Eligibility

• The PD/PI must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or valid U.S. visa holder. 
• 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. 
• Formal years of clinical training (Internship, Residency, and Fellowship) are not counted as part of the 7 year limit.
• The PD/PI may be an independent early stage investigator or a late-stage postdoctoral fellow still in his/her mentor's laboratory.
• Individuals who have served as PD/PI on any NIH research grant (including an R01, R03, R15, R21, SBIR/STTR, subprojects of program project or center grants) or any other federally-funded research grant (e.g., NSF, DOE, VA) are NOT eligible for the NIDCD ECR Award Grant Program.
• Former recipients of Federally-funded National Research Service Award fellowships and traineeships (i.e. F- and T- series awards) or mentored career development awards (i.e. K awards) are eligible for the NIDCD ECR Award grant program.
• Recipients of the K99/R00 award are not eligible to apply for the NIDCD ECR Award (R21).

Funding Priorities

• The NIDCD Early Career Research (ECR) Award (R21) is intended to support both basic and clinical research from scientists who are beginning to establish an independent research career. 
• The research must be focused on one or more of the areas within the biomedical and behavioral scientific mission of the NIDCD: hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, or language.
• The NIDCD ECR Award R21 grant mechanism supports different types of projects including secondary analysis of existing data; small, self-contained research projects; development of research methodology; translational research; outcomes research; and development of new research technology.

Additional Information

• The intent of the NIDCD ECR Award R21 is for the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) to obtain sufficient preliminary data for a subsequent R01 application.
• Application Due Dates:
  • June 24, 2021; October 28, 2021; February 24, 2022; June 23, 2022; October 27, 2022; February 23, 2023; June 29, 2023; October 26, 2023
• Budget limits are for direct costs NOT total costs.