OpenResearch announcementOpportunity PAR-25-101

Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)

National Institutes of Health · Department of Health and Human Services

At a glance

Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) is an open federal grant opportunity from the National Institutes of Health (Department of Health and Human Services). Applications are due August 11, 2027. Individual awards are listed as up to $150K, with $150K in total estimated funding. Applicant types listed as eligible include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts and 10 more. Cost sharing is not required. It is funded under Assistance Listing 93.279 (Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs).

Summary assembled from the official notice's fields. The official notice governs.

Key facts

Dec 30, 2024Posted
Aug 11, 2027Application deadlinenext date
Sep 16, 2027Archived

Posted: Dec 30, 2024
Close date: Aug 11, 2027
Archive date: Sep 16, 2027
Award floor: Not specified
Award ceiling: $150,000
Est. total funding: $150,000
Expected awards: Not specified
Cost sharing: Not required
Funding instrument: Grant
Opportunity category: Discretionary

Who can apply

State governments
County governments
City or township governments
Special district governments
Independent school districts
Public colleges & universities
Federally recognized tribal governments
Public & Indian housing authorities
Native American tribal organizations
501(c)(3) nonprofits
Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status
Private colleges & universities
For-profit organizations (not small businesses)
Small businesses
Others (see notice)

Additional information on eligibility (from the notice)

Other Eligible Applicants include the following: Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs); Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government; Faith-based or Community-based Organizations; Hispanic-serving Institutions; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized); Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations); Regional Organizations; Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) ; U.S. Territory or Possession.

Can your organization apply?

A quick check against the listed applicant types — other requirements in the notice still apply.

Based on the published notice. Review the official notice for complete eligibility requirements.

What it funds

Official synopsis as published by the agency, formatted for readability.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Cutting-Edge Basic Research Award (CEBRA) is designed to foster highly innovative or conceptually creative research related to the etiology, pathophysiology, prevention, or treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs). It supports high-risk and potentially high-impact research that is sparse or not included in NIDA's current portfolio that has the potential to transform SUD research. The proposed research should: 1. develop, and/or adapt, revolutionary techniques or methods for addiction research or that show promising future applicability to SUD research; and /or 2. test an innovative and significant hypothesis for which there are scant precedent or preliminary data and which, if confirmed, would transform current thinking.

Additional information from the agency ↗

Full announcement & documents

The full announcement has the complete rules — page limits, required attachments, evaluation criteria and any letter-of-intent dates. Files download directly from Grants.gov.

PAR-25-101 Full Announcement TextFull Announcement · PAR-25-101-Full-Announcement.htmlHTML · 1 KB

How to apply

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Read the full announcement (NOFO)Eligibility, evaluation criteria, page limits and required attachments are in the full notice on Grants.gov. Open ↗
Confirm eligibility and fitCheck your organization type above; no cost sharing is required.
Register (or renew) in SAM.gov and get a UEIFree. New registrations can take several weeks; registrations must be renewed every year. Open ↗
Set up Grants.gov accessCreate a Grants.gov account and make sure someone has the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) role. Open ↗
Open the application packageUse opportunity number PAR-25-101 on Grants.gov (Grants.gov Workspace). Open ↗
Prepare narrative, budget and attachmentsFollow the notice's format exactly — page limits and required forms are common reasons applications are rejected.
Ask the agency contact any questions earlyNational Institutes of Health · grantsinfo@nih.gov Open ↗
Submit before August 11, 2027Submit a few days early and keep your Grants.gov confirmation and validation emails.

Assistance Listing

What is an ALN?

93.279Drug Use and Addiction Research ProgramsProgram →

Reported obligations under ALN 93.279

Historical data · not a prediction

FY24

$1.25B

FY25

$1.34B

FY26

$20.2M est.

Source: SAM.gov Assistance Listing 93.279. Program-wide totals, not awards from this specific opportunity.

Who was funded under ALN 93.279

Historical data · not a prediction

Since October 1, 2023, 5,882 grant awards had funding actions under Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs, with 5,205 sub-awards passed on to other organizations. These are program-wide awards, not awards from this specific notice.

YALE UNIV$178M
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$173M
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO$172M
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH - OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION$127M
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN$106M

Recipients, states, recent awards and sub-awards →Source: USAspending.gov.

Agency contact (as published)

National Institutes of Health
grantsinfo@nih.gov
301-402-2541

Quick answers

When is the deadline for “Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)”?

According to the official notice, applications are due August 11, 2027. Confirm the deadline and submission time on Grants.gov before applying.

Who is eligible to apply for “Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)”?

The official notice names these applicant types as eligible: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public colleges & universities, Federally recognized tribal governments, Public & Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status, Private colleges & universities and 3 more. Additional restrictions may apply; review the full notice.

How much funding is available through “Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)”?

Per the notice, individual awards are listed as up to $150k and total estimated program funding is $150,000.

How do I apply for “Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)”?

Applications are submitted through the official source, not through GrantsJunction. Open the official notice on Grants.gov (opportunity PAR-25-101), and review the full announcement and application package. Organizations applying through Grants.gov generally need an active SAM.gov registration and a Grants.gov account, which can take several weeks to set up.

Matched on shared Assistance Listings, agency, categories and eligible applicant types.

OpenResearchALN 93.113, 93.121…