Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) (R38 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA HL 26 012

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HL 26 012

The Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) program is an NIH discretionary grant opportunity (R38 mechanism) designed to embed meaningful, in-depth research experiences into medical residency training. Its central purpose is workforce development: getting resident clinicians involved in research early enough that they build strong investigative skills alongside their clinical training, and then keeping them on a trajectory toward becoming independent clinician-investigators. The program is meant to help recruit new clinician-researchers, retain them through a demanding training period, and accelerate their path to research independence, with the long-term aim of strengthening the pool of professionals who can bridge patient care and discovery.

StARR is specifically focused on supporting residents so they can gain substantial research exposure and competence in areas that can include basic research, clinical research, and translational research. In practical terms, this means the funded program is expected to create structured research opportunities during residency that are more than brief electives; the emphasis is on depth, mentorship, and skill-building that positions trainees to compete for later-stage career development or independent research funding. The funding opportunity title includes "Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which indicates that the grant cannot be used for resident-led independent clinical trials under this award mechanism. In other words, while residents may receive research training that could involve clinical research methods, the program is not intended to support an independently run clinical trial as the primary activity under the award.

The opportunity is administered by the National Institutes of Health and falls under the health funding activity category. It is listed under multiple CFDA numbers (93.837, 93.855, 93.866, 93.867), reflecting NIH program areas that can support training and research capacity related to heart, lung, blood, sleep, and related biomedical domains. The funding opportunity number is RFA-HL-26-012, and the opportunity category is discretionary, with the funding instrument listed as a grant. The posting indicates an original closing date of January 10, 2028, suggesting a multi-year window in which eligible organizations can prepare and submit applications while the announcement remains active.

A wide range of applicant organizations are eligible, which is typical of NIH funding announcements that support institutional training environments. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and certain housing authorities. The eligibility list also includes federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other Native American tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments), as well as nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories). For-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses are also listed among eligible applicants, along with an "Other" category that NIH sometimes uses to capture additional applicant types consistent with the announcement.

The announcement also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicants, including eligible agencies of the federal government, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized. At the same time, there are clear restrictions on foreign involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as NIH defines them in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed. These restrictions mean the applicant organization and supported components of the program must be U.S.-based without foreign components under the award.

Some fields in the provided listing, such as the award ceiling, expected number of awards, and a specific award count, are not populated in the source data excerpt. That typically means applicants need to consult the full NIH funding opportunity announcement for budget structure, allowable costs, project period, and anticipated funding levels, since NIH training-style awards often include specific caps, trainee-related cost categories, and program administration limits. The listing shows a creation date of August 26, 2025, which is useful for understanding the announcement timeline and version context.

Overall, StARR (R38) is best understood as an institutional training and mentorship program grant intended to create protected, high-quality research experiences for residents, strengthening the clinician-investigator pipeline. It emphasizes early, structured research immersion during residency, supports development across basic, clinical, and translational research domains, and maintains firm boundaries around foreign components and independent clinical trial activity under this award.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) (R38 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.837, 93.855, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-08-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2028-01-10.
• 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 RFA HL 26 012

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: