Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 19 215

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 215

The Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) opportunity (PAR-19-215) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Education Program award administered through the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). It is designed to strengthen the biomedical engineering (BME) pipeline by funding education-focused activities that modernize and improve how undergraduate students learn biomedical engineering design. The central aim is workforce development: helping produce graduates who can better meet national needs in biomedical research and in the development of healthcare technologies, particularly medical devices and related innovations.

The program specifically emphasizes educational activities that fall under "Courses for Skills Development," with a strong preference for team-based design experiences. Applicants are encouraged to either create new team-based biomedical engineering design courses/programs or substantially enhance existing ones. While the setting is often an undergraduate biomedical engineering department, the announcement also welcomes proposals from other degree-granting programs that include a biomedical engineering track or minor, so long as the training focus remains on undergraduate education and design skill-building.

In terms of what the NIH is looking for, the opportunity supports programs that reflect proven strengths in BME education while also pushing institutions to innovate. Traditional best practices remain valued components of a competitive proposal, including multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary teamwork, exposure to the medical device regulatory pathway, and education on commercialization topics that affect translation from prototype to product. Clinical immersion is also highlighted as an encouraged element, reflecting NIH interest in grounding design projects in real clinical needs and constraints. At the same time, this announcement explicitly challenges applicants to go beyond the standard playbook by proposing novel, creative, or potentially ground-breaking approaches that could shape the next generation of biomedical engineering design education, rather than simply replicating established models.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and includes many government and education entities as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations (with the exception that the program is not open to non-U.S. applicants). Eligible applicants listed include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and certain tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status. The opportunity also explicitly calls out interest in participation from institutions and organizations that serve groups historically underrepresented in science and engineering, including 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 and U.S. territories or possessions.

There are also clear restrictions related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. In addition, the funding opportunity is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the supported activities must not include clinical trials as defined by NIH, and proposals should be structured as education and training innovations rather than human-subject clinical intervention studies.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant under the health funding category (CFDA 93.286). The opportunity record indicates it was created on March 8, 2019, with an original closing date listed as May 28, 2021. The excerpted listing does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, so those details would typically need to be confirmed in the full FOA text and any associated NIH notices. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as NIH support for undergraduate, team-centered biomedical engineering design education that blends practical skill development with real-world constraints like regulation, translation, and clinical needs, while actively encouraging new educational models that could raise the standard for BME design training nationally.

• 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 2019-03-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-28. (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 19 215

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