Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 17 010
This grant opportunity is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding announcement under the SPARC program, which stands for "Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions." The focus of the announcement is on supporting technology-driven research that improves the scientific understanding of how the peripheral nervous system controls organ function. In practical terms, it is looking to fund projects that develop, adapt, or apply tools and methods that can measure, map, model, or otherwise clarify how nerves outside the brain and spinal cord communicate with and regulate organs throughout the body. The overarching aim aligns with SPARC's broader mission: to enable new ways of understanding and eventually treating disease by targeting peripheral nerve pathways that influence organ behavior.
The opportunity is a limited competition, meaning only certain applicants are allowed to apply based on eligibility rules defined in the full funding announcement. From the provided details, eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, with additional eligible applicant categories referenced in the official announcement. Limited competitions are often used when an agency wants to focus resources on a specific set of organizations, networks, or pre-qualified participants, or when there are programmatic reasons to restrict the applicant pool. Anyone considering applying would need to review the FOA's eligibility section carefully to confirm their institution and project team meet the criteria.
Administratively, this is a discretionary grant mechanism offered by NIH and classified under the health funding activity category. The funding opportunity number is RFA-RM-17-010, and it is associated with CFDA number 93.310. The FOA was created on April 11, 2017, and the original application closing date was January 23, 2018. The listing does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the fields shown, which typically means those details were either provided elsewhere in the full announcement or were not captured in the summarized dataset. Applicants usually need to consult the full FOA for budget limits, project period expectations, review criteria, required components (such as data sharing or resource dissemination plans), and any SPARC-specific program requirements.
Conceptually, the scientific and technical emphasis of the FOA is on enabling technologies rather than purely hypothesis-driven biology. Projects responsive to this type of call commonly include development of new instrumentation, sensors, stimulation or recording interfaces, anatomical mapping approaches, high-resolution imaging or tracing methods, computational models of nerve-organ interactions, standardized experimental pipelines, or platforms that can produce broadly useful datasets and resources. Because the title highlights "Technologies to Understand the Control of Organ Function," the expectation is that funded work should materially improve the community's ability to observe and interpret peripheral neural control of organs, potentially across multiple organ systems, physiological contexts, or disease-relevant conditions.
In summary, this NIH SPARC limited-competition grant supports the creation and advancement of technologies that help researchers decode how the peripheral nervous system governs organ function, with the longer-term implication of enabling new therapeutic strategies that modulate peripheral nerve activity to relieve or prevent medical conditions. The key practical takeaways are that it is an NIH discretionary grant, tied to SPARC and CFDA 93.310, restricted by limited-competition eligibility rules, and centered on technology development and dissemination to accelerate understanding of peripheral nerve control of organs.Apply for RFA RM 17 010
- The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition - Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC): Technologies to Understand the Control of Organ Function by the Peripheral Nervous System (OT2)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2017-04-11.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-01-23. (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.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is this funding opportunity?
This is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding announcement under the SPARC program ("Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions"). It supports technology-driven research intended to improve scientific understanding of how the peripheral nervous system controls organ function.
What is the SPARC program?
SPARC stands for "Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions." Its broader mission is to enable new ways of understanding and eventually treating disease by targeting peripheral nerve pathways that influence organ behavior. This particular announcement aligns with that mission by focusing on tools and technologies that help decode peripheral nerve control of organs.
What is the main scientific focus of this FOA?
The focus is on supporting technologies and methods that can measure, map, model, or otherwise clarify how the peripheral nervous system (nerves outside the brain and spinal cord) communicates with and regulates organs throughout the body.
Is this opportunity focused on technology development or hypothesis-driven biology?
Based on the description provided, the emphasis is on enabling technologies rather than purely hypothesis-driven biology. The intent is to materially improve the research community's ability to observe and interpret peripheral neural control of organs.
What types of projects are typically responsive to this kind of SPARC technology FOA?
Responsive projects commonly include developing, adapting, or applying tools and methods such as new instrumentation, sensors, stimulation or recording interfaces, anatomical mapping approaches, high-resolution imaging or tracing methods, computational models of nerve-organ interactions, standardized experimental pipelines, or platforms that produce broadly useful datasets and resources.
What body system is the research focused on?
The focus is on the peripheral nervous system and its role in controlling organ function. In practical terms, the work aims to clarify how peripheral nerves communicate with and regulate organs throughout the body.
Does the announcement target specific organs or organ systems?
The provided information describes organ function broadly and notes potential relevance across multiple organ systems and physiological contexts. Specific organ targets, if any, would be detailed in the full funding announcement.
What is meant by "control of organ function" in this context?
In this FOA, "control of organ function" refers to how peripheral nerves influence and regulate organ behavior, and the goal is to create or advance methods that can help researchers observe, map, measure, and model those nerve-organ interactions.
Why is this described as a "limited competition"?
This is a limited competition, meaning only certain applicants are allowed to apply based on eligibility rules defined in the full funding announcement. Limited competitions are often used to focus resources on a specific set of organizations, networks, or pre-qualified participants, or for other programmatic reasons that restrict the applicant pool.
Who is eligible to apply based on the information provided?
From the details provided, eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education. The summary also indicates there are additional eligible applicant categories referenced in the official announcement.
How can an applicant confirm they are eligible?
Applicants would need to review the eligibility section of the full funding announcement (FOA) carefully to confirm their institution and project team meet the limited-competition criteria.
What agency is offering this grant?
The offering agency is the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
What type of funding mechanism is this?
It is an NIH discretionary grant mechanism and is classified under the health funding activity category.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number?
The Funding Opportunity Number is RFA-RM-17-010.
What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?
The opportunity is associated with CFDA number 93.310.
When was this FOA created?
The FOA was created on April 11, 2017.
What was the original application closing date?
The original application closing date was January 23, 2018.
Does the summary list the award ceiling or expected number of awards?
No. The fields shown in the provided summary do not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards. This typically means those details were provided elsewhere in the full announcement or were not captured in the summarized dataset.
Where should applicants look for budget limits, project period expectations, and review criteria?
Applicants generally need to consult the full FOA for budget limits, project period expectations, review criteria, required components (such as data sharing or resource dissemination plans), and any SPARC-specific program requirements.
What is the overarching goal of funding work under this announcement?
The overarching goal is to enable better understanding of how the peripheral nervous system governs organ function, with longer-term implications for developing therapeutic strategies that modulate peripheral nerve activity to relieve or prevent medical conditions.
What is the practical takeaway for potential applicants?
Key practical takeaways are that this is an NIH SPARC limited-competition grant tied to CFDA 93.310, centered on technology development and dissemination to accelerate understanding of peripheral nerve control of organs, and subject to eligibility restrictions that must be confirmed in the full FOA.
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