NIH has re-issued three Requests for Applications (RFAs) for the BRAIN Initiative that address critical components of the BRAIN 2025 Report due to their focus on developing tools to analyze cells and circuits and technologies for large-scale recording and modulation.
NIH recently released three re-issued notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs) for fiscal year 2016 to support work in the BRAIN Initiative. The three NOFOs provide researchers another opportunity to submit projects that advance neuroscience via developing and validating tools to analyze cells and circuits and enhancing technologies for large-scale recording and modulation. Note that international organizations are welcome to submit applications to these NOFOs.
The first announcement, RFA MH-16-775, is a re-issue of MH-15-225 for the development and validation of novel tools to facilitate the detailed analysis of complex circuits and provide insights into cellular interactions that underlie brain functions. This RFA supports projects that include new genetic and non-genetic tools to deliver genes, proteins, and chemicals to targeted cell-types and/or circuits, particularly if tools can be employed across species/model organisms. The receipt date for this RFA is February 2, 2016.
The second two announcements, RFA NS-16-006 and RFA NS-16-007, are re-issues of NS-15-003 and NS-15-004, respectively.
NS-16-006 encourages potentially high-risk research on any new technologies and/or novel approaches to large-scale recording and modulation of neural activity that enable transformative understanding of the dynamic signaling in the nervous system. Projects should address challenges common to recording and modulation paradigms, such as interrogation at or near cellular resolution, ability to function at multiple spatial and/or temporal scales, and use throughout the entire brain.
NS-16-007 supports applications that optimize existing and emerging technologies for large-scale recording and modulation, intended for iterative refinement of approaches that have already demonstrated their transformative potential through initial proof-of-concept testing. Projects should focus on technologies that are appropriate for accelerated development of hardware/software, including scaling toward sustainable, broad dissemination and incorporation into regular neuroscience practice.
The receipt date for both RFAs is February 24, 2016.
Please visit our