Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA GM 14 010
Apply for RFA GM 14 010
- The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Drug Docking and Screening Data Resource (U01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.859 Biomedical Research and Research Training.
- This funding opportunity was created on Oct 18, 2013 and posted on Jun 19, 2013.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 1, 2013. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $750,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: State governments For profit organizations other than small businesses Private institutions of higher education Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Special district governments County governments Independent school districts Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification) City or township governments Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized) Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments) Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities Public and State controlled institutions of higher education Small businesses.
- Other Eligible Applicants include the following Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs) Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government Faith based or Community based Organizations Hispanic serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized) Regional Organizations Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) U.S. Territory or Possession Non domestic (non U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply. Non domestic (non U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
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Opportunity Summary:
The Drug Docking and Screening Data Resource (U01) funding opportunity (RFA-GM-14-010) is an NIH cooperative agreement designed to expand the amount of publicly available, high-quality experimental data on protein-drug (protein-ligand) complexes. The central goal is to generate and disseminate reliable datasets that capture both the structures of protein-ligand complexes and quantitative binding affinities, because these are the core reference materials needed to develop, validate, and benchmark computational docking and virtual screening methods. In practical terms, the FOA is aimed at strengthening the real-world evidence base that computational chemists and drug discovery teams rely on when they test whether docking software can correctly predict how a compound binds, how strongly it binds, and how binding changes across related targets.
The opportunity is motivated by a clear bottleneck in computational drug discovery: predictive models are only as good as the experimental data used to train and evaluate them. By increasing the volume and quality of open datasets on protein-ligand structures and affinity measurements, NIH is trying to enable more accurate and robust in silico screening workflows. If docking and screening tools can be benchmarked against dependable reference data, they can be improved faster and used with more confidence, which in turn can reduce the time and cost of drug development. The FOA also highlights broader downstream value beyond finding new leads: better prediction of off-target binding can help anticipate side effects earlier, and improved screening can support drug repurposing by identifying unexpected but therapeutically useful target interactions for existing compounds.
This FOA uses the U01 cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning NIH expects substantial programmatic involvement from the agency compared with a standard research project grant. The activity category is health, and the CFDA number listed is 93.859 (Biomedical Research and Research Training). NIH anticipated making a single award under this announcement, with an estimated total funding amount of about $750,000 and an award ceiling of $500,000. No cost sharing or matching was required, which lowers a common barrier for applicants and encourages broader participation from eligible organizations.
Eligibility is intentionally broad across U.S.-based entities. Eligible applicants include state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, special districts, and certain public housing authorities), public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including those with and without 501(c)(3) status), and for-profit organizations (including small businesses and other for-profits). The announcement also explicitly includes a range of institution types often highlighted in federal eligibility language, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian-Serving institutions, among others, as well as faith-based and community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible; however, foreign components as defined in NIH policy are allowed, which can matter for projects that may require certain international collaborations or resources while remaining anchored in an eligible U.S. applicant organization.
Key administrative details place this opportunity in 2013: it was posted on June 19, 2013, created on October 18, 2013, and had an original closing date of October 9, 2013, later extended to November 1, 2013, with an archive date of December 1, 2013. The sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health, and the full announcement was hosted through the NIH Grants Guide. For technical issues accessing the FOA, the contact listed is the NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster at FBOWebmaster@OD.NIH.GOV.
Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as infrastructure-building for drug discovery: it supports the creation and open distribution of rigorously curated protein-ligand structure and binding data so that docking and screening algorithms can be tested against trustworthy benchmarks. By improving the quality and availability of those benchmarks, NIH aims to accelerate computational method development, make virtual screening results more dependable, and ultimately improve decision-making in early drug discovery, side effect prediction, and drug repurposing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the Drug Docking and Screening Data Resource (U01) opportunity?
It is an NIH funding opportunity (RFA-GM-14-010) that supports the creation of a public data resource focused on high-quality experimental data for protein-drug (protein-ligand) complexes, including both structural information and quantitative binding affinity measurements.
What is the main purpose of this funding opportunity?
The central purpose is to expand the amount of publicly available, reliable experimental reference data needed to develop, validate, and benchmark computational docking and virtual screening methods. In other words, it aims to improve the real-world datasets that docking software is tested against.
What kinds of data are expected to be generated and shared?
The FOA emphasizes datasets that include (1) structures of protein-ligand complexes and (2) quantitative binding affinities. These two elements together form the benchmark materials used to evaluate whether computational methods predict binding poses and binding strength correctly.
Why is NIH focusing on protein-ligand structures and binding affinities specifically?
Because those are the core reference materials for benchmarking docking and screening tools. Predictive computational models depend heavily on the quality and reliability of the experimental data used for training and evaluation, and the FOA identifies limited high-quality open data as a bottleneck in computational drug discovery.
How does this opportunity help computational docking and virtual screening?
By increasing both the volume and quality of open experimental benchmarks, the FOA is intended to make it easier to test docking methods under realistic conditions, compare tools fairly, and improve them faster. Better benchmarking data supports more accurate and robust in silico screening workflows.
What downstream impacts does the FOA highlight beyond finding new lead compounds?
The FOA notes broader value such as improved prediction of off-target binding (which can help anticipate side effects earlier) and support for drug repurposing by revealing unexpected but therapeutically useful target interactions for existing compounds.
What is the funding mechanism used for this opportunity?
This FOA uses the U01 cooperative agreement mechanism, which means NIH expects substantial programmatic involvement from the agency compared with a standard research project grant.
What does "substantial programmatic involvement" mean in this context?
Based on the FOA description, NIH will be more actively involved in the funded effort than under a typical grant. The mechanism is explicitly described as a cooperative agreement rather than a standard research project award.
Which agency is sponsoring this funding opportunity?
The sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The announcement was hosted through the NIH Grants Guide.
What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?
The CFDA number listed is 93.859, described as Biomedical Research and Research Training.
What is the activity category for this opportunity?
The activity category is health.
How many awards did NIH anticipate making?
NIH anticipated making a single award under this announcement.
How much funding was expected to be available?
The FOA describes an estimated total funding amount of about $750,000.
What was the award ceiling?
The award ceiling listed is $500,000.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No. The FOA states that no cost sharing or matching was required.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based entities and includes state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, special districts, and certain public housing authorities), public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including those with and without 501(c)(3) status), and for-profit organizations (including small businesses and other for-profits).
Does the eligibility language explicitly include specific institution types (for example, minority-serving institutions)?
Yes. The FOA explicitly includes a range of institution types commonly referenced in federal eligibility language, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian-Serving institutions, among others. It also mentions faith-based and community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies.
Are foreign institutions eligible to apply?
No. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply under this opportunity.
Can a U.S. organization apply if it has non-U.S. components?
Non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. However, the FOA states that foreign components (as defined in NIH policy) are allowed, which can matter when international collaborations or resources are involved while the applicant organization remains eligible and U.S.-based.
When was this funding opportunity posted and when did it close?
The FOA was posted on June 19, 2013. It had an original closing date of October 9, 2013, which was later extended to November 1, 2013. The archive date is listed as December 1, 2013.
Where was the full announcement hosted?
The full announcement was hosted through the NIH Grants Guide.
Who should be contacted for technical issues accessing the FOA?
For technical issues accessing the FOA, the contact listed is the NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster at FBOWebmaster@OD.NIH.GOV.
In plain terms, what kind of project does this FOA support?
It supports infrastructure-building for drug discovery: creating and openly distributing rigorously curated experimental protein-ligand structure and binding datasets so computational docking and screening algorithms can be tested against trustworthy benchmarks.
How does this FOA relate to improving drug development timelines and costs?
The FOA’s rationale is that better benchmark data enables more dependable docking and screening tools. If virtual screening results are more accurate and trusted, teams can iterate computational methods faster and make earlier-stage decisions with more confidence, which can reduce time and cost in drug development.
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