Early-Stage Dissemination and Implementation Research in Communication Disorders (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) · NIH Institute/Center · RFA-DC-26-001
Source: Grants.gov · View original posting ↗
- AwardWhat a single award can be worth — the funder's published per-award amount or floor–ceiling range.
- $1M total
- DeadlineFinal application due date.
- Jun 17, 2027
- 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, …).
- R21
- 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).
- One-time
- Open dateWhen applications open (or opened).
- Feb 5, 2026
- Total fundingThe overall pool the funder expects to commit across ALL awards under this opportunity — not what one project receives.
- $1M total
- Clinical trialWhether proposed projects must, may, or must not include a clinical trial.
- Optional / allowed
Funding context
Based on FY2025 NIDCD R21 applications (50 of 280 applications awarded).
Payline: NIH discontinued percentile paylines for 2026 under its Unified Funding Strategy ↗ — scores are now weighed in context rather than against a fixed cutoff.
NIDCD R21, FY2025 — atypical NIH funding year (multi-year upfront funding / rescinded paylines); NIH reports FY2025 success rates as not comparable to prior years.
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 National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) intends to re-issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO, prior funding opportunity RFA-DC-24-008 to solicit applications for research on early-stage dissemination and implementation (D&I) in the NIDCD mission areas of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language. Much research is devoted to developing evidence-based innovations (EBIs) that improve a person"s health and quality of life. To impact people"s lives, EBIs need to be adopted in clinical practice and everyday life. Unfortunately, wide-scale adoption of EBIs is lengthy and rare. Dissemination and implementation (D&I) science is the field of research that seeks to close the gap between research and practice. Dissemination research is defined as the scientific study of the targeted distribution of information and materials about EBI to a specific audience (e.g., practitioners, patients, policymakers). The intent is to understand how best to communicate and integrate knowledge associated with a given EBI. Implementation Science refers to a broader array of active and planned efforts to integrate evidence into practice. Implementation research focuses on understanding why clinical and community settings are not adopting and sustaining a particular EBI. In turn, implementation research uses this understanding of barriers and facilitators to develop and evaluate different strategies (or collections of strategies) to increase adoption and integration of an EBI into practice. Many fields have applied D&I research theories, approaches, and outcome measures to improve adoption and sustainment of EBIs. This funding opportunity aims to support early-stage D&I research in NIDCD mission areas of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language. Resulting findings should set a sufficient foundation for a high-quality, D&I focused R01 in NIDCD mission areas. Applications are not being solicited at this time. Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. This NOFO will utilize the R21 activity code. Investigators with expertise and insights into D&I research in NIDCD mission areas are encouraged to begin to consider applying for this new NOFO. In addition, collaborative investigations combining expertise in D&I and NIDCD mission areas will be encouraged and these investigators should also begin considering applying for this application.