The funding opportunity "Utilizing Equipment to Study Environmental Extrinsic Factors and Enhance Rigor and Reproducibility of Animal Research" (PAR-24-167) is an initiative by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), managed through the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP). It aims to support grant applications from core facilities, resource centers, animal vivaria, or other shared research resources focused on studying environmental factors that affect animal research outcomes. This R24 mechanism does not allow clinical trials and is intended to improve the rigor and reproducibility of animal studies by supporting the acquisition or updating of modern equipment for measuring and monitoring environmental, biological, or behavioral variables.

Eligible applicants include a wide variety of entities such as public and private institutions of higher education, state and local governments, Native American tribal governments and organizations, nonprofits, and for-profit organizations, including small businesses. The opportunity is also open to minority-serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). While foreign entities are not eligible to apply directly, foreign components can be part of U.S.-based projects.

The program encourages the acquisition of equipment capable of recording multiple environmental parameters simultaneously, such as temperature, humidity, light cycles, and other conditions that could influence research outcomes. The focus is on systematic evaluation of these extrinsic factors across various biological processes and multiple organ systems to ensure that findings can be generalized across different studies. The research supported should be relevant to the interests of at least two or more NIH Institutes or Centers, aligning with ORIP’s mission to support NIH-wide research infrastructure.

Applicants must propose projects that are broadly applicable to multiple fields within biomedical research. The equipment funded should be integrated into existing core facilities or shared resources to facilitate widespread use by multiple investigators, thereby enhancing the impact of the grant. The overall goal is to provide reliable data on environmental variables to improve the interpretation and reproducibility of animal studies, ultimately benefiting a wide range of research areas.

The closing date for applications is September 25, 2026, giving institutions substantial time to prepare their proposals.