Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 22 000

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 22 000

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), is offering a Research Education Program (R25) grant opportunity titled "Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-22-000; CFDA 93.286). The program is designed to strengthen the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research workforce by supporting education activities that complement and enhance existing training pipelines. In this particular announcement, the emphasis is on "Courses for Skills Development," meaning the intent is to fund structured educational experiences that build practical, job-relevant competencies rather than support clinical trials or trial-like research activities.

The central goal of this opportunity is to modernize and elevate undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) design education, specifically in a team-based learning environment. NIBIB is looking for programs that either create new or significantly improve existing team-based design courses or course sequences within undergraduate BME departments, or within other degree-granting programs that include a biomedical engineering track or minor. The underlying premise is that biomedical engineering design is increasingly collaborative and translational, and graduates need more intentional preparation to work effectively in teams while addressing real biomedical and healthcare technology challenges.

Applicants are encouraged to incorporate recognized best practices in BME education, such as multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary collaboration, exposure to the medical device regulatory pathway, and training in commercialization-related topics (for example, design controls, quality systems, intellectual property considerations, reimbursement awareness, and market translation). Clinical immersion experiences are also described as an encouraged element, reflecting the value of grounding design work in real clinical needs and user contexts. At the same time, the announcement explicitly challenges institutions not to stop at current norms: proposals are expected to introduce novel, innovative, or even ground-breaking approaches that could help define the next generation of biomedical engineering design education. In practice, this could mean new course structures, new team formation and mentoring models, different ways to engage stakeholders (clinicians, patients, industry, regulatory experts), innovative assessment strategies, or new approaches to inclusive team-based engineering design education.

Eligibility is broad across U.S. higher education institutions, including public and state-controlled universities and private institutions of higher education, with explicit encouragement and inclusion of institutions that serve historically underrepresented populations. The opportunity lists Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), as well as U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, foreign participation is clearly restricted: non-U.S. entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed under this announcement.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant mechanism under the NIH R25 activity, and it is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which signals that the funded activities must remain in the realm of education and training rather than prospective human subjects research that meets the NIH definition of a clinical trial. The opportunity was created on February 22, 2022, and the listed original closing date is January 29, 2025. The source information provided does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, so applicants would need to consult the full FOA and NIH budget guidance for the most current limits, allowable costs, and project period expectations.

Overall, this funding opportunity is best understood as support for institutions that want to reshape undergraduate BME design education around high-quality, team-based, skills-forward training that better matches the realities of biomedical innovation and healthcare technology development. The strongest projects will likely be those that combine practical design experiences with thoughtful, modern educational design and measurable outcomes, while also presenting genuinely new approaches that can be shared and adopted more broadly across biomedical engineering programs.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25 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): 93.286.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-02-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-29. (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, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for PAR 22 000

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