Limited Competition: 4DN Organizational Hub (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA RM 20 007

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 20 007

The Limited Competition: 4DN Organizational Hub (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity (RFA-RM-20-007) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement designed to support Phase 2 of the NIH Common Fund 4D Nucleome (4DN) Network. This announcement is "limited competition," meaning it is specifically inviting an application from the currently funded 4DN Organizational Hub (4DN-OH) rather than opening competition broadly across new applicants. The purpose is continuity and structured transition into the program's next phase, keeping the same core coordinating entity in place to maintain momentum, consistent policies, and shared network operations.

The Organizational Hub's central role is administrative and coordinating rather than conducting clinical research, which is reflected in the mechanism and clinical trial restriction. The award uses a U01 cooperative agreement, which typically indicates that NIH will have substantial programmatic involvement in the project in partnership with the awardee. In practical terms, this means the Hub is expected to work closely with NIH staff to manage network-wide activities, help shape common practices, and ensure that the participating 4DN groups can collaborate efficiently. The FOA explicitly notes "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," signaling that the proposed work should not involve human clinical trial activities as defined by NIH; the Hub's mission is infrastructure, coordination, and facilitation across the research network rather than running interventional clinical studies.

Programmatically, the Hub is intended to serve as the backbone of the 4DN Network. Its responsibilities center on providing the administrative infrastructure needed to keep a multi-site, multi-project scientific network functioning as an integrated program. That generally includes coordinating common network activities, facilitating collaboration across participating teams, organizing communication and meetings, tracking progress toward network goals, and supporting shared practices that enable consistent data and resource sharing. The overall objective is to make it easier for the 4DN Network to operate as a unified effort, aligning timelines, deliverables, and community-facing outputs while reducing duplication of effort and operational friction among the participating components.

Eligibility is tightly constrained. The opportunity notes eligible applicants as public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, but the key practical limitation is that the FOA invites an application from the currently funded 4DN Organizational Hub, which effectively narrows eligible submission to the existing Hub awardee. In addition, foreign participation is explicitly restricted: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply; non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible; and foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. These restrictions are important for applicants to understand because they limit where the work can be performed and which institutions can be involved in the application as formal components.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity falls under the NIH category of discretionary funding and is classified in the health funding activity area, with CFDA number 93.310. The FOA was created on December 20, 2019, and had an original closing date of March 17, 2020. While the provided source data does not list an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, the limited-competition framing and the invitation to the current Hub strongly imply a very small number of awards, likely intended to support the continuation of a single coordinating Hub for Phase 2.

In short, this FOA is about sustaining and strengthening the operational center of the 4D Nucleome Network for its next phase. The emphasis is on network administration, coordination of shared activities, and facilitating collaboration under an NIH cooperative agreement structure, with strict limits on applicant eligibility and an explicit prohibition on clinical trials.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: 4DN Organizational Hub (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-12-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-03-17. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for RFA RM 20 007

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