Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 - Independent Clinical Trial Required) | PAR 21 272

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 21 272

The Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity is an NIH K99/R00 career development grant (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-21-272) that is built to help outstanding postdoctoral researchers move from mentored training into independent, tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty positions. Its central aim is workforce-focused: NIH is using this mechanism to grow and sustain a more diverse pool of independent investigators in the basic biomedical sciences and other NIH mission areas. In practical terms, the program is meant to reduce the career bottleneck that often happens between the postdoc stage and landing a stable independent position, especially for scientists from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical research enterprise as reflected in NIH guidance on diversity.

The award is structured as a two-phase transition. The K99 phase supports a mentored postdoctoral period where the applicant completes key training, publishes, builds independence, and prepares for the faculty job market while pursuing a defined research plan. Once the scholar secures an eligible independent position, the award transitions to the R00 phase, which provides independent NIH support to help launch the new lab and build early momentum as a faculty member at a research-intensive institution. This design is intentional: it pairs career development and mentored growth with a concrete, funded runway into independence, which can make a major difference in competitiveness for long-term research funding and faculty retention.

A distinctive feature of MOSAIC is that it is not only an individual award but also a cohort-based model. Awardees become MOSAIC scholars who are expected to participate in structured mentoring, networking, and professional development activities. These cohort activities are coordinated by organizations funded through the MOSAIC Institutionally-Focused Research Education Award to Promote Diversity (UE5). The cohort element is meant to provide community, broaden professional networks, and deliver coordinated career development support beyond what a single home lab or department typically offers. In effect, MOSAIC ties the individual K99/R00 trajectory to a larger, organized support system aimed at improving persistence and success into independent careers.

This particular opportunity is labeled "Independent Clinical Trial Required," which signals that the supported project is expected to include a clinical trial component as defined under NIH policy. Applicants need to pay close attention to NIH clinical trial definitions and requirements, because choosing the wrong FOA type can create compliance problems later. The NIH framing here indicates that the research plan should include an independent clinical trial rather than only observational human subjects work or a trial led by someone else.

On eligibility, the opportunity is offered by the National Institutes of Health under the federal assistance listing numbers (CFDA/Assistance Listings) associated with multiple NIH Institutes and Centers (for example, 93.113, 93.121, 93.172, 93.173, and others listed in the source data). The eligible applicant organizations are broad and include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and various units of government (state, county, city/township, special districts), along with tribal governments and tribal organizations. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible categories that align with diversity and capacity-building priorities, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and eligible federal agencies.

The foreign eligibility rules are specific. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S.-based applicant can, in some circumstances, include certain foreign elements within the project if they meet NIH policy requirements and are appropriately justified and approved.

From the administrative details provided, this is a discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Instrument: Grant). The record lists an original closing date of 2024-07-24, and the opportunity was created on 2021-08-17. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided data, which is common for NIH announcements where budgets depend on institute participation, applicant needs, and NIH policy caps for the activity code.

Overall, MOSAIC K99/R00 is best understood as a transition-and-launch mechanism with an explicit diversity mission. It funds the final stretch of mentored postdoctoral development and then provides early independent support once a faculty position is secured, while also placing scholars into a structured national cohort experience coordinated through UE5 grantees. The combined goal is to help talented scientists from diverse backgrounds not only reach independence faster, but also to thrive once they get there, strengthening the long-term diversity and excellence of the NIH-funded biomedical research workforce.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 - Independent Clinical Trial Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.113, 93.121, 93.172, 93.173, 93.213, 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.307, 93.313, 93.361, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.847, 93.853, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-08-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PAR 21 272

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