NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 - Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required) | PAR 23 288

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 288

The NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) is a National Cancer Institute program meant to help highly promising postdoctoral scientists move as efficiently as possible from mentored training into independent faculty careers. Its central goal is to build and sustain a strong pipeline of new, NCI-supported investigators by giving early-stage postdocs structured support at the exact career point where many researchers struggle most: transitioning from a postdoctoral position into a tenure-track (or equivalent) independent role. The award is aimed at postdoctoral fellows who already have a research and/or clinical doctoral degree and who are considered ready to progress without needing a long additional period of mentored training beyond their doctorate.

This K99/R00 mechanism is explicitly designed as a two-phase transition award. The first phase (the mentored K99 phase) supports the applicant while they are still in a postdoctoral environment, focusing on completing key training and research milestones that position them to be competitive on the faculty job market. The second phase (the independent R00 phase) provides research support after the awardee secures an independent tenure-track (or equivalent) appointment, helping them launch a stand-alone research program. In practical terms, the program is intended to reduce the gap between postdoc and independence by ensuring that strong candidates have both a plan and resources to keep their research moving forward during the transition.

A defining feature of this specific funding opportunity announcement (PAR-23-288) is that it is reserved for applicants proposing independent basic experimental studies with humans. These projects fall under the NIH definition of a clinical trial because they prospectively assign human participants to one or more conditions (in other words, the study experimentally manipulates an independent variable), and they measure biomedical and/or behavioral outcomes in humans. At the same time, the work must qualify as basic research, meaning the purpose is to understand fundamental biological or behavioral phenomena rather than to test a specific clinical application, product, or practice change. The emphasis is on prospective, experimentally controlled human-participant studies that advance foundational knowledge. If an applicant is not proposing their own independent basic experimental study with humans, or if they intend only to gain experience on a clinical trial or human experiment run by another investigator, they are directed instead to the companion announcement that does not allow an independent clinical trial (PAR-23-286).

NCI highlights particular encouragement for researchers working in cancer control, cancer prevention, and cancer data sciences to coordinate with their institutions and apply. While the program is broadly aligned with NCI priorities and cancer-relevant research, this call signals that candidates in those areas are especially welcome, including those whose basic experimental human studies could illuminate underlying mechanisms relevant to behavior, intervention components, risk processes, or data-driven insights, as long as the study remains basic rather than applied or product-focused.

Eligibility is broad at the organizational level and includes many types of U.S.-based entities that can serve as the applicant institution, such as public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and various government entities (state, county, city/township, special districts), as well as certain tribal governments and organizations and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The announcement also explicitly calls out additional eligible organization types that NIH often encourages, including institutions serving Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities, AANAPISI institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, HBCUs, and tribally controlled colleges and universities, along with faith-based or community-based organizations and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, there are clear restrictions on non-U.S. applicants. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, foreign components are allowed when they meet the NIH definition under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a primarily U.S.-based applicant organization may include certain foreign activities or collaborations if they are justified and compliant with NIH policy.

Administratively, the opportunity is offered by the National Institutes of Health (specifically NCI) as a discretionary grant program (CFDA 93.398). The funding opportunity number is PAR-23-288, and the listed closing date is 2026-10-14. Like most NIH opportunities, the application process requires standard federal and NIH registrations to be in place, and applicants are expected to work closely with their institutions to ensure eligibility, correct NOFO selection (especially regarding the independent human study requirement), and compliance with clinical trial-related application and review expectations.

Overall, this NOFO is best understood as a career-launch award for advanced postdocs who are ready to run their own basic experimental research with human participants and who want a structured, NCI-backed bridge into an independent faculty position, with the expectation that the award will help them emerge as competitive, self-directed cancer researchers leading their own program of work.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 - Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.398.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-11-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-10-14. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PAR 23 288

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