Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) Program (R16)

The SuRE program supports research capacity building at institutions of higher education that: 1) award undergraduate (B.S. or B.A.) and/or graduate degrees in biomedical sciences; and 2) at the time of the application, have received no more than $6 million dollars per year (total costs) from NIH Research Project Grants (RPGs) in each of the preceding two fiscal years, calculated using NIH RePORTER; and 3) enroll at least 25% of undergraduate students supported by Pell grants based on the most recent two years of data available from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) database maintained by the National Center for Education Statistics, or are an accredited medical/health professional school with a historical mission statement that explicitly states that it was founded to educate students from nationally underrepresented​ backgrounds. It seeks to develop and sustain research excellence of faculty investigators and provide students with research opportunities while catalyzing institutional research culture and enriching the research environment.

The SuRE program will support investigator-initiated research in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences (collectively termed "biomedical" sciences) that falls in the mission areas of NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices. Research activities funded by the SuRE program require participation by students. Two SuRE R16 Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO​s, PAR-21-169 and PAR-21-173) have been published to support investigator-initiated research projects. A SuRE Resource Center (PAR-21-227) will enable broader participation in the SuRE program nationally, thus maximizing the program’s impact in developing and sustaining research excellence at eligible institutions.

The SuRE Program has replaced the SCORE Program and was designed to address recommendations of the NAGMS Council.