NCATS Translational Science Education and Training Challenge | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Skip to main content Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Breadcrumb NCATS Translational Science Education and Training Challenge NCATS Translational Science Education and Training ChallengeBuilding a large, varied, and highly skilled translational science workforce Image Raise the profile of your education or training opportunity in translational science, and help disseminate effective approaches nationally. Closed on 04/30/25 11:59 PM EDT Total cash prizes: $50,000 Overview Background The field of translational science aims to transform the process of turning biomedical research discoveries into health solutions, to deliver more health solutions, to all people, more quickly. Translational science identifies longstanding challenges that slow or stop translational research progress and generates innovations that overcome these challenges. These include scientific and operational innovations that make our research faster, more efficient, and more impactful. A key feature of translational science innovations is that they are designed to advance research across diseases and conditions, as well as research initiatives and projects. A few recent examples of initiatives led, partnered in, or supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) highlight the impact of translational science to advance research across the translational research continuum: The SMART institutional review board (IRB) platform streamlines single or central IRB approval for multisite trials, enabling rapid start‐up for multi-site clinical trials research. The National Clinical Cohort Collaborative (N3C) was initially created to answer critical research questions about COVID‐19 disease and treatment. NCATS is now re-envisioning this data platform to enable research on additional health conditions. The Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Program and 3-D Tissue Bioprinting Program create preclinical models for drug discovery and development research that more accurately predict the effectiveness and safety of potential new medicines compared to conventional models. The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) partnership model involves Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs) as active partners with scientists to advance rare disease research. Continuing to develop and expand transformative research initiatives like these requires education and training opportunities that equip the translational science workforce with specialized knowledge and skills for identifying and overcoming translational challenges and advancing translational progress. These example initiatives also highlight the importance of training the many varied contributors to the translational enterprise, including scientists across the translational continuum; science leaders, administrators, and managers; and patient advocacy groups and community organizations that are critical research partners. Nationally, trailblazers in translational science education and training are leading the way, with novel training and education opportunities that convey knowledge and skills for translational science to varied participants. These opportunities are being offered through a variety of settings, including academic institutions, private industry, professional societies, patient advocacy groups, and community-based organizations. In addition, they are employing a range of teaching approaches that effectively deliver core content to varied participants and enhance accessibility to reach broad audiences. A number of these education and training opportunities have been described in the scientific literature or shared at conferences and on websites that serve as clearinghouses for the translational science community. Yet many more exist that have not been disseminated broadly, that may serve as excellent models for colleagues and that have the potential to be expanded or adapted to reach broader audiences. The Challenge This Challenge from the NCATS Education Branch will identify, amplify and disseminate exemplary models of translational science education and training from across the nation to a broad national audience. Participants will have already designed and implemented exemplary translational science education and training opportunities. These may take any form, including but not restricted to courses, workshops, seminar series, consulting, coaching, certificate programs, and badging programs. The competition will award five prizes in the amount of $10,000 each. Prize winners will be announced broadly via a robust communications and outreach campaign using all communications channels typically employed by NCATS. As part of this effort, a detailed description of each winner’s education or training opportunity will be shared on the NCATS website, to facilitate dissemination and implementation. The competition will raise collective knowledge of translational science education and training -- including key educational content, effective teaching approaches, and the breadth of audiences that can be engaged in translational science education and training. It will also raise awareness of the value of translational science education and training to advance the translational enterprise. Overall, the prize winners’ work will showcase innovative approaches to translational science education and training that help to develop a highly skilled, large, and diverse translational science workforce. Successful submissions will: Provide an Overview of the Translational Science Education or Training Opportunity. This overview should describe the education or training goals, educational content being conveyed, the education or training approaches and modalities being