Upcoming Grant Training Center Workshops

The Grant Training Center is offering several live, online workshops in the coming months designed to help researchers, faculty, and administrators strengthen their grant writing skills. Each session will provide in-depth instruction tailored to specific funding agencies or tools, including guidance on developing competitive proposals and understanding review criteria.

Writing and Designing Winning NSF Proposals: This two-day workshop will focus on key components of successful National Science Foundation proposals. Topics include aligning project goals with NSF priorities, understanding merit review, and organizing proposals for clarity and impact.
Dates: May 13–14, 2025
Time: 10:30 AM – 6:00 PM (ET)

NIH Grant Development: Designed for those pursuing National Institutes of Health funding, this two-day session will cover NIH funding mechanisms, the peer review process, and strategies for writing strong research plans and justifications.
Dates: June 10–11, 2025
Time: 10:30 AM – 6:00 PM (ET)

Supercharge Your Grant Writing with AI: This session explores how artificial intelligence tools can be used to support various stages of grant development—from literature reviews and brainstorming to editing and formatting.
Date: July 9, 2025
Time: 10:30 AM – 6:00 PM (ET)

Additional workshops can be found on the Grant Training Center Website.

IES Training: Data Science for Digital Learning Research

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is offering a 16-week online or asynchronous training program titled Digital Science Methods for Digital Learning Platforms, running from August 18 to December 12, 2025. Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and supported by IES’s National Center for Education Research, this program is designed to equip education researchers and practitioners with the skills to apply both specialized and general-purpose algorithms to data from digital learning platforms. Applications to participate in the training are open until May 16, 2025. Interested participants can register and find additional information on the IES website.

Application Deadline: 05/16/2025

Training Dates: 08/18/2025–12/12/2025

NIH Announces Accelerated Implementation of 2024 Public Access Policy

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy will now take effect on July 1, 2025, advancing the timeline to enhance public access to NIH-supported research findings. Until June 30, 2025, the current NIH Public Access Policy remains in effect. For more information, including the NIH Director’s statement and related resources, please visit the NIH announcement.

NIH Reminder: Requirements for Projects with Foreign Activities or International Collaborators

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reminds applicants that any research involving activities outside the U.S. or collaborations with international partners must be clearly indicated in the application. This includes identifying foreign components in the SF-424 R&R Other Project Information Form and attaching a “Foreign Justification” in Field 12 if applicable. A foreign component is defined as a significant project element conducted outside the U.S., even if not funded by NIH. Additional details may be required based on project specifics, such as human subjects or data sharing. Any changes to foreign components post-award require prior NIH approval. Read the full notice.

Reminder: Join the Upcoming Professorship Panel Presentation

Dear Colleagues,

The Office of Educational Research invites you to the COE Term Professors Panel Presentation on Tuesday, April 29, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM in the Rosenburg Room. This event will feature COE faculty who are recipients of prestigious Term Professorships, including B.O. Smith, Fien, Rosser, Kubiak, and UF Foundation awards. Panelists will share brief overviews of their research projects, outcomes, and future directions.

This semester, we are highlighting scholarship by:

  • Dr. Julie C. Brown
  • Dr. Nelson C. Brunsting
  • Dr. Chonika Coleman-King
  • Dr. F. Chris Curran
  • Dr. Maya Israel
  • Dr. Melinda Leko
  • Dr. Hannah M. Mathews
  • Dr. Rob Moore
  • Dr. Nigel A. Newbutt
  • Dr. Christopher Redding

We look forward to seeing you there!

Upcoming PCORI Town Halls for 2025 Cycle 2 Funding Opportunities

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is hosting several town halls for potential applicants to learn more about funding opportunities for Cycle 2, 2025. These events are designed to provide detailed information on specific funding announcements, including how to submit a competitive application.

  • Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A town hall for applicants interested in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Topical Patient-Focused Funding Announcement (PFA). This session will offer insight into the application process and answer questions about funding priorities in this area.
    Date: April 7, 2025, noon – 1:00 pm (ET)
  • Broad Pragmatic Studies: For those pursuing funding in Broad Pragmatic Studies, this town hall will provide details about application guidelines and expectations for impactful, real-world research.
    Date: April 8, 2025, 11:30 – 1:00 pm (ET)
  • Advancing Science Engagement Research: This session will focus on the Advancing Science Engagement Research PFA, aimed at enhancing patient-centered research through community and scientific engagement.
    Date: April 11, 2025, noon – 1:00 pm (ET)

These town halls offer an excellent opportunity for researchers to get direct guidance from PCORI staff and ensure a strong application for the upcoming cycle.

Grants.gov Introduces New RESTful APIs to Streamline Grant Search and Retrieval

Grants.gov has launched two new RESTful APIs—search2 and fetchOpportunity—to enhance the System-to-System (S2S) interface. These APIs allow users to search for funding opportunities and retrieve detailed information without requiring authentication. The search2 API enables more precise searches, while the fetchOpportunity API provides easy access to grant details like eligibility and deadlines. These updates can streamline grant application workflows, saving time and improving efficiency when managing and applying for multiple grants, particularly for collaborative projects. For more information, visit the Grants.gov website.

NIH Enhances RCDC Website for Easier Access to Funding Data

The National Institutes of Health has updated its Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) Categorical Spending webpage to improve access to funding data across various research areas. This update is particularly useful for faculty who collaborate on NIH-funded projects related to health education, behavioral interventions, and learning sciences. The redesigned interface offers a clearer layout, interactive funding trend graphs, and easier navigation to FAQs and categorization details. These enhancements make it simpler to track NIH funding trends, explore relevant research categories, and identify potential funding opportunities. A more in-depth look at these enhancements can be found on the NIH website.

NIH Simplifies Grant Review Process with New Framework

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has introduced a Simplified Review Framework for research project grant applications, effective January 25, 2025. This new approach consolidates the five previous review criteria into three main factors:

  1. Importance of the Research (Significance and Innovation)
  2. Rigor and Feasibility (Approach)
  3. Expertise and Resources (Investigator and Environment).

The goal is to streamline the review process, minimize bias related to investigator reputation, and keep the focus on scientific merit. Reviewers will now assess Expertise and Resources as either sufficient or not, requiring justification if deemed insufficient. These changes do not alter how applicants prepare submissions. NIH has provided detailed reviewer guidance, an applicant guide, and a podcast explaining the framework. More information is available on the NIH Nexus website.

Reminder: OER Hosts Panel Presentation

Dear Colleagues,

The Office of Educational Research invites you to the COE Term Professors Panel Presentation on Tuesday, April 29, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM in the Rosenburg Room. This event will feature COE faculty who are recipients of prestigious Term Professorships, including B.O. Smith, Fien, Rosser, Kubiak, and UF Foundation awards. Panelists will share brief overviews of their research projects, outcomes, and future directions.

This semester, we are highlighting scholarship by:

  • Dr. Julie C. Brown
  • Dr. Nelson C. Brunsting
  • Dr. Chonika Coleman-King
  • Dr. F. Chris Curran
  • Dr. Maya Israel
  • Dr. Melinda Leko
  • Dr. Hannah M. Mathews
  • Dr. Rob Moore
  • Dr. Nigel A. Newbutt
  • Dr. Christopher Redding

We look forward to seeing you there!

Simpler.Grants.gov Launches New Search Feature and Previews Upcoming Enhancements

Simpler.Grants.gov, part of the Office of Grants’ modernization efforts for Grants.gov, recently launched a new search feature to help users find the right funding opportunities more efficiently. To showcase this new feature, Simpler.Grants.gov and the Council on Federal Financial Assistance hosted a “Big Demo” on January 15. The event provided an overview of the new search capabilities and updates to the opportunity listing page, along with a preview of future enhancements. These upcoming additions will address user feedback, including simplified account creation and a more streamlined application process. You can access the recording of the demo to learn more about these updates and improvements.