Introduction to the SuRE Resource Center

The SuRE Resource Center provides activities to educate faculty and research administrative staff in the NIH funding process and to foster a national SuRE community. Research experts cover the writing and managing of grants while working closely with applicants as they progress toward their submissions. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) designed the SuRE program to help qualifying institutions on their path toward building and sustaining a research infrastructure. In partnership, the SuRE Resource Center provides free training, guidance, and expertise to help bridge the gap in taking those initial steps.

Stay up to date by joining the SuRE Resource Center's mailing list.

Apply for an NIH SuRE R16 Grant

SuRE R16 grants through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) support research capacity building at eligible institutions to increase funding success and enrich the campus research environment. Educating an underserved student population while obtaining limited NIH research funding qualifies an institution to apply for two investigator-initiated funding opportunities—SuRE and SuRE-First. Each SuRE R16 grant mechanism has two annual submission deadlines, with the due dates being the same. The next deadline for SuRE and SuRE-First applications is Wednesday, May 28, 2025. 

The NIH SuRE program provides research support to faculty investigators and helps qualifying institutions build research capacity to advance scientific discoveries and enrich the academic experience. These experiences motivate students from diverse backgrounds to pursue biomedical careers, adding their perspectives to our national scientific workforce. Since only a few faculty members take advantage of these programs, they have a 40%+ success rate!

Learn more here.

How Can the Office for Research Help you with an R16 Application?

Elements of R16 Grants

• Research Strategy: This six page document must include a Student Involvement Plan. This plan should include a method to recruit students, a strategy to train students in the conduct of research, and outcomes. This part of the application is typically a quarter to a half of a page in length. Sonia Martinez, Director of Undergraduate Research, has expertise in this area and faculty are encouraged to work with her.
• Two Required Institutional Letters of Support:
• Strategic Plan for Building Research Capacity and Research Excellence: This letter typically comes from the Vice President for Research (the Office of Research Development can help PIs to coordinate these letters). These letters are typically two pages in length and detail the research strengths of the university align with the project and the university resources that can be leveraged to advance this specific project.
• Support for the PI's Research Career Development: This letter typically comes from your dean or chair and should provide details on how the PI's project will advance their research trajectory.

R16 Success Stories: Dr. Emanuele Zappala

"Supported by the NIH R16 program, my research has expanded into new directions at the intersection of applied machine learning and brain imaging. This funding has enabled me to build a research group that bridges operator learning with innovative applications to fMRI, MRI, and related modalities, with the aim of developing self-supervised diagnostic tools for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The program has also fostered valuable collaborations among ISU students and international colleagues, providing hands-on experience in applied machine learning while advancing our understanding of brain dynamics. Constructive feedback from the review panel has further refined our approach, laying a strong foundation for ongoing research and future funded projects. This initiative marks a significant step in both my academic career and the development of new diagnostic technologies at ISU." - Dr. Emanuele Zappala, Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, 2025

Learn more about Dr. Zappala's research here.

Have questions about an NIH Application? Visit the SuRE Resource Center Office Hours!

Center Administrator, Melissa Nickell, will be available via Zoom each Friday, 3:00 – 4:00 PM Eastern, to chat and answer your questions. Click the link below to join at the designated time, or copy the URL to your calendar. 

Click here to join the Friday Q&A

Ongoing Training Available Through the SuRE. Resource Center

The SuRE Resource Center provides a variety of training opportunities for R16 grants, for mentoring students, for writing competitive NIH Grants, and so much more.

View All Webinar Training Here

View All Bootcamp Training Here

OSP Seed Grants

The OSP Seed Grant helps SuRE-qualified institutions with a desire to establish or strengthen their research infrastructure. These grants help institutions to support faculty, increase the number of R16 grants they submit and are awarded — and provide more opportunities for their students to participate in biomedical and behavioral research. 

These grants are very competitive, only five were awarded last year. And ISU's own Steve Wright, Director of Sponsored Programs and Support, was one of the PIs selected to receive funding. Steve's award increases training opportunities for staff at the Office of Sponsored Programs and helped to bring the SuRE Resource team to campus in March, 2025.

SuRE Site Visit

Brett Spear, program co-director, and Martha Peterson, regional coordinator with the University of Kentucky SuRE Resource Center, visited Idaho State University on March 31st and April 1st to deliver a comprehensive presentation on NIH SuRE R16 grants. The presentation highlighted how these grants support research capacity building, with the ultimate goal of increasing funding success and enriching the campus research environment. You can find the Zoom presentation here and a copy of the slides here.