Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40) (Clinical Trials Not-Allowed) | RFA OD 20 002

FAQs: Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40) (RFA-OD-20-002)

What is the Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40) opportunity?

It is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program (RFA-OD-20-002) intended to support national-scale research resource centers. The emphasis is on building, sustaining, or expanding shared infrastructure and curated collections that can be used by many investigators, rather than funding a single hypothesis-driven research project.

What is the main purpose of this program?

The program is designed to strengthen and enable biomedical research by investing in shared resources such as specialized laboratory animal colonies and widely useful biological materials and tools. These centers are expected to support the broader research community locally, regionally, and especially nationally by providing reliable access to well-managed resources.

Is this funding meant for a single research project or for shared resources?

This opportunity is focused on shared research resources and infrastructure. It is not intended to support a single hypothesis-driven research project. Instead, it supports resource development, resource maintenance, and resource distribution that can benefit many different investigators and research programs.

Are clinical trials allowed under this opportunity?

No. Clinical trials are not allowed. The supported work is intended to center on developing, maintaining, validating, and distributing research resources rather than testing interventions in human participants.

What kinds of resources can be supported?

Supported resources can include special colonies of laboratory animals and a broad range of biological and technical assets. Examples referenced include informatics tools, reagents, cultures (such as cells), tissues, organs, and genetic stocks, as well as related tools needed to characterize, document, and distribute these resources.

Do the supported resources need to be broadly useful?

Yes. The intent is to support resources that are broadly applicable across multiple biomedical research areas, rather than narrow or boutique resources that serve only a small group of investigators.

What scale of service is expected from funded centers?

Centers are expected to serve the broader research community on a local and regional basis, with an emphasis on national reach. A key expectation is that the center provides dependable access to specialized animals and/or other biological materials and tools for a wide user community.

What does NIH mean by improving rigor, transparency, and reproducibility?

The program aims to make it easier for researchers to use well-characterized animals and biological materials in standardized ways. By supporting strong quality control, verification, recordkeeping, husbandry, and distribution practices, resource centers can reduce variability between labs and make experimental outcomes more replicable.

Why does NIH emphasize professionally managed resource centers?

The FOA recognizes that well-run resource centers can have an outsized impact by setting consistent standards for animal and material quality, documentation, validation, and distribution. These practices can improve research quality across many studies and institutions.

Does a proposed center need to be relevant to more than one NIH Institute or Center (IC)?

Yes. Because this program aligns with the NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) mission, proposed centers must be relevant to multiple NIH Institutes and Centers. Applicants should be prepared to demonstrate that the resource will address trans-NIH needs and benefit a broad range of NIH-funded researchers across disciplines or disease areas.

Can the program fund both existing centers and new centers?

Yes. The opportunity is structured to support both continuation of established, proven resources and development of new resources where there is a clear national need.

What is typically expected for an established (continuing) resource center?

For established centers, the application generally needs to demonstrate ongoing demand, documented impact, and strong operational plans. This commonly includes planning for operations, quality assurance, user access, distribution, and long-term sustainability of the resource.

What is typically expected for a new resource center?

For new centers, the application generally needs to show a compelling gap in national research infrastructure, a credible plan to build capacity, and evidence that the resource will reach and benefit a broad user base rather than remaining locally constrained.

What kinds of deliverables does this program emphasize?

The emphasis is on practical, center-level deliverables such as maintaining animals and materials, appropriately documenting and validating them, and making them accessible to the research community in ways that improve overall research quality.

Is pre-application contact with ORIP recommended?

Yes. NIH strongly encourages prospective applicants to consult with ORIP scientific or research staff before preparing an application. This is intended to help confirm program fit, alignment with ORIP priorities, competitiveness, and expectations related to scope, user community, operations, and national impact.

Why is ORIP consultation especially important for this FOA?

Because the program requires trans-NIH relevance, early conversation with ORIP staff can help shape a plan that clearly extends beyond a single institute, disease area, or narrow investigator network, and can clarify how the center would demonstrate national impact.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is broad and includes many U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include various units of local and state government; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status, as described in the FOA); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other eligible entities.

Are minority-serving institutions and certain community-based organizations included in the eligible categories?

Yes. The FOA highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). It also includes faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies, along with regional organizations and U.S. territories or possessions.

Are foreign (non-U.S.) institutions eligible to apply?

No. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply.

Are any foreign activities allowed at all?

Yes, in a limited way. Foreign components (as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may be able to include certain foreign activities or collaborations if they meet NIH policy requirements and are appropriately justified. The applicant organization itself must be domestic.

What is the funding mechanism and general category for this opportunity?

This is an NIH grant opportunity using the P40 mechanism in the health funding category. The CFDA listing provided is 93.351.

What are the key dates mentioned for this FOA?

The FOA was created on January 8, 2020. The original closing date listed in the provided information is January 7, 2023.

Is there an award ceiling or an expected number of awards listed?

Not in the provided source information. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified here, so applicants may need to rely on the FOA text itself and/or guidance from NIH or ORIP program staff for budgeting expectations and broader funding context.

How should someone describe this program in plain terms?

In plain terms, it is NIH investing in the backbone of biomedical research: curated animals, validated biological materials, and the systems to characterize, track, and distribute them. The goal is to raise rigor and reproducibility across many different NIH-supported research communities.

What characteristics are likely to matter for competitiveness based on the description provided?

Based on the provided information, competitive applications are likely to clearly demonstrate broad national need and usage, strong operational competence, clear access and distribution policies, and concrete ways the center will improve rigor and reproducibility across multiple NIH Institutes and Centers and diverse research communities.