Short-term Mentored Career Enhancement Awards in Mobile and Wireless Health Technology and Data Analytics: Cross-Training at the intersection of Behavioral and Social Sciences and STEM Disciplines (K18 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 18 881

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 881

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity PAR-18-881 is a K18 Short-term Mentored Career Enhancement Award focused on mobile and wireless health technology and data analytics, with a specific aim of building research skills through cross-training at the intersection of behavioral and social sciences (BSS) and STEM fields. The program is designed for independent investigators who want a structured, mentored, short-term experience to expand or retool their expertise so they can conduct stronger, more innovative research that uses modern digital health tools such as wearable sensors, mobile applications, electronic health record data, and advanced analytics approaches. A key point of the announcement is that it supports career enhancement and skills development rather than launching an independent clinical trial; the opportunity is explicitly labeled as "Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed."

A central emphasis of the program is cross-disciplinary training. NIH is particularly interested in two groups of applicants: (1) established behavioral and social science researchers who want to gain STEM-based skills like big data methods, computational modeling, engineering approaches, computer science, or mathematics, and (2) STEM-trained scientists who want to build competence in behavioral and social science theories, methods, and frameworks that are essential for understanding human behavior, health decision-making, adherence, engagement, and real-world implementation. The broader idea is that mobile and wireless health research often fails when it leans too heavily on technology without a deep understanding of people, or when it leans too heavily on behavioral theory without the technical capacity to build, evaluate, or analyze data from digital systems. This K18 mechanism is meant to close that gap by funding a mentored learning plan that meaningfully changes what an investigator can do in their research.

The eligible science areas are framed around mobile and wireless health technology and the data streams these tools generate. That includes work involving wearable devices and sensors, smartphone-based interventions and assessments, passive and active data capture, data integration with electronic health records, and analytic strategies that can handle complex, high-volume, high-velocity, or high-variety data. While the announcement is not limited to any single disease area in the text provided, the program is positioned as an education and health-oriented grant opportunity under multiple CFDA numbers (93.213, 93.242, 93.279, 93.307, 93.313), signaling that it can align with a range of NIH institute and center missions as long as the proposed cross-training and resulting research capability fit the mobile/wireless health and analytics focus.

In terms of who can apply, NIH lists a wide range of eligible applicant organizations, reflecting that this is a discretionary grant program open to many sectors. Eligible applicants include various levels of government (state, county, city/township, special districts), independent school districts, public and state-controlled colleges and universities, private institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, and tribal organizations that are not federally recognized. The opportunity is also open to nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, for-profit organizations that are not small businesses, and small businesses, along with an "Other" category that NIH sometimes uses for additional eligible entities. The announcement also calls out additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. This explicit inclusion signals an interest in broad participation and, in practice, supports the involvement of institutions serving populations that are often underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral research.

Foreign eligibility is limited in a way that is typical for many NIH career-focused mechanisms. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. In addition, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, the announcement clarifies that foreign components are allowed as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S.-based applicant can include certain project elements or collaborations that occur outside the U.S. when appropriately justified and structured under NIH policy.

Administratively, the opportunity is issued by NIH and uses the grant funding instrument type. It falls under the education and health activity categories, reinforcing that the award is intended to enhance researcher capability through mentored training rather than serving as a standard research project grant. The source data lists an original closing date of 2020-07-12, and it does not provide an award ceiling or expected awards count in the excerpt provided. Overall, the program can be understood as a targeted career enhancement pathway for independent investigators who want to add serious technical depth in mobile/wireless health technologies and analytics, or add equally serious behavioral and social science depth to technology-driven work, with the goal of producing better integrated, more effective digital health research going forward.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Short-term Mentored Career Enhancement Awards in Mobile and Wireless Health Technology and Data Analytics: Cross-Training at the intersection of Behavioral and Social Sciences and STEM Disciplines (K18 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): 93.213, 93.242, 93.279, 93.307, 93.313.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-07-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-07-12. (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.

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