NCI Research Specialist (Clinician Scientist) Award (R50 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Provides salary support and career stability for exceptional clinician scientists who contribute to NCI-funded clinical trials networks through trial development, institutional implementation, and network service, but not as principal investigators on research project grants.
⚑ Clinical Trial Not Allowed in the application, despite support for clinical trials network participation · Salary support/career award rather than project research funding · Foreign organizations and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible · Applicant must be a clinician scientist and the award is for NCI clinical trials network participation
This is a clinician-scientist cancer clinical trials career-support mechanism, which is outside IPPRA’s social-behavioral, policy, risk-perception, and survey-based research portfolio. The team would not plausibly pursue this as a PI-level opportunity.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-11-04
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| IPPRA | 40 partial | peripheral portfolio topic: public_health; signature methods: policy analysis; social/behavioral work is none; funds training education, not research (capped); biomedical core — IPPRA health lane is communication/crisis/policy (capped); clinical-trial/biomedical core — IPPRA angle is policy/community (capped); capped at 40 (non-research funding) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 25 weak | technical depth: minor; funds training education (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 15 none | deep-tech content; no commercialization signal |
Description
Through this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites applications for the Research Specialist Award (R50) specifically for clinician scientists supporting NCI-funded clinical trials research. The Research Specialist Award is designed to encourage the development of stable research career opportunities for exceptional clinician scientists who want to continue to participate in the NCI clinical trials networks through leadership in the 1) development of national clinical trials, 2) implementation of NCI clinical trials in their institutions, and 3) national service to the NCI clinical trials networks through participation in the scientific review committees, monitoring committees and other activities, but not serve as principal investigators of research project grants. These clinician scientists are vital to sustaining the NCI-funded clinical trials enterprise. The Research Specialist Award is intended to provide salary support and sufficient autonomy so that individuals are not solely dependent on NCI grants held by others or other sources of support for cancer research career continuity.
Eligibility
Refer to Section III. Eligibility Information in the NOFO for additional information on eligibility.Foreign Organizations/International Collaborations:Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) 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.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: National Institutes of Health <ncir50@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.