Exploratory/Developmental Grant

**Semantic type:** Governmental or Regulatory Activity

**Definition:** The objective of this Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21) mechanism is to encourage applications for one-time grants to support: 1) innovative research directions requiring preliminary testing or development; 2) exploration of the use of approaches and concepts new to a particular substantive area; 3) research and development of new technologies, techniques or methods; or 4) initial research and development of a body of data upon which significant future research may be built, i.e., the data should have a high level of impact on the field.

**Synonyms:** - R21 Mechanism - R21 Program