Limited Competition: NIGMS Mature Synchrotron Resources for Structural Biology (P30 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 19 232

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 232

This grant opportunity, titled "Limited Competition: NIGMS Mature Synchrotron Resources for Structural Biology (P30 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (PAR-19-232), is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding announcement that supports established synchrotron-based structural biology resource facilities, specifically X-ray beamlines used by the broader biomedical research community. The emphasis is on keeping proven, high-demand structural biology beamlines operating at a high level and ensuring they remain accessible, well-supported, and aligned with current best practices in the field. It is not meant to fund exploratory or high-risk technology development; instead, it targets resources that already have stable, well-established methods and workflows that are ready to deliver immediate value to users.

A central feature of this FOA is the meaning of "mature." In this context, mature beamlines are those offering techniques that are already well established and routinely used by researchers, without requiring significant new technology invention or major developmental work to be useful. The goal is to maintain these beamlines as state-of-the-art or bring them up to modern standards through maintenance and upgrades that reflect accepted best practices, rather than building entirely new experimental capabilities from scratch. In practical terms, the award is aimed at sustaining reliable user operations, keeping instrumentation and software current, maintaining strong data collection and processing pipelines, and ensuring the facility can continue to serve a wide range of structural biology projects efficiently.

The program is limited competition, meaning it is only open to a narrow set of eligible resources. Specifically, it is restricted to synchrotron structural biology resources whose operations have recently been supported, or are currently being supported, by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). This limitation signals that the program is designed as a continuation or renewal-like mechanism for established NIGMS-backed beamline resources rather than an open call for entirely new entrants.

The intent of the funding is straightforward: to provide broad access to X-ray beamlines for structural biology research. This includes not only keeping the beamlines functioning, but also ensuring the scientific community can effectively use them. Applicants are expected to run the facility as a true community resource by making capabilities and availability widely known through outreach, offering user training, and providing hands-on support. That generally implies well-organized user access mechanisms, clear communication of scheduling and proposal procedures, documentation and training materials, responsive staff assistance during experiments, and support for data handling and analysis so that both expert and less-experienced users can succeed.

Because this is a P30 mechanism, it is framed as a center or resource support grant rather than a traditional hypothesis-driven research project. The funded activities are geared toward operation, maintenance, user services, and resource stewardship. The FOA explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which means the grant cannot be used to support clinical trials and should not be proposed with clinical trial aims or a clinical trial structure. The work should remain focused on enabling structural biology research through synchrotron access and associated facility support.

Eligibility is also tightly defined. The eligible applicants listed include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and the announcement makes clear that foreign participation is not permitted in the form of foreign applicants or foreign components. Non-U.S. (foreign) institutions are not eligible to apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. This keeps the supported operations and funded activities within allowable domestic organizational structures.

Key administrative details provided include that this is a discretionary grant opportunity administered by NIH under the health funding activity category, with CFDA number 93.859. The FOA was created on April 1, 2019, and the original closing date listed is October 8, 2021. The source snippet does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, which typically means applicants would need to consult the full announcement for budget guidance, scope expectations, and review criteria.

In summary, PAR-19-232 is designed to keep mature, NIGMS-supported synchrotron structural biology beamlines running strongly as community-facing resources. It prioritizes stable operations, modern maintenance and upgrades consistent with best practices, proactive outreach to make the resource visible and usable, and robust user training and support, all within a limited-competition framework restricted to eligible U.S.-based institutions already tied to recent or current NIGMS support for these synchrotron resources.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: NIGMS Mature Synchrotron Resources for Structural Biology (P30 - 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): 93.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-04-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-10-08. (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.

Apply for PAR 19 232

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