Limited Competition: Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence: Development Phase (COBRE-D) (P30 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports eligible institutions in NIH IDeA states to build a biomedical research center, including recruitment and mentoring of early-career investigators, research facilities, and research administration support, for a broad strategic scientific area.
⚑ Limited competition to eligible institutions only: must be in an IDeA-eligible state/jurisdiction and award doctoral degrees in health-related sciences or be an independent biomedical research institute/medical center with NIH/federal biomedical funding. · Foreign organizations and non-domestic components are not eligible; foreign components are not allowed (unfunded foreign components may be allowed with prior approval). · Clinical trials not allowed. · Supports capacity building and infrastructure, not project-specific research results; may include start-up packages, facilities, and research administration support.
This is a biomedical capacity-building center mechanism, not IPPRA’s core social-science program. The team might engage only tangentially on evaluation or institutional development aspects, but none of the roster’s published lines are a fit for a COBRE biomedical research center.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-08-20
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| IPPRA | 58 good | peripheral portfolio topic: public_health; social/behavioral work is minor; funds basic research; biomedical core — IPPRA health lane is communication/crisis/policy (capped) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 55 good | technical depth: minor; funds basic research |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 15 none | deep-tech content; no commercialization signal |
Description
The Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) program supports biomedical research capacity building in states that have historically received low levels of NIH funding. The Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence: Development Phase (COBRE-D) program supports institutions in IDeA states to increase their biomedical research capacity in a broad scientific area of strategic importance to them but for which they have limited existing infrastructure or expertise.COBRE-D supports a long-term institutional vision focused on the recruitment and mentoring of early-career investigators with supplemental start-up packages for new hires, the establishment of research facilities, and enhancement of research administration support services. This program serves as an on-ramp for less-resourced institutions to the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence: Expansion/Sustainability Phases (COBRE-E/S) program. This is a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a Limited Competition that will invite application(s) from eligible organization(s) to apply. Please see Section III. Eligibility for additional information. In accordance with NIH standard peer-review processes, the application(s) will be peer-reviewed, and only meritorious application(s) will be considered.
Eligibility
Eligibility is restricted to institutions that meet the following criteria:Are located in an IDeA-eligible state, commonwealth, or jurisdiction, which are Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming; andAward doctoral degrees in the health-related sciences or are independent biomedical research institutes/medical centers with ongoing biomedical research programs funded by the NIH or other federal agencies.Refer to Section III. Eligibility Information in the NOFO for additional information on eligibility.Foreign Organizations/International CollaborationsNon-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organization) are not eligible to apply.Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed. Note:Unfunded foreign components are allowed with prior approval.An unfunded foreign component would be a collaboration with investigators at a foreign site anticipated to result in co-authorship, when no IDeA funds are transferred via subcontract to an institution in a foreign country. Please also see NOT-OD-26-084.Foreign PIs or organizations may use center resources as a fee-for-service.In such cases, resulting publications cannot cite or acknowledge NIH grant support.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: National Institutes of Health <NIGMS_COBRE_D@mail.nih.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · National Institutes of Health conventions SEE AN NIH EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — National Institutes of Health's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.