The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is accepting competitive research-grant applications under O-NIJ-2026-172804, released October 22, 2026. This is an applicant-facing federal financial-assistance opportunity, not a vendor procurement notice. It seeks rigorous research addressing abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of older adults.
Funding and deadlines
The NOFO anticipates $1,800,000 in total available program funding and two to three awards. Individual award amounts are not predetermined: NIJ determines them based on the successful research proposals, potentially up to the overall available funding. Do not interpret the $1,800,000 pool as a typical or guaranteed award for each applicant. Match or cost share is not required. NIJ anticipates awards by February 1, 2027, with performance periods up to 60 months.
The application has two mandatory stages: (1) submit the SF-424 through Grants.gov by November 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern; and (2) submit the complete application through DOJ JustGrants by December 7, 2026, at 8:59 p.m. Eastern. NIJ recommends beginning SAM.gov registration or renewal no later than November 16, 2026. The December 7 date is not an extension of the November 30 Grants.gov step.
Eligible applicants
Eligible U.S. entities include state, county, city/township and special-district governments; federally and non-federally recognized tribal governments; independent school districts; public and private higher-education institutions; qualifying nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; and businesses, including small businesses. Non-U.S. entities are ineligible. Partnerships may be proposed, but one eligible organization must submit as the prime applicant; other partners may be subrecipients. An applicant may submit more than one genuinely distinct research project.
Research scope and limitations
Proposals must address at least one of four NIJ topic areas: technology-related elder fraud and exploitation; forensic approaches to elder-abuse investigation and prosecution; rigorous evaluation of programs to prevent or respond to abuse, neglect or exploitation; or research informing effective financial-fraud education and interventions for older adults. Applications outside these areas will not be considered. Evaluation projects must include cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses. For evaluation research, award funds are primarily for research and evaluation, not direct patient or victim services; reasonable program personnel costs incurred exclusively to support the evaluation may qualify. Federal grant financial rules, civil-rights requirements, and additional explicit unallowable activities in the NOFO apply. Costs must be reasonable, allocable and necessary. Applicants should read the complete NOFO before budgeting indirect costs, consultants or human-subjects work.
Required application materials
Submit the SF-424 in Grants.gov, followed in JustGrants by required Standard Applicant Information, a project narrative of no more than 30 pages (double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins), a detailed electronic budget, research-team biographical sketches and current/pending support disclosures, and required assurances. Additional applicable components include a research timeline, human-subjects protections, privacy and data-management plans, independence statements, partner documentation and support letters. Successful grantees must produce research dissemination outputs, reports and data-archiving deliverables consistent with NIJ requirements.
Official sources: NIJ competition page; controlling 17-page NIJ NOFO (PDF); Grants.gov opportunity listing. Facts verified against the current original NOFO on October 23, 2026.