of the project is inseparable from the structure of the team. The strongest fit is a proposal that can clearly demonstrate: (1) a major scientific challenge aligned with NIGMS priorities, (2) a three-to-six PD/PI team whose combined expertise is necessary (not just helpful), (3) tightly linked aims that require ongoing integration, and (4) a realistic management plan showing how the collaboration will operate as a unified program and deliver transformative advances rather than incremental progress or primarily resource/technology outputs.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams (RM1)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-09-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-01-29. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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