Your TL;DR: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Collaborative Program Grant for Interdisciplinary Teams supports three to six Program Directors or Principal Investigators pursuing one tightly integrated scientific objective. Independent projects do not become team science merely because investigators share a title page.
PAR-27-003 opened an RM1 pathway for research questions that require sustained interdisciplinary collaboration. Eligible U.S. organizations include higher-education institutions, nonprofits, small businesses, other for-profit research organizations, and specified government entities, subject to the full notice and participating-institute policies.
Interdependence Is the Fit Test
The mechanism supports one goal that cannot be separated into loosely related component projects. Each investigator should contribute expertise or capacity that materially changes what the team can accomplish together.
Teams can test fit by asking whether the science would still make sense if each investigator pursued an independent aim. A yes answer may indicate that another mechanism fits better.
Integration Must Appear in Operations
The 20-page Research Strategy includes the Program Description, Team Integration Plan, and Summary Table. A separate Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan is also required. Reviewers can compare the scientific claim of integration with the governance model.
Teams considering RM1 can use an early working session to test whether decision rights, communication, shared resources, conflict resolution, progress monitoring, and budgets are as interdependent as the science.
The First Deadline Is Too Close for Most New Teams
The first application date is November 17, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. local time. October 22 leaves fewer than 30 calendar days, below EBHC’s minimum acceptance threshold for a new proposal-development or writing engagement.
January 26, 2027, is more realistic for teams still building integration or selecting a participating institute. Teams should contact institute staff because participation and clinical-trial policies vary. Applicants may request up to $1.5 million in direct costs per year, but that ceiling is not a guaranteed total award.
To learn more, read NIH’s announcement of the new RM1 team-science opportunity.