DoD Rare Cancers, Concept Award | HT942525RCRPCA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT942525RCRPCA

The DoD Rare Cancers, Concept Award (FY25 Rare Cancers Research Program, or RCRP) is a U.S. Department of Defense grant opportunity designed to fund bold, early-stage ideas in rare cancer research. Its main purpose is to encourage highly innovative and largely untested concepts that could be genuinely groundbreaking, even if the work is risky or unconventional. The program is explicitly aimed at studies that might open up entirely new directions in the rare cancers field, rather than incremental work that builds only modestly on what is already known. A strong application, in practical terms, is one that clearly explains what the new concept is, why it is truly novel for rare cancers, and how it could reshape thinking or create a new line of investigation if it works.

A defining feature of this award mechanism is that preliminary data are not required. That is an important signal about the type of science the program wants: exploratory, high-risk, high-reward research where the central idea may not yet have extensive supporting evidence. Applicants still need to make a compelling scientific case, but they are not expected to provide the kind of mature dataset often needed for more traditional research awards. The emphasis is on innovation and potential impact, so proposals should be written to make the logic of the concept clear, explain the key question being tested, and describe why this approach could produce a step-change in rare cancer research.

Another critical requirement is the strict blinded review policy. The solicitation states that applicants may not identify or reference the Principal Investigator, collaborators, or their institutions within key parts of the application, including the Project Narrative, Supporting Documentation, Impact Statement, Justification Statement, and the Statement of Work (SOW). This means the writing must be carefully anonymized and should avoid any language that could reveal identity or affiliation, such as naming a lab, clinic, university, center, or referencing prior work in a way that points directly to the applicant team. Violating this rule is not treated as a minor compliance issue; it will result in administrative rejection, meaning the application can be removed from consideration before peer review.

For FY25, the funding presentation includes an update: limits are expressed as total costs, meaning the cap (when specified) includes both direct and indirect costs combined. This matters for budgeting because it affects how much can be allocated to research activities versus institutional overhead, and it requires applicants to plan budgets with the full cost picture in mind rather than assuming indirect costs sit outside the ceiling.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity run by the Department of the Army through USAMRAA (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity). The opportunity number is HT942525RCRPCA, and it falls under the Science and Technology / Research and Development category, with CFDA number 12.420. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, which generally indicates that a wide range of applicant organizations may apply (subject to standard federal and program-specific rules). The original closing date provided is 2025-08-26, and the program anticipates making about 17 awards.

• The Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD Rare Cancers, Concept Award" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.420.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-05-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-08-26. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 17 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for HT942525RCRPCA

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: