NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) · NIH Institute/Center · PAR-23-286
Source: Grants.gov · View original posting ↗
- AwardWhat a single award can be worth — the funder's published per-award amount or floor–ceiling range.
- Amount not listed
- DeadlineFinal application due date.
- Oct 14, 2026
- Letter of intentDue date for the letter of intent (a short pre-application some funders require or request before the full proposal).
- —
- MechanismNIH activity code — the grant type (R01 research project, R21 exploratory, K series career development, F series fellowship, …).
- K99
- DurationMaximum project period for a single award.
- —
- Expected awardsHow many awards the funder anticipates making under this opportunity.
- —
- Funding cycleHow often the program accepts applications (annual, multiple cycles per year, rolling, or one-time).
- Standard NIH dates
- Open dateWhen applications open (or opened).
- Nov 8, 2023
- Total fundingThe overall pool the funder expects to commit across ALL awards under this opportunity — not what one project receives.
- —
- Clinical trialWhether proposed projects must, may, or must not include a clinical trial.
- Not allowed
Funding context
Based on FY2024 NIH (all institutes) K99 applications (359 of 1,438 applications awarded).
Institute-specific data wasn’t available — showing the NIH-wide rate for this mechanism.
Payline: NIH discontinued percentile paylines for 2026 under its Unified Funding Strategy ↗ — scores are now weighed in context rather than against a fixed cutoff.
NIH-wide K99, all institutes.
Aggregate historical data by institute, mechanism, and fiscal year — context for planning, not a prediction for this opportunity. Source ↗
Research areas
Auto-classified from the title and description (keyword-based) — may be imperfect.
Description
The purpose of the NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NCI-supported, independent investigators. This program is designed for postdoctoral fellows with research and/or clinical doctoral degrees who do not require an extended period of mentored research training beyond their doctoral degrees. The objective of this award is to facilitate a timely transition of these fellows from their mentored, postdoctoral research positions to independent tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty positions. The program will provide independent NCI research support during this transition to help awardees to launch competitive, independent research careers. Researchers in the scientific areas of cancer control, cancer prevention and cancer data sciences are especially encouraged to work with their institutions to apply. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is designed specifically for candidates proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. Under this NOFO candidates are permitted to propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Those proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion NOFOs (PAR-23-287 or PAR-23-288).
Data notes: award amount not published in the source feed; administering NIH institute could not be identified from the opportunity number.