The National Institutes of Health announced Tuesday that applications are now available for $1.5 billion in grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The grants will fund scientific research, construction and improvement of research facilities, as well as the purchase of scientific equipment.
"NIH is extremely grateful to President Obama and the Congress for recognizing both the economic and health impacts of biomedical and behavioral research," said Raynard S. Kington, MD, acting director of the NIH. "The science funded by the Recovery Act will stimulate the national economy, and have a profound impact on people's health for many years to come."
The NIH will allocate the Recovery Act funds as follows:
- At least $200 million in challenge grants will support research on topics that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant two-year jumpstart funds;
- $1 billion in construction grants twill help build new or improve existing research facilities and help grow the economy;
- $300 million in shared instrumentation grants will facilitate the purchase of research equipment that will enable scientists and researchers to complete their critical work.
The National Institutes of Health includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases.