NIH/NICHD NExT AI Hubs for Specific Learning Disabilities (RFA-HD-27-006)

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of NIH, is accepting applications under RFA-HD-27-006 for Novel Experiential Technologies Assisting Individual Learning (NExT AI) Hubs, a P20 exploratory research program focused on how artificial intelligence technologies influence learning, cognition, and socio-emotional development in children with or at risk for specific learning disabilities in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Deadline: October 2, 2026 at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. NICHD intends to commit approximately $1.6 million in FY 2027 to fund up to three awards. Application budgets are limited to $390,000 in direct costs per year, with a maximum project period of four years. No cost sharing is required.

Eligible applicants: Domestic public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits, small businesses and other for-profit organizations, state and local governments, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, independent school districts, public housing authorities, tribal governments and organizations, faith-based and community-based organizations, and regional organizations may apply subject to the full NIH requirements. Foreign organizations and foreign components are not allowed.

Program scope: Projects must substantially focus on children with or at risk for specific learning disabilities and examine developmental outcomes associated with existing or emerging AI technologies. The NOFO does not support development of new AI tools, does not prioritize evaluations of specific commercial products, and treats applications centered primarily on technology development or usability testing as non-responsive.

Application structure: Applicants must follow NIH Multi-Project instructions and submit one Overall component, one Research Project, and one Leadership Core. The Research Strategy page limits are six pages for Overall, twelve pages for the Research Project, and six pages for the Leadership Core. A Data Management and Sharing Plan is required in the Overall component when scientific data will be generated. Applications are prepared through NIH ASSIST or an institutional system-to-system solution, submitted through Grants.gov, and tracked in eRA Commons.

Atlas assessment: High-value national school and developmental-research opportunity for institution-led or research-organization-led projects with specific learning disability expertise, community-engaged research capacity, early-career researcher development, and strong NIH multi-project readiness. Organization-specific applicant evaluation belongs with the applicable state education pathway.