NIH R15 Grants
The National Institutes of Health has an Academic Research Enhancement Award, or AREA, program that offers grants to medical researchers. The R15 program awards grants to universities and colleges that do not normally receive grants from the National Institutes of Health. The grants are intended to provide a small amount of funding so students can get research experience.
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Eligibility
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Because the R15 grants are intended for researchers who have not received large amounts of National Institutes of Health funding in the past, restrictions apply. A research project does not qualify for an R15 grant if the school received a total of more than $6 million of grants from the National Institutes of Health each year in at least four of the last seven years. The National Institutes of Health publishes a list of schools that don't qualify for the R15 program.
Research Area
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The R15 grants may only be used for medical research, so the award must fund a research project in a health science -- an applicant who wants to educate students or perform research in a non-medical field does not qualify. The school must perform research in a recognized health field, such as dentistry, nursing, pharmaceutical or chiropractic.
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Continuation
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An applicant who successfully receives an R15 grant in one year can apply for a continuation grant to perform additional research on the same project during the next year. According to San Francisco State University, 46 percent of R15 continuation grant applicants successfully receive funding, and 26 percent of new grant applicants get funding.
Maximum Award
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There is a total limit of $150,000 per project for a standard R15 grant, and this total includes continuation grants. The Stimulus R15 grant offers a higher limit of $300,000, but the applicant cannot apply for more funding on the same project. If underrepresented students are performing research on the project, the applicant can receive additional supplemental funding over the grant limit from the National Institutes of Health.
Work Restrictions
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The scientist who applies for the R15 grant can work on a project as an assistant to another scientist who is receiving National Institutes of Health funding. The applicant cannot be the primary investigator (the scientist that directs the project) for a project funded by another R15 grant, or any other National Institutes of Health grant, when applying. A scientist can apply for another R15 grant on another project after completing the first project.
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