National and International — Intuitive Foundation 2027–2028 Robotic Bronchoscopy Research Grants (Up to $75,000; LOI January 4, 2027)

Intuitive Foundation — Robotic-Assisted Bronchoscopy Clinical Research Grants

The Intuitive Foundation has a separate competitive research-grant pathway for studies assessing how robotic-assisted bronchoscopy affects the diagnosis, management and outcomes of people with pulmonary disease. It seeks well-designed clinical outcomes research, comparisons with conventional bronchoscopy, diagnostic yield and time to diagnosis, imaging/navigation and procedure safety, health economics, and clinically relevant new procedures.

Applicant grant and 2027 deadlines

Individual applicant award: up to $75,000 USD in total research-project costs, including direct and eligible indirect expenses and applicable taxes; no overall funding pool is published. For the funding cycle identified as July 2027 to June 2028, Letters of Intent are due January 4, 2027. The official page does not specify an LOI deadline hour/time zone. Invited full proposals are due April 9, 2027, with award notification anticipated during the week of June 14, 2027. An earlier June–September 2026 application cycle is already closed and should not be confused with the upcoming LOI deadline.

Applicant eligibility

Research must be conducted at a nonprofit institution, including qualified institutions outside the United States. The principal investigator must be employed or engaged by the institutional grant recipient. Multiple separate PI projects may be considered at the same institution, but individual investigators may not hold multiple simultaneous Intuitive Foundation grants. Human-subjects studies may require appropriate ethics, institutional and regulatory authorization before funds are released.

Funding restrictions

Eligible one-year project costs may include nonphysician research staff, statisticians, fellows, research coordinators, equipment, supplies and study travel. Physician salaries are not fundable. Indirect costs may not exceed 20% of the total proposed budget, hard equipment should not exceed $5,000, and funds cannot purchase instruments or equipment from Intuitive Surgical. Funds must support nonprofit rather than commercial for-profit research and are subject to reporting and refund conditions.

Application instructions

Use the Foundation’s linked SmartSimple portal to submit the required Letter of Intent before the January 4, 2027 deadline. The LOI should include the research title and brief summary, problem and relevant literature, purpose/hypothesis and study design, methods with feasible statistical approach, team capabilities, detailed budget, and documentation confirming the nonprofit status of the receiving institution. Provide a W-9 for a U.S. institution or equivalent institutional nonprofit-status letter for an overseas institution. The funder supplies additional invitation-only full-proposal instructions. Read the official bronchoscopy research grant guidelines and funding LOI guidance. The public webpage contains stale references to older research years and an apparent invitation-year typo; confirm any inconsistent terms with the funder before filing.