Pilot Grant Program
Fall 2026
The DAPR Center aims to generate large, harmonized rehabilitation datasets that will enable artificial intelligence and machine learning methods for precision rehabilitation and improve the rigor of medical rehabilitation research.
To that end, the DAPR Pilot Research Program aims to support high-impact research projects that advance the use of data science to aggregate and harmonize rehabilitation data in the following areas:
• Data management, sharing, or harmonization efforts of existing rehabilitation datasets into an existing data standard (e.g., NINDS CDE, OMOP, etc.).
• Development, evaluation, and application of novel precision rehabilitation algorithms and federated learning methods (e.g., distributed across nodes).
Program Details
Request for Proposals release August 24, 2026
Letter of Intent due September 25, 2026; 5:00 PM (PT)
Full Proposal due October 16, 2026; 5:00 PM (PT)
Awardee Notifications anticipated by November 1, 2026
Important Dates
Early-stage investigators (ESI) and established investigators entering a new research area are eligible for funding to support their career development and mentorship. The PI must have a full-time appointment at an NIH-eligible organization (typically a faculty member or senior research scientist). Additionally, the PI must hold a research doctorate (e.g., PhD) or relevant clinical degree (e.g., MD, OTD, PTD) with evidence of research training and experience at the time of submitting the application, and at least 25% of the appointment must be devoted to research activities.
Applications are welcome from investigators across a broad range of fields, including biomechanics, computer science, robotics, neuroscience, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medicine, and other related fields.
This program is open to applicants from US institutions (physically located in the US), regardless of the PI’s citizenship. The project must remain in the US.
Eligibility
Key Information
Funding can be requested for direct costs of up to $31,000 with a non-negotiable indirect cost rate capped at 8%, for a maximum total request of $33,480.
Awardees will also receive consultative support from the DAPR’s Resource Core to assist with harmonization efforts, generate new DAPR data terms, and more.
Pilot projects must be completed within 12-months.
Awardees are required to submit progress reports.
