Analytical Tools and Approaches for (Multidimensional) Scholarly Research Assessment and Decision Support in the Biomedical Enterprise (R41/R42 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DA 19 030

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 19 030

This funding opportunity, titled "Analytical Tools and Approaches for (Multidimensional) Scholarly Research Assessment and Decision Support in the Biomedical Enterprise (R41/R42 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-DA-19-030), is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant solicitation aimed at small businesses. It uses the SBIR phased mechanism (R41/R42), which generally supports early-stage development followed by a second phase that advances the project toward a more complete, validated product or service. The announcement is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning proposed work should not include clinical trials and should instead focus on analytics, modeling, metrics development, software/tool creation, and related validation activities that do not meet the NIH definition of a clinical trial.

The core purpose of the announcement is to stimulate the development of advanced analytical models, tools, and metrics that improve how decisions are made and how professional performance is assessed across the biomedical and life sciences research ecosystem. In practical terms, this means creating methods and systems that can support research management and administration, such as evaluating scientific contributions in richer and more multidimensional ways than simple publication counts or journal-based indicators. The emphasis on "multidimensional" scholarly assessment signals interest in approaches that consider multiple facets of research activity and impact, potentially including productivity, rigor, reproducibility signals, collaboration patterns, interdisciplinarity, data and software outputs, translational influence, training and mentorship contributions, open science practices, or other measurable indicators that can be responsibly interpreted in context.

A key theme is decision support for stakeholders who allocate resources, set priorities, or make evaluative judgments in the biomedical enterprise. The FOA envisions the resulting tools being useful not only within academia, but across a wide set of organizations that influence biomedical research. Examples named in the description include NGOs and disease foundations, advocacy groups, the publishing industry, research funders, policymakers, and academic institutions. That breadth implies the program is interested in tools that are usable in real-world administrative environments, can translate complex data into understandable outputs, and can help organizations make fairer, more informed, and more transparent decisions about funding, hiring, promotion, portfolio management, and strategic planning.

Because this is an SBIR opportunity for small businesses, the expectation is that applicants will propose a product-oriented development effort rather than purely academic research. Competitive projects would typically involve building or significantly advancing a scalable analytic platform or software tool, developing new metrics or modeling approaches, testing them with relevant data sources, and demonstrating that the outputs are reliable and useful for end users. While the announcement does not list specific data sources in the excerpt provided, the topic naturally aligns with leveraging bibliometric, scientometric, and research administrative datasets (for example, publication and citation data, grant and award records, patent linkages, collaboration networks, institutional data, or other structured sources) to generate insights that can support assessment and decision-making.

Eligibility is limited to small businesses. Foreign institutions (non-U.S. entities) are not eligible to apply, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" may be allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which typically means certain discrete project elements may be performed outside the U.S. if adequately justified and permitted under NIH policy, even though the applicant organization itself must be domestic and eligible. The opportunity is associated with NIH and lists CFDA number 93.279. The original closing date shown is March 4, 2019, and the FOA creation date is January 2, 2019, indicating this specific solicitation was time-bound to that period, even though the summary topic remains relevant to ongoing research assessment and analytics efforts across the biomedical sector.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Analytical Tools and Approaches for (Multidimensional) Scholarly Research Assessment and Decision Support in the Biomedical Enterprise (R41/R42 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-01-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-03-04. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

Apply for RFA DA 19 030

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: