Stimulating Research in Priority Areas: Requests for Applications

RFAs — solicitations for grant applications addressing a defined research topic — reflect the division’s research priorities. Virtually all RFAs are a partnership, including a vetting process and input from the NIH and wider research community. RFAs involve planning from multiple sectors, and each is reviewed by NCI leadership and the NCI’s advisory board prior to their launch.

RFAs are a subset of the FOAs that DCCPS initiates to advance cancer control research. Other mechanisms include, for example, PAs and NOSIs. DCCPS also participates in special initiatives, including Cancer Moonshot funding opportunities, MERIT awards, and the Provocative Questions Program, to name a few.

These special initiatives can be launched for a variety of reasons and goals. One such reason is to stimulate science in a new research area where there are few grants in the NCI portfolio. Another is to incentivize and support larger-scale collaborations and consortia, particularly in areas of interdisciplinary science and team science, and to scale up research in an ongoing area that is poised for accelerated impact and translation into patient care.