Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 20 272

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 20 272

The NIH opportunity titled "Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)" (FOA number PA 20 272) supports administrative supplement requests from current NIH-funded projects that need additional funds to cover unexpected, allowable cost increases. The key point is that this is not a standalone grant for a new project. It is a mechanism for investigators who already hold certain eligible NIH research grants or cooperative agreements (the specific parent award activity codes are listed in the full FOA) to request extra money when legitimate needs arise that were not anticipated at the time the original application, renewal, or non-competing continuation progress report was submitted. The requested work and costs must stay within the originally approved scope of the parent award, meaning it cannot be used to shift the project into a new direction, add a fundamentally new aim, or expand beyond what NIH already agreed to support.

These supplement requests are treated as "prior approval" actions under the NIH Grants Policy Statement (referenced in the announcement as Section 8.1.2.11). In practical terms, that means the request is reviewed and handled as an administrative action tied directly to the existing award rather than going through the full competitive peer review process used for new applications. After submission, the supplement application is routed to the Grants Management Officer (GMO) responsible for the parent award. Because administrative supplements are dependent on Institute or Center (IC) priorities and available funds, submitting a request does not guarantee an award. NIH is explicit that funding may or may not be available at the awarding IC, and availability can differ across institutes and across individual parent grants.

A major expectation in this program is early communication with NIH. Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss the potential supplement with the awarding NIH Institute or Center before submitting anything, since each IC can have its own requirements, preferences, internal deadlines, and allowable cost interpretations. The FOA also instructs applicants to check the specific IC administrative supplement webpage to confirm they meet that IC's requirements prior to submission. NIH maintains a central list of IC supplement pages at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/adminsupp/index.htm, which is essentially the starting point for institute-specific instructions and constraints.

Eligibility is broad but is ultimately anchored to the existence of an eligible active NIH parent award. The opportunity lists many eligible applicant organization types, including state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities. It also explicitly calls out additional eligible categories 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, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, US territories or possessions, and even non-US (foreign) organizations where permitted by the parent award and NIH policy. In all cases, the supplement must be appropriate for the parent grant mechanism and allowable under NIH rules for the parent award.

The funding instrument is a grant, and the overall activity categories listed for the opportunity include education, environment, food and nutrition, and health, reflecting how widely NIH funding can span across research and research-related activities. The CFDA numbers included in the source data (for example, 93.113, 93.172, 93.273, 93.393 through 93.399, and others) indicate that multiple NIH programs and institutes may use this parent supplement announcement as a common administrative pathway. The original closing date provided in the listing is 2025-01-24, and the opportunity was created on 2020-10-13, which reflects that it is part of NIH's ongoing "parent" supplement structure that can stay open across multiple receipt dates and fiscal years depending on NIH updates and institute participation.

In short, PA 20 272 is a flexible administrative supplement pathway for current NIH awardees who face unplanned but justified cost increases and need additional funds to keep an already-approved project on track without changing its scientific scope. Success depends heavily on alignment with the parent award, allowability of the requested costs, the specific policies of the administering NIH Institute or Center, and the availability of funds at the time of request.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.113, 93.172, 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.286, 93.307, 93.310, 93.313, 93.350, 93.351, 93.361, 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.846, 93.847, 93.853, 93.855, 93.859, 93.866, 93.867, 93.879, 93.989.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-10-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-24. (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 PA 20 272

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