Education Activities for Responsible Analyses of Complex, Large-Scale Data (R25- Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DA 24 027

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 24 027

Education Activities for Responsible Analyses of Complex, Large-Scale Data (R25 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) designed to strengthen the quality and integrity of NIDA-relevant research by improving how researchers are trained to work with complex, high-volume datasets. The focus is on building methodological rigor and promoting responsible, transparent analytic practices when handling large-scale data that may include brain and neuroimaging measures, behavioral assessments, genomic information, and socioenvironmental variables. In practical terms, the opportunity is meant to help the research community avoid common pitfalls in modern data-intensive science, such as inappropriate model selection, weak validation practices, overfitting, unaddressed bias, poor reproducibility, and misinterpretation of results, especially when multiple data types are integrated.

This announcement uses the NIH R25 mechanism, which supports education projects rather than traditional hypothesis-driven research, and it explicitly does not allow clinical trials. The grant is structured around two main types of supported education activities. First, it supports Courses for Skills Development, meaning projects that deliver training experiences such as short courses, workshops, summer institutes, bootcamps, or other structured learning formats that build hands-on competence in responsible analysis of complex datasets. These courses can be geared toward developing practical skills that trainees can use immediately, such as data management, harmonization across studies, robust statistical approaches for high-dimensional data, machine learning methods used appropriately (including evaluation and interpretability), handling missingness, sensitivity analyses, and reporting practices that improve transparency and reproducibility. Second, it supports Curriculum or Methods Development, which is aimed at building or improving the educational content itself. That can include creating new curricula, modules, lesson plans, case studies, software tutorials, or reusable training materials that institutions and training programs can adopt to raise the baseline standard for data-analytic rigor in the field.

The eligible applicant pool is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and Native American tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and a range of nonprofit and for-profit organizations (including small businesses, and for-profit entities other than small businesses). The opportunity also highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations). This emphasis signals an intent to broaden participation and encourage training capacity across diverse institutional settings, including organizations that serve populations historically underrepresented in biomedical research.

From the funding details provided, the opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant program under the education and health activity area, with CFDA number 93.279. The funding opportunity number is RFA-DA-24-027. The listed award ceiling is $300,000, indicating the maximum amount expected for an individual award under this announcement. The source information shows an original closing date of February 8, 2024, and a creation date of February 8, 2023. While the excerpt does not specify the exact number of anticipated awards, the structure and budget ceiling suggest an intent to fund well-scoped, high-impact education efforts that can be delivered effectively and, ideally, reused or scaled beyond a single cohort.

Overall, the grant opportunity is best understood as a targeted investment in training infrastructure and educational programming to help researchers analyze large, complex, multi-domain datasets responsibly in ways that directly support NIDA’s mission. Competitive projects under this kind of R25 typically demonstrate a clear educational need, a strong plan for instruction and trainee engagement, qualified faculty or instructors, thoughtful evaluation metrics to measure learning outcomes, and a dissemination strategy so that materials, curricula, or course models can have lasting impact beyond the initial award period.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Education Activities for Responsible Analyses of Complex, Large-Scale Data (R25- Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-08. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

Apply for RFA DA 24 027

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