Request for Proposals

Issue Date: June 1, 2025
Letter of Intent (required): Due September 15, 2025
Full Proposals (by invitation based on LOI): Due December 1, 2025
Award Amounts: Up to $100,000 (direct costs)
Duration: 12 months
Anticipated Funding Start Date: May 1, 2026

COMING SOON

The complete Request for Applications for the 2026-27 funding year will be posted around June 1. Please check back then!

RFP No.: CAIRHE-04-2026
Issue Date:Early November 2025. Check back for more information.
Deadline:April 2026

Overview

The deadline for CAIRHE's 2025 Request for Proposals was April 1, 2025. Projects are in the process of being selected for funding during the 2025-26 project year (through August 31, 2026).

CAIRHE's 2026 RFP (to be issued in early November 2025) will award funding to selected pilot projects for one grant year (September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027) with the possibility of competitive renewal in the subsequent year, for up to a maximum of 2 years. 

CAIRHE requests annual proposals for Pilot Projects that address CAIRHE’s mission of promoting health in American Indian and rural communities in Montana. Faculty applicants may develop projects within a single discipline (e.g., social sciences), but CAIRHE also encourages collaborative projects between biomedical and social and behavioral health investigators. As in all CAIRHE-funded research, projects should have a high likelihood of leading to independent funding from external (non-MSU) sponsors, such as the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation. 

The Center may hold informational meetings in Fall 2025 to answer questions and provide information about CAIRHE and its mission. At any time, please also contact James Burroughs for more information at jburroughs@montana.edu or 406-994-4407.

About CAIRHE

Based at Montana State University, CAIRHE is an official state of Montana research center designated by the Montana University System Board of Regents. CAIRHE is supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA)—specifically, a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant—from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (grant number P30GM154593). For more information, see http://www.montana.edu/cairhe/about/. 

Eligibility

Principal investigator applicants must hold a faculty appointment at Montana State University.

One of the main objectives of the COBRE grant program is to enhance the ability of new investigators to compete independently for an NIH individual research grant or other major external peer-reviewed support. For this reason, projects funded by CAIRHE’s NIH grant usually involve new investigators, defined as either (1) an individual who does not have and has not previously had an external, peer-reviewed major research project grant or program project grant from either a federal or non-federal source that names that investigator as the PI; or (2) an established investigator who is making a significant change to her/his research career. Most faculty in category 1 are early-stage investigators. For NIH definitions, see http://grants.nih.gov/policy/new_investigators/index.htm#definition.

All applications should have a strong potential to lead to external (non-MSU) funding.

Faculty in the biomedical and social/behavioral sciences are encouraged to apply. (Please note that salary support for collaborative projects may be limited by overall budget limits.) 

Due to restrictions imposed by the NIH, faculty who are currently funded as an investigator by another IDeA program are not eligible for CAIRHE funding. This includes project leaders for Montana INBRE. Please contact CAIRHE if you have questions about this rule.

Application Types

For 2026-27, CAIRHE will accept applications for Pilot Research Projects.

Pilot Research Projects

Funded at approximately $30,000 to $40,000 in direct costs per year, pilot research projects are designed for faculty who do not currently have a CAIRHE grant and do not currently have significant preliminary data or fully established community partnerships. (However, having preliminary data and/or community partnerships in place at the time of the application would be considered an advantage.) We require that applicants consult with CAIRHE Director Alex Adams or Program Coordinator James Burroughs about community engagement plans before making new contacts. They will then arrange a consultation with the Montana IDeA Community Engagement Core at MSU. This rule is designed to ensure your success and safeguard preexisting MSU relationships in those communities.

New pilot research projects may be competitively renewed for a second and final year.

Proposal Requirements

Complete instructions for Pilot Research Project applications will be posted in early November 2025.