used, and the participants being reached. Describe the Translational Science Focus of the Education or Training Opportunity. Submissions should describe how the education or training opportunity aligns with NCATS’ understanding of translational science. This description should address the knowledge and skills the opportunity conveys to participants to enable them to identify commonly found challenges in translation, and to generate innovations in their domains of expertise to address these challenges, with applications across diseases and conditions. This educational content may be aligned with the NCATS Translational Science Principles, or other approaches that improve or accelerate translational progress. Describe how the Education or Training Opportunity is Designed to Serve key Learners. Submissions should describe how the opportunity leverages education and training approaches (e.g., case study-based teaching, tabletop exercises, problem solving labs, team-based learning, flipped classroom) and modalities (e.g., courses, workshops, coaching, advising) that are tailored to effectively deliver educational content to the target audience(s). If the opportunity engages learners who are not typically served by translational science education or training opportunities, the submission should describe the importance of serving this audience, and their role the translational enterprise. Demonstrate the Potential for Broader Dissemination and Uptake of the Education or Training Opportunity. Submissions should document effective implementation of the opportunity, including, for example, years since launch and number and characteristics of participants to date. When information is available, they may include evidence of outcomes or impacts to date. In addition, they should include evidence that the opportunity has the potential to be disseminated effectively to reach broader audiences. This might include evidence of resources to effectively disseminate the opportunity, past steps toward dissemination, or evidence of interest or need in the scientific community. Prize monies may be used to support any in-progress or planned dissemination efforts. Entries will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning September 30, 2024. There will be a judging season annually, with judging occurring in June 2025 and in June of subsequent years, if needed, until all five prizes have been allocated, up until the close of the Challenge. The Challenge will be open for a maximum of three years, beginning on September 30, 2024. But NCATS reserves the right to close the Challenge early if five worthy prize winners are identified in a shorter period of time. Statutory Authority to Conduct the Challenge The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is conducting this Challenge under the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Reauthorization Act of 2010, as amended [15 U.S.C. § 3719]. The mission of NCATS is to turn research observations into health solutions through translational science. Its statutory authority highlights the purpose of the Center to advance translational science, including by (1) coordinating and developing resources that leverage basic research in support of translational science; and (2) developing partnerships and working cooperatively to foster synergy in ways that do not create duplication, redundancy, and competition with industry activities. The Center’s strategic plan highlights five goals: (1) Apply Approaches to Foster the Identification of, Development of, and Access to More Treatments, (2) Enable All People to Contribute to and Benefit From Translational Science, (3) Accelerate Translation by Addressing Both Scientific and Operational Challenges, (4) Broadly Utilize Research and Operations That Cut Across Translational Science Efforts, and (5) Work Together as Stewards for Advancing Translational Science to Promote Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, and Social Responsibility. Building a large, diverse, and highly skilled translational science workforce is essential to achieving each of these goals, and to advancing toward the NCATS vision of more treatments, for all people, more quickly. This Challenge will identify, amplify and disseminate exemplary models of translational science education and training from across the nation to a broad national audience, with the aims of enhancing the quality of translational science education and training opportunities and expanding access to these opportunities. This, in turn, will help to equip more members of the translational science community with the skills and knowledge needed to help advance translational progress. Timeline 09/30/24 09:01 AM EDT: YEAR 1 Open for Submissions – Challenge Launch 04/30/25 11:59 PM EDT: Submission period for year 1 closes 06/01/25 09:00 AM EDT: Judging season for year 1 begins 09/15/25 09:00 AM EDT: Year 1 winners announced Prizes Total cash prizes $50,000 Prize description Amount of the Prize: This Challenge will offer a total of $50,000 in cash prizes, comprising five prizes of $10,000 each. Award Approving Official: The Award Approving Official will be Dr. Joni Rutter, Director, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Payment of the Prize: Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by electronic funds transfer and may be subject to federal income taxes. HHS/NIH will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable. Entities participating in this Challenge are encouraged, but not required, to request and obtain a free Unique Entity ID (UEI), if they have not already done so, via SAM.gov as this will expedite prize payment. Additional information can be found at https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration. If participating as an Individual, in the event of winning a cash prize, the