The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is accepting applications for PAR-25-155, Limited Competition: Small Grant Program for the NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program (R03 Clinical Trial Optional).
Deadline: October 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. The NOFO expires October 20, 2026. Clinical trials are optional.
Funding: application budgets are limited to up to $50,000 per year in direct costs and must reflect actual project needs. The maximum project period is two years, for up to $100,000 in direct costs across the project period. The number of awards is contingent on NIH appropriations and meritorious applications. Cost sharing is not required.
Controlling individual eligibility: although U.S. higher education institutions and several other organization types are eligible, the PD/PI must be a directly NCATS-funded CTSA KL2/K12 scholar who completed the KL2/K12 program. The application must be submitted for an R03 due date within two years of completion, with eligibility determined from accepted xTrain appointment forms. Multiple PDs/PIs are not allowed. Scholars funded by other NIH institutes or centers under the excluded mechanisms are not eligible, and investigators who have already obtained a substantial independent NIH research award are ineligible.
Program scope: the R03 is intended for discrete, well-defined translational-science projects that can be completed in a short period with limited resources and can generate preliminary data for a later R01 or equivalent. Responsive work may include pilot or feasibility studies, secondary data analyses, development of research methodology or new research technology, digital health and telehealth methods, data science and AI/ML approaches, community-engagement methods, diagnostic approaches, and other innovations that address a general scientific or operational roadblock across translational research.
Required application elements: the application must include a Summary of Research of up to three pages, a signed Eligibility Statement of no more than one page documenting KL2/K12 grant and appointment details, and a Translational Science Research Statement of no more than one page. Required letters include mentor, department/division head, institutional commitment, and CTSA Program PI support when applicable. A Data Management and Sharing Plan is required when scientific data will be generated. Awardees are expected to present at an annual meeting, and applicants should budget up to $1,500 for that travel.
Submission: applications may be prepared through NIH ASSIST, an institutional system-to-system solution, or Grants.gov Workspace and are tracked in eRA Commons. NCATS strongly encourages prospective applicants to confirm eligibility and programmatic responsiveness with agency staff early in planning.
Arkansas pathway and Atlas fit: UAMS is a strong pathway because it operates a CTSA scholar program and has recent KL2/K12 scholars working in digital health, remote patient monitoring, rural health, maternal health, implementation science, and other relevant areas. N9+ may have a legitimate role where guided remote examination, vitals, connected-health data, or related technology is scientifically material to a translational-science innovation, but this is not a general equipment-purchase program and technology fit must not be forced. A Dr. Miltie direct application is not being advanced because the controlling PD/PI eligibility requirement is scholar-specific.
Important update: NIH updated this funding opportunity on March 31, 2025 to align with agency priorities and instructed applicants to reread the full NOFO and adjust applications as needed.