High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) Program

High-Risk, High-Reward Research is a core NIH Common Fund program managed through the Office of Strategic Coordination in the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Coordination at the NIH Office of the Director. It supports unusually creative research with broad impact and is designed for ideas that are too early or too unconventional for standard peer review, with preliminary data not required. The program runs on an annual cycle, with funding opportunities generally released in spring and application due dates in fall. Four awards make up the portfolio: the Pioneer Award at $700,000 per year for five years, the New Innovator Award at $475,000 per year for five years, the Transformative Research Award with a flexible five-year budget, and the Early Independence Award at $250,000 per year for five years. Eligibility differs by mechanism, ranging from open career-stage access to requirements for early-stage investigators or very recent degree recipients. The program fits applicants who can defend a bold new direction and a credible route to broad scientific impact without leaning on preliminary data. Strong submissions are tightly matched to the award's career-stage rules and make the case that the work is genuinely transformative, not just incremental. The Common Fund's role is to back work that can change how multiple parts of NIH approach a problem, so clarity of idea matters as much as ambition.