Earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Nursing Research announced three new funding opportunities aimed at Community Partnerships to Advance Research (CPAR). Under the CPAR initiative, NIH is seeking to encourage researchers to partner with communities and community-based organizations like HRSA-funded Health Centers and CDC-funded Prevention Research Centers in order to develop better interventions and attain positive health outcomes. Awards are intended to support research towards developing interventions for health promotion and prevention and chronic disease self-management, among others, at various stages in the research process.

NIH uses activity codes to organize and differentiate its award types. For example, activity codes beginning with R support research, and those beginning with K support career development.  NIH is soliciting CPAR applications under the R01, R15, and R21 activity codes. R01s represent the most common type of research grant for a discrete research project typically lasting between 3 to 5 years. An R15 is known as an Academic Research Enhancement Award and supports small research projects of up to 3 years by students and faculty in health professional schools and other academic components that have not been major recipients of NIH research grant funds. Finally, an R21 supports new, exploratory and developmental research projects by providing up to 2 years of support for the early stages of project development.

For the current cycle, applications for R01s are due by June 5^th. R15s are due by June 25^th, and R21s by June 16^th.