NIDDK Information Network Coordinating Unit: dkNET-CU (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Background
The NIDDK Information Network (dkNET) was originally conceived in 2011 in response to community needs as biomedical research entered the Big Data era. The initial focus was on facilitating sharing of research resources within the NIDDK research community. The program was renewed in 2017 and expanded to include tools for promoting rigor and reproducibility in research, adherence to FAIR guiding principles, and a prototype platform facilitating data-driven hypothesis generation.

The community needs in finding, accessing, sharing, and reusing biomedical datasets, analytical tools, and other resources remain critical, along with needs in leveraging the emerging opportunities from data science. A significant fraction of data and resources of interest to the NIDDK community remain outside public databases or repositories, and information about them is difficult to find. Needs in handling many NIDDK-specific data types are often not adequately addressed by NIH-wide data science programs.

Grant Details
The dkNET Coordinating Unit (dkNET-CU) will be responsible for providing the scientific direction, vision, and administrative management needed to advance dkNET goals. It will be expected to deliver services that address the NIDDK community needs in data science, assist a broad user base, and enhance the diversity of the NIDDK supported workforce.

The goal of this initiative is to continue the dkNET program with objectives including further developing and enhancing the dkNET platform by cataloging curated research resources relevant to the NIDDK research community; employing advanced data science technologies; developing strategies for open science and cloud-computing; providing user-friendly interactive feedback; promoting rigor and reproducibility in NIDDK funded research; cataloging high-value biomedical datasets generated by NIDDK; developing strategies for enhancing the diversity of the bioinformatics workforce; partnering with other NIDDK-funded programs; and forming collaborations with programs aimed at building a diverse workforce in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolic diseases research.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include higher education institutions, nonprofits, for-profit organizations, state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, Indian/Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), U.S. territory or possession entities, independent school districts, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply.

Period of Performance
The period of performance is a maximum of five years starting from March 31, 2023.

Grant Value
$2M is intended to be committed in FY 2024 to fund one award. Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.