The JCOIN Rapid Innovation Grant (J-RIG) program is a rapid funding mechanism to support small research grants to study newly emerging policies, practices, or interventions that address prevention and treatment of addiction in criminal legal settings.
Applications should focus on substances associated with overdose and overdose mortality. Projects should have direct relevance to individuals who are involved in the criminal legal system but need not take place within criminal legal settings.
J-RIG is intended to facilitate short-term projects that are not compatible with traditional National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding mechanisms for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, time sensitivity or pilot data collection. During its initial five years, J-RIG funded 13 small grants for a total of $1.4M across 8 funding cycles.
We are happy to announce that the next Call for Proposals will be released on January 5, 2025. Across our next five years, we anticipate funding 12 small grants for a total of approximately $1.6M. For those who are familiar with J-RIG, there are a few changes to consider, including: (1) an increase in funded – a maximum of $135,000 in total costs for each project, (2) an offer of technical assistance for those who are not as familiar with grant writing or need help with research design, and (3) quarterly invoicing will be on a cost-reimbursable basis.
In future years, the J-RIG Call for Proposals will be released two (2) times per year, with funding expected in approximately six (6) months, barring any unforeseen barrier that may need to be addressed. These funding cycles are listed in the table below. Any date that falls on a weekend/holiday will move to the next business day.
| Announcement/RFP available | January 5 | June 1 |
| 2-page memo requesting TA assistance – if needed | February 9 | July 6 |
| Application closing date (11:59pm ET) | April 1 | August 31 |
| Funding decisions | June | November |
| Sub-award to awardee(s) anticipated | July | December |
Available Webinar Recordings:
A webinar about the J-RIG program was held on December 2, 2020. The webinar explained the J-RIG program and application process and included a Q/A session for participants.
Across 8 finding cycles, there were a total of 83 applications (including the 16 that were revised and resubmitted). We funded 13 for a total of nearly $1.4 million – an average of $108,000 for each project. NIDA also has provided a supplement to fund two 1-year projects to begin September 1, 2023. These two projects were submitted after NIDA asked if there were any recent projects that had not been funded, but were well received, and could be completed in 12 months.
Applications
Funded Projects
$
Total Funding (in millions)
$
Average Funding
Across 8 finding cycles, there were a total of 83 applications. We funded 13 studies for a total of nearly $1.4 million – an average of $108,000 for each project.
Across the 83 applications, most proposed studying more than one topic, including substance use disorder (SUD), opioid use disorder (OUD), medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), COVID, and the social determinants of health.
Subjects of the funded studies included incarcerated individuals (19%), post-incarcerated individuals (36%), and other justice-involved individuals (45%) as well as criminal justice professionals (45%) and others (13%).
The applicant pool can be described as primarily female (67%) and researchers (66%). While most were employed at universities (53%), they also came from non-governmental organizations (29%), hospitals (8%), and state agencies (1%) as well as collaborations among several entities (1%).
The pool was primarily White (69%) as well as Asian (7%), Black and Hispanic (5% each), American Indian (2%), and multi-racial (8%) individuals; 5% did not provide the information.