Eligibility

• The PD/PI must be no more than 7 years beyond the date that the first professional, advanced professional, or terminal academic degree was awarded, whichever is most recent.
• The 7 year eligibility period will be calculated based on the MM/DD/YYYY the degree was awarded and the published application receipt date, regardless of whether it is a new or resubmission application.
• Formal years of clinical training (Internship, Residency, and Fellowship) are not counted as part of the 7 year limit. In addition, exemption of years for clinical training is not limited to physicians.
• The PD/PI must be an independent early stage investigator, not a postdoctoral fellow still in his/her mentor's laboratory.

Funding Priorities

• The National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) Early Career Research (ECR) Award (R03) is intended to support both basic and clinical research from rehabilitation scientists who are establishing independent research careers.
• The research must be focused on one or more of the areas within the biomedical and behavioral mission of NCMRR:
  • pathophysiology and management of chronically injured nervous and musculoskeletal systems (including stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and orthopedic conditions);
  • repair and recovery of motor and cognitive function;
  • functional plasticity, adaptation, and windows of opportunity for rehabilitative interventions;
  • rehabilitative strategies involving pharmaceutical, stimulation, and neuroengineering approaches, exercise, motor training, and behavioral modifications;
  • pediatric rehabilitation;
  • secondary conditions associated with chronic disabilities;
  • improved diagnosis, assessment, and outcome measures;
  • and development of orthotics, prosthetics, and other assistive technologies and devices. 

Additional Information

• Budget amount is for direct costs only.
• The proposed project may or may not be hypothesis-driven since the goal is to collect the necessary preliminary data sufficient to apply for an R01 grant.