The NCI Paul Calabresi Career Development Award for Clinical Oncology supports institutions establishing structured career-development programs for clinician-scientists pursuing clinical and translational cancer research.
The K12 program provides protected research time, mentorship, research support, and career-development activities to prepare scholars for independent careers in cancer research. Scholars cannot lead an independent clinical trial under this award, but they may gain research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor.
Eligibility Criteria:
- This is an institutional K12 award. Individual clinician-scientists do not apply directly to NCI for the grant; eligible institutions apply and subsequently select scholars for their programs.
- Eligible U.S. applicants include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, certain government and tribal organizations, and other eligible domestic entities.
- The Program Director/Principal Investigator should be an established cancer investigator capable of providing scientific and administrative leadership.
- PDs/PIs are expected to hold independent R01 or R01-equivalent cancer-focused research support at the time of application and award.
- Scholars must be U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals, or lawful permanent residents at the time of appointment.
- Scholars generally must devote at least 75% of full-time professional effort to research and related career development.
Funding Details:
- For a new K12 program, direct costs are limited to USD 50,000 in Year 1 for curriculum development, planning, advertising, and scholar recruitment.
- Scholars begin appointments in the second year, when the program may request up to USD 750,000 in direct costs annually.
- A new five-year program could therefore request up to approximately USD 3.05 million in direct costs across the full project period, subject to annual limits and justification.
- Renewal programs may request up to USD 750,000 in direct costs per year for five years, or up to USD 3.75 million.
- Maximum project period: 5 years.
- Scholar salary support may be requested up to USD 110,000 per scholar, plus applicable fringe benefits.
Deadline:
- Earliest submission/open date: September 12, 2026.
- First new application deadline: October 12, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. local time of the applicant organization.
- First renewal/resubmission deadline: November 12, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. local time.
- Additional new application deadlines include February 12, 2027 and June 12, 2027, with subsequent cycles continuing through 2029.
- NOFO expiration date: March 13, 2029.
Further Information:
- The program is designed to increase the number of clinician-scientists trained in clinical and translational cancer research and help them progress toward independent cancer-research careers.
- Scholars may participate in mentor-led clinical trials but cannot propose to lead an independent clinical trial under this NOFO.
- Institutions must provide a structured research career-development program, qualified mentors, appropriate research opportunities, protected scholar time, and sufficient institutional resources.
- Applications may be submitted through NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or an eligible institutional system-to-system submission process.
- Official program information and application details: View PAR-27-025 on Simpler.Grants.gov