Individual shall be paid the prize in full. If participating as a Team, in the event of winning a cash prize, the Team Leader shall be paid the prize in full and is solely responsible for allocating any prize amount among the members of the Team. If participating as an Entity, in the event of winning a cash prize, the prize will be paid directly to the Entity, not the Entity Point of Contact. NIH will not arbitrate, intervene, advise on, or resolve any matters among team members. NIH/NCATS reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (a) cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge, or any part of it, for any reason, and/or (b) not award any prizes if no submissions are deemed worthy. Rules Eligibility requirements To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, a Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) — Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as published in this announcement; Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement; In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. However, non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents can participate as a member of a team that otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. Non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary prize (in whole or in part). Their participation as part of a winning team, if applicable, may be recognized when the results are announced.] Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment; Shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity; Who is employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge; Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, step-parent, child, or step-child). Shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission. Rules Participants (whether individuals, teams, or entities) may not use federal funds from a grant award or cooperative agreement to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions. Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) agrees to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the federal government and its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise. Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility, or agree to indemnify the federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities in order to participate in this Challenge. A Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) warrants that they are sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original with the Participant (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and improve), and that the submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the submission on the web or elsewhere, and a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice, or have practiced for or on its behalf, the solution throughout the world. Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein. Each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies. Each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein. As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to NIH within 10 business days of formal notification. Failure to return all required verification documents by the date specified in the notification may be a basis for disqualification of a cash prize winning submission. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as an individual, team, or entity) irrevocably grants to NIH the right to the use of their name, affiliation, city and state, and likeness or image for the purposes of publicity releases and any other promotion of this Challenge. Judging Basis Upon Which Winners Will be Selected Only materials in the submission package will be assessed by the judges. Resources at external URLs will not be assessed. Submission packages must include both the registration form and submission narrative, and may include an optional package of supporting documents. Submission packages that do not include both the registration form and submission narrative will not be judged. Submission packages will be assessed using the following five criteria. Each criterion will be rated on a five-point scale from “not at all” to “completely.” Ratings across criteria will be combined to produce a score for each submission. Completeness: Does the submission include all four required sections? To what extent does the submission describe the education or training goals, the educational content being conveyed, the education or training approaches and modalities being used, and the participants being reached? Translational Science Focus: To what extent does the opportunity align with NCATS’ understanding of translational science as the field that generates innovations that overcome longstanding challenges along the translational research pipeline? To what extent does the opportunity equip learners with knowledge and skills to identify commonly found challenges in translation, and generate innovations in their domains of expertise to address these challenges, with applications across diseases and conditions? Engaging Diverse Audiences of Learners: To what extent does the opportunity leverage education and training approaches and modalities that are tailored to effectively deliver educational content to the target audience(s)? To what extent does the submission explain the importance of these participants in the translational science enterprise? Potential for Broader Dissemination and Uptake: To what extend does the submission document effective implementation of the opportunity to date? To what extent does the opportunity have the potential to be disseminated effectively to reach broader audiences? Are there resources, interest, or need to suggest the opportunity has the potential for dissemination and uptake? Innovativeness: How innovative is this educational or training opportunity, in educational