The NIH announced a new program supported by funds provided under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("Recovery Act" or "ARRA"), Public Law 111-5. Applications are invited for short-term mentored career development (K18) awards in the basic behavioral and social sciences research (b-BSSR) from three months to one year in duration. The program targets established, mid-career and senior investigators, to support their development of research capability in b-BSSR. Two categories of candidates are targeted: (a) biomedical or clinical researchers with little experience in basic behavioral and social sciences research who seek training with a well established b-BSSR investigator in order to explore the introduction of b-BSSR into their research programs; and (b) investigators in the basic or applied behavioral and social sciences who wish to build new components or domains of basic-BSSR into their research programs.

The intent of this FOA is to provide candidates with protected time to achieve a shift in the focus of their research direction in the basic behavioral and social sciences, or to substantially enrich a current b-BSSR research program through the introduction of tools, theories or approaches from another discipline or area of science; it is not intended as a substitute for research project support. The application due date is Feb. 18, 2010. Read the complete funding opportunity announcement on the NIH Web site.