NIEHS Investigator-Initiated Research Grants

ONES Award — Outstanding New Environmental Scientist R01

Funds early-career environmental health researchers with named support, resources, and career development.

The Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) Award is an NIEHS-specific variant of the standard R01 Research Project Grant, designed exclusively for Early-Stage Investigators in the environmental health sciences. The award simultaneously funds the investigator's research project and provides career-enhancement activities intended to accelerate the transition to independent scientific leadership. Direct costs are typically capped at $250,000 per year, with awards of up to $400,000 per year available to applicants who provide strong scientific justification for the higher budget. In addition to the research budget, ONES recipients receive an additional $250,000 in career-enhancement funds distributed over the five-year project period, giving a total career-development pool of $250,000 beyond the R01 research budget.

Eligibility is strictly limited to Early-Stage Investigators — researchers who have not previously received a substantial NIH research grant as principal investigator. Applicants must be affiliated with a U.S. university, nonprofit research organization, or public institution; for-profit companies are not eligible. The scientific scope mirrors that of standard NIEHS R01 awards: environmental exposures and their effects on human health, including chemical exposures, occupational hazards, children's environmental health, PFAS, and related areas. Applications are submitted through the same standard NIH R01 application form, following standard omnibus cycle dates.

The ONES Award carries a five-year project period, which is longer than the standard four-year duration common for new R01s, reflecting NIEHS's intent to support the full arc of an early-career laboratory. Review panels evaluate both the scientific merit of the proposed research and the investigator's potential for long-term independence. Applicants are advised to contact NIEHS program staff before submission to confirm ESI status and scientific fit. The full funding opportunity announcement is available at grants.nih.gov under the NIEHS ONES listing.