content, teaching approaches and modalities, and participants? To what extent do innovations in this opportunity deliver unique content, enhance uptake of educational content, or increase access to the opportunity for larger or more varied audiences? Evaluation and Judging All submissions that are responsive and meet the Eligibility Rules and Submission Requirements will be evaluated and scored by qualified expert employees of the federal government using the criteria and scoring rubric described above. The Judging Panel will select winners based on the individual and overall evaluation scores. The selected winners will be submitted to the Award Approving Official for a final decision. NIH will not make participants’ evaluation or judging results available to participants or the public. How to enter Participants may be individuals, teams, or entities. We invite submissions from the broad range of sectors and stakeholders engaged in the translational enterprise, including from academia, industry, not-for-profit, professional societies, patient advocacy groups, community organizations, and others involved in the translational ecosystem. Please see the eligibility rules for further information. Registration and Submission Process: Submission Requirements The submission package must include two parts: (1) registration form, and (2) submission narrative. Submission packages may also include an optional package of supporting documents. These are to comprise only letters of support or interest to demonstrate dissemination potential. The completed submission package must be submitted on the Challenge.gov submission portal by the following deadlines: YEAR 1: 04/30/2025 – 23.59 PM ET Please scroll down for instructions on how to provide your submission through the Challenge.gov portal. Registration Participants must register by downloading, completing, and then submitting the registration form specific to this Challenge. It is available at https://ncats.nih.gov/funding/challenges. Participants must include a PDF copy of the completed registration form as part of the submission package. Submission Narrative Participants must provide a PDF copy of their submission narrative as part of the submission package. Narratives must be no longer than 6 pages long, with one-inch margins. Brevity is valued. Font size must be no smaller than 11-point Calibri. All submissions must be in English. Participants must not use the HHS logo or official seal or logo of the NIH or NCATS in the submission, and must not claim federal government endorsement. Submission narratives must include the following four required sections: Overview of the translational science education or training opportunity. Description of the translational science focus of the education or training opportunity. Description of how the education or training opportunity is designed to serve key learners. Description and documentation of the potential for broader dissemination and uptake of the education or training opportunity. Further guidance on key content to include in each section of the narrative is provided in the overview tab and reflected in the judging criteria. Supporting Documents In addition to the PDF of the submission narrative (up to 6 pages), participants have the option to provide a PDF copy of supporting documents (up to 5 pages). These optional documents are to comprise only letters of support or interest, toward documenting dissemination potential of the education or training opportunity. How to Provide your Submission Package through the Challenge.gov Submission Portal To access the Challenge.gov submission portal, click on the orange "Apply for this Challenge" button above. You will be asked to create an account and log in. You will then be able to provide all parts of your submission package. Follow the directions below to enter your submission package: Title field: Enter the Title for your team's submission. Brief Description field (optional): Enter a brief description of your education or training opportunity. If you do not wish to include a description, enter "N/A." Description field: Enter "see uploaded files and external URL." To load a file for submission: Step 1: Drag your file or click the "Choose from folder" link to load a file from your computer (Allowed file types: .pdf, .txt, .csv, .jpg, .png or .tiff) Step 2: Rename your file (required) Step 3: Click the blue "Attach File" button to attach your file to the submission. Step 4: Complete steps 1-3 for any additional files. External URL field: This is optional for this Challenge. If the submission narrative describes an online education or training opportunity, please enter the associated URL here. To complete submission package and submit: 1) Check the box for Acknowledgement of Rules, Terms & Conditions to confirm you have read all content on the Rules tab for this Challenge. 2) Click the Review and Submit button at the bottom of the page. 3) Click the Submit button to enter. Resources NCATS OPCE Education Branch Challenge Announcement.pdf NCATS Challenge TS Education and Training Overview FAQ Q: Please clarify the intent of Challenge Rule 1, which states: "Participants (whether individuals, teams, or entities) may not use federal funds from a grant award or cooperative agreement to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in suppo A: The intent of Rule 1 is to prevent proactive use of federal funds to develop the challenge submission, including (1) the education or training opportunity, and (2) the challenge submission package. The rule does not apply to preexisting education or training opportunities that were developed with federal grant support. Grant-supported education or training opportunities developed before this challenge launched on September 30th, 2024 are eligible for submission. You cannot use