Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 25 013
This funding opportunity (RFA-AI-25-013) is a limited-competition NIH cooperative agreement designed to continue day-to-day and surge-capable operations support for the two National Biocontainment Laboratories (NBLs) that serve as key U.S. high-containment resources: the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas, and Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. The overarching purpose is not to fund clinical trials, but to keep these specialized national assets fully functional, compliant, and ready to support NIAID priorities in biodefense and emerging infectious diseases through pre-clinical and laboratory-based work.
The NOFO focuses on sustaining the infrastructure and operational capabilities that make high-containment research possible and safe. Supported areas include facility maintenance and operations (keeping complex containment spaces, critical building systems, and specialized equipment running reliably), biosecurity (protecting facilities, personnel, and materials from theft, loss, or misuse), environmental health and safety programs (ensuring day-to-day safety practices and adherence to required standards), regulatory compliance (meeting applicable federal, state, and local requirements tied to hazardous biological agents and high-containment laboratory work), and specialized research support services that enable investigators to perform in vitro and in vivo studies involving hazardous pathogens. In practice, this kind of award typically underwrites the operational backbone that allows scientists to conduct high-risk research without interruption while maintaining rigorous containment, documentation, oversight, and safety performance.
A central theme of the opportunity is the NBLs role as a national resource. These laboratories provide capacity to conduct testing and pre-clinical research on hazardous biological agents in support of NIAIDs biodefense and emerging infectious disease research efforts. Beyond steady-state research support, the NOFO also emphasizes readiness for national emergencies: during a biodefense or emerging infectious disease event, the NBLs may be expected to rapidly shift priorities and realign activities to support the U.S. response, under NIAID direction. That implies a need for operational flexibility, staffing and scheduling adaptability, and the ability to scale or pivot safely while staying compliant.
The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which generally means substantial involvement by NIH staff in coordinating or overseeing elements of the project compared to a standard grant. The activity category is health, and the listing is associated with CFDA 93.855. While the Eligible Applicants field includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education, eligibility for this specific limited competition is effectively restricted to the two named organizations: UTMB and Boston University. Foreign participation is explicitly restricted: non-U.S. entities cannot apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed.
Key administrative details provided include an original application due date of 2025-11-07 and a creation date of 2025-09-18. The NOFO title also specifies "UC7 Clinical Trials Not Allowed," reinforcing that the supported activities are operational and pre-clinical/laboratory in scope rather than clinical trial execution.Apply for RFA AI 25 013
- The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: National Biocontainment Laboratories (NBLs) Operations Support (UC7 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.855.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2025-09-18.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-11-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.
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