RR2 Eligibility

Any organization based in what is now known as the United States or its occupied territories is eligible for funding. Submissions from teams that include both U.S. and international members are eligible, but the lead applicant organization must be based in the United States or its territories. Additionally, research must be relevant to US-based populations.

Funding is exclusively available to applicants whose federally funded racial or Indigenous health equity research has been interrupted due to federal funding shifts. 

Organizations based in the US or its occupied territories are eligible to apply. The research project must also focus on improving health equity for populations residing within the US. 

Project directors who are currently receiving less than 50% of their salary from an active RWJF grant are eligible to apply.

While people of all personal and professional backgrounds are eligible to apply, we will prioritize funding for early- to mid-career anticolonial or antiracist scholars. For the purposes of this call, early to mid-career researchers are considered to be anyone who received their most recent degree within the last 15 years (2010 or later).

We especially encourage Project Director(s) having backgrounds and life experiences that are underrepresented on research teams, including Indigenous, Black, Latino, and other persons of color to apply.

Read a related blog to learn more about our thinking around project directors. 

For the purposes of this funding opportunity, applicants are considered to be early-to-mid-career if they received their most recent degree within the last fifteen years (2010 or later). The most recent degree does not have to be the most advanced degree received. If the PD is not early-to-mid-career, applicants can provide a justification within the Project Information Question section of the application as to why that PD has been selected to lead the project.

Any team member from the original project may be designated as the Project Director (PD). You do not need to have been the original PD on the grant to apply for this funding; it is sufficient to have been a member of the original research team or subawardee. The PD does not need to hold an advanced degree nor are there other educational or professional stipulations. However, the PD is responsible for ensuring the expectations and deliverables of the award are met, and should have the appropriate expertise and qualifications to lead the research project. Two PDs may be listed in the funding application, but the team is not limited to these two individuals. For ease of administration, it is preferable, but not required, for the PD to be based at the lead applicant organization.

• Applicants who have not received funding from a federal funding source (e.g., have not received a notice of award), including those who have been notified that their application for federal funding will no longer be reviewed, are not eligible to apply.
  • Please note: If your federal funding was a multi-year award that required you to reapply competitively each year (i.e., funding was not guaranteed annually) and your funding has ended, you are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants who lost funding but have since regained access (i.e., teams whose funding has been reinstated are not eligible to apply).
• Project Directors receiving greater than 50% of their salary from an active RWJF grant are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants whose research focuses solely on populations outside the U.S. or its occupied territories are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants whose research does not focus on advancing racial or Indigenous health equity are not eligible to apply (over-representation of Indigenous Peoples or people of color in your research study is not sufficient).
• Applicants whose research is focused on pharmaceutical, biomedical, clinical, or basic science are not eligible to apply.

Yes, if you have had multiple federally funded projects interrupted, you may submit a brief proposal (BP) for each interrupted project. Applicants may submit multiple BPs or serve as a partner for another organization's BP. There are no rigid restrictions against multiple submissions from the same applicant. However, there is limited funding available and it is unlikely that multiple awards will be made to the same applicant.

Yes, more than one application from a single organization may be submitted. However, we are prioritizing a diverse portfolio of grants, including organizational diversity; so, the number of grants awarded to one organization may be a consideration when making final funding decisions.

No. Grants are restricted to one award per previously funded project. Therefore, we encourage teams to apply collaboratively rather than submitting multiple applications for the same project and work together to determine the most pressing needs to include in the application.

Not through this CFP. Research must be focused on U.S. settings, populations, and communities in alignment with RWJF’s mission to improve racial and Indigenous health equity in the US and its territories.

Yes, interested applicants may apply to other RWJF funding opportunities. Each funding program of RWJF has distinct objectives, funding guidelines, and criteria. To learn more about other funding programs and initiatives at RWJF, visit https://www.rwjf.org/en/grants/active-funding-opportunities.html.

Project directors currently receiving greater than 50% of their salary from an active RWJF grant are NOT eligible to apply. Former RWJF grantees and people currently receiving less than 50% of their salary from RWJF may apply.