Emotional Well-Being: High-Priority Research Networks (U24, Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA AT 20 003

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AT 20 003

The National Institutes of Health funding opportunity titled "Emotional Well-Being: High-Priority Research Networks (U24, Clinical Trial Optional)" (RFA-AT-20-003) is designed to build and strengthen the research infrastructure needed to move the science of emotional well-being forward. Rather than primarily funding large, stand-alone hypothesis-testing studies, this announcement focuses on supporting research networks that can develop shared resources for the broader field. The core idea is to bring together multidisciplinary teams to refine foundational concepts, improve measurement, and coordinate collaborative work that helps emotional well-being research become more coherent, comparable across studies, and more directly useful for understanding health.

This FOA uses the U24 cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically means NIH expects to have substantial involvement in the project as a partner in coordination, oversight, or scientific direction. The "clinical trial optional" designation indicates that applicants may propose work that includes a clinical trial if it is appropriate to the network goals, but a clinical trial is not required. The emphasis is on infrastructure: creating the conditions, tools, shared definitions, training pathways, and early pilot efforts that make later large-scale research more rigorous and efficient.

Applicants are expected to use the award to facilitate research networks through activities like convening meetings and conferences, organizing working groups, launching small-scale pilot research projects that test or refine methods, and supporting multidisciplinary cross-training. Examples of cross-training highlighted in the opportunity include intensive workshops, summer institutes, and visiting scholar programs, all aimed at building a common language and shared skill set across disciplines (for instance, psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, behavioral medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics, and digital health). Another central component is information dissemination, meaning networks should actively share products such as measurement toolkits, conceptual frameworks, data standards, recommendations, and best practices so that the broader community can adopt and build on them.

The FOA identifies six high-priority scientific areas that the network infrastructure should advance. First is ontology and measurement of emotional well-being, which is essentially about clarifying what emotional well-being is (and is not), how it relates to adjacent constructs, and how it should be organized conceptually so researchers can measure it consistently. Second is mechanistic research on the role of emotional well-being in health, which focuses on identifying the pathways through which emotional well-being may influence physical or mental health outcomes (for example, behavioral, neurobiological, social, or stress-related mechanisms). Third is biomarkers of emotional well-being, supporting work to identify and validate biological indicators that track with well-being states or changes in well-being, recognizing that biomarker work requires careful conceptual and measurement grounding. Fourth is prevention research, specifically mechanisms-focused intervention development in target populations, which points to developing and refining preventive interventions with a strong focus on understanding how and why they work, and for whom. Fifth is technology and outcome measure development for mechanistic studies, which includes developing digital tools, platforms, sensors, ecological momentary assessment methods, or other technologies that can capture well-being and mechanisms in real-world settings. Sixth is development and validation of well-being measures, reinforcing the strong measurement theme by encouraging rigorous validation and standardization so measures are reliable, sensitive to change, and appropriate across populations and contexts.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types that commonly participate in NIH funding. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township 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; tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other entities. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISI institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, tribally controlled colleges and universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it places clear limits on non-U.S. involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning an otherwise eligible U.S.-based applicant can include certain foreign collaborations or elements if they meet NIH policy requirements and are justified scientifically.

Administrative details provided in the source information indicate the opportunity is a discretionary program under a cooperative agreement funding instrument, categorized under health, income security, and social services, with CFDA numbers 93.213, 93.865, and 93.866. The original closing date listed is July 22, 2020, and an award ceiling of $400,000 is included in the listing. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a field-building initiative: NIH is funding coordinated networks to produce shared conceptual, methodological, and training resources that can accelerate high-quality emotional well-being research, improve comparability across studies, and strengthen the evidence base linking well-being to health.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Emotional Well-Being: High-Priority Research Networks (U24, Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213, 93.865, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-12-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-07-22. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

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