active grant funding to create any materials for this challenge after that date. Q: I want to submit an education or training opportunity that was developed under a currently active Notice of Award. Is this allowed? A: Yes, this is allowed, as long as you do not proactively use federal funds to develop the challenge submission. See the prior question and answer for more details. Q: I was formerly supported on a federal grant, and during that time, I developed and implemented a training/education opportunity that I would like to enter into this challenge competition. I am no longer supported on the grant, and I have continued to de A: The intent of Rule 1 is to prevent proactive use of federal funds to develop the challenge submission. As such, the rule does not apply to previously grant-supported work. Therefore, you are eligible to submit the work to this challenge competition. Q: Can patient advocacy groups or community-based organizations enter this challenge competition? Or do you have to be affiliated with an academic institution? A: Yes, patient advocacy groups and community-based organizations are eligible to participate in this competition. Overall, the challenge mechanism was created to empower the federal government and the public to participate together in equitable forms of innovation through prize competitions. Eligible entities include but are not limited to academic institutions, community-based organizations, patient advocacy groups, professional societies, and private industry. Federal entitles or federal employees acting within the scope of their employment are not eligible to participate. Q: Should I register as an individual, team, or entity? A: More information about each of these registration categories can be found on the challenge registration form and in the “Rules” tab. Please consider which category best reflects the contributors to the training or education opportunity. In addition, we encourage you to think critically about your eligibility to directly receive a cash prize. To be eligible to win a cash prize, if you submit as an individual or team leader, you must be a US citizen or permanent resident. If you submit as an entity, the entity must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the US. Please also consider whether your employer places any restrictions on your participation or ability to receive a cash prize, as an individual/team. Finally, you must register as an entity, on behalf of the recipient organization, if you are submitting work developed under a currently active Notice of Award, and the award requires that you treat the cash prize as program income. Q: I am no longer affiliated with the entity where I developed the education or training opportunity. Am I eligible to enter a submission to recognize this opportunity? A: Please review the eligibility criteria in the challenge announcement on Challenge.gov, in the “Rules” tab. If you meet these requirements, you are eligible to enter a submission. You might wish to discuss your interest in the challenge competition with your former employer, and collaborate to select the registration category (individual, team or entity). In addition, we recommend that current and former employees carefully consider whether their current or former employer may have intellectual property or other claims to the content that is being submitted. In the event that a dispute regarding the identity of the individual, team, or entity who created the entry cannot be resolved to NIH’s satisfaction, the submission will be deemed ineligible. Q: Rule 7 states that NIH will have rights to the submitted work. Could you explain this in more detail? A: Individuals, groups of individuals, or entities who participate in this challenge allow NIH, or others on behalf of NIH, to use their submissions for governmental purposes, for example, non-commercial and educational purposes. Other intellectual property rights are retained by the participants. After winners are announced, we plan to post information about the winning submissions on the NCATS website. These will include summaries of the winning education and training opportunities. This information will be broadly disseminated. Q: Will there be only one prize granted per institution, or can multiple departments within our institution apply and participate? A: Entities (e.g. institutions, organizations, companies, etc.) may enter more than one submission; however, each submission must be substantially different and may not be a minor iteration of a prior submission. NCATS will determine whether any submissions from the same entity are substantially similar and will only consider the first submission for the challenge prize. Q: Can you please share examples of the kinds of work that would be competitive for this challenge competition? A: Please carefully review the submission guidelines and judging criteria. These will provide a clear understanding of the kinds of work that will be competitive for this challenge. This competition will be open for three one-year competition cycles, or until five winners are selected – whichever comes first. When year 1 winners are selected, their work will be widely disseminated through NCATS communications channels. This will offer examples for future submitters. Q: Do you have to be registered in an NIH grants system to participate in this challenge competition? A: No, you do not have to be registered in an NIH grants system to compete for a challenge prize. To participate in this challenge, you only need to complete the registration form and the submission narrative. More information is in the “How to Enter” tab. Q: Is registration required? A: Yes. All submitters, including those submitting as individuals, teams and entities, are required to complete the registration form. The form can be found through the “How to Enter” tab, and on the NCATS website at: https://ncats.nih.gov/funding/challenges Q: The challenge submission instructions note that submission packages may include an optional package of supporting documents comprised of letters of support or interest, to demonstrate dissemination potential. How may letters do you recommend be included A: We have no recommended number of supplemental letters. However, the supplemental materials (comprising letters, only) should not exceed five pages. Q: Do you allow letters of support from NIH staff, as part of the supplemental materials? A: We recommend that participants not submit letters of support from a federal employee or contractor, as it may be considered unfair consultation. This recommendation is based on Rule 5 in the challenge announcement, which states, “A Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the challenge on an equitable basis.” Please note the portion underlined here. Q: Is the review process for submissions similar to that of grants? A: No, the review process for this challenge competition is not a standard scientific review process or peer review process. For this competition, submissions will go through a two-stage process. First, they are screened for eligibility. Then, eligible submissions are reviewed by a judging panel of federal employees who are subject matter experts in Translational Science education and training. The judging criteria are posted in the “Judging” tab. Q: Do I need to submit a budget for this challenge? A: No. A budget is not required. Q: Are there any restrictions on how the prize funds can be used? A: If you are submitting an education or training opportunity that you developed under a currently active Notice of Award, please review the terms of the award for information on whether any challenge prize should be treated as program income, in accordance with the rules, terms, and conditions of the Award. This will determine how the cash prize should be handled. There are no other restrictions on how the prize funds are used. Q: How will I receive funds after winning? A: You will be contacted by program officials with instructions. If participating as an individual, in the event of winning a cash prize, the individual shall be paid the prize in full. If participating as a team, in the event of winning a cash prize, the team leader shall be paid the prize in full and is solely responsible for allocating any prize amount among the members of the team. If participating as an entity, in the event of winning a cash prize, the prize will be paid directly to the entity, not the entity Point of Contact. NIH will not arbitrate, intervene, advise on, or resolve any matters among team members. Cash prize awards will be paid directly to the bank account provided by the winning individual, team leader, or entity. Cash prizes will be paid by electronic funds transfer and may be subject to Federal income taxes. HHS/NIH will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable. Please note that NIH cannot provide advice or guidance regarding federal, state, or local tax implications for winning a cash prize. Entities participating in this challenge are highly encouraged, but not required, to request and obtain a free Unique Entity ID (UEI), if they have not already done so, via SAM.gov as this will expedite prize payment. Additional information can be found at https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration. Q: Can the prize be split between several team members or is there only one prize disbursement? A: If participating as a team, in the event of winning a cash prize, the team leader shall be paid the prize in full and is solely responsible for allocating any prize amount among the members of the team. Q: Can I participate in this challenge as a non-US citizen or non-permanent resident? A: Participants in the challenge may enter as an individual, team or entity. In the case of an individual, the individual shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. However, non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents can participate as a member of a team, or US-based entity, that otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. Non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary prize, in whole or in part. Their efforts as part of a team or entity are able to be recognized, but not monetarily. Eligibility requirements are described in detail at: https://www.challenge.gov/?challenge=ncats-translational-science-education-and-training-challenge&tab=rules. Q: If a team member becomes a permanent resident during the period of the competition, is s/he eligible for the prize money as an individual? A: No, all participants must meet the eligibility criteria at the time of submission in order to be considered for a cash prize. Q: Can a federal employee be part of a submitting team? A: The Challenge rules state that a participant “shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment” and “shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity.” In addition, the rules state that any interested submitter “who is employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS),” and who wishes to submit in their personal capacity, “should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge.” Q: Can team members change after registration? A: No, all team members must be included on the registration form. Contact For further information, please contact: NCATSEducationandTrainingChallenge@mail.nih.gov Winners This NCATS Challenge is now closed. Winners will be announced on the NCATS Challenges and Prize Competitions site. This page last reviewed on February 24, 2026 www.nih.gov An official website of the Department of Health and Human Services Looking for U.S. government information and services? Visit USA.gov