By Chuck Sanders
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences first introduced the MIRA/R35 award a few years ago and some other agencies (the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, for example) have developed their own versions of this award.
R35 awards do have advantages; for example, NIGMS R35 awardees get five years of funding instead of the usual four, and NINDS R35 awardees can get up to eight years of funding. However, these programs have very well-defined eligibility requirements, as well as limits to the other funding an investigator can hold or apply for at the R35-awarding institute. Details of the rules and requirements can be found on the grants information pages of the relevant NIH institute.
Here, I just want to point out one rule that is easy to overlook but that may lead to gnashing of teeth: At least for both NIGMS and NINDS, the eligibility to apply for an R35 requires that you either have or very recently have had an R01-class award with that institute. However, investigators who had or have a multi-PI R01 grant (either as the lead PI or as a “multi-PI” participant) are NOT eligible to apply for an R35 unless they also have or have had a single-PI grant.
If there is any chance that you will eventually want to apply for a MIRA/R35 award from a particular institute, you should think twice about submitting an MPI grant to that institute, as this may limit your options several years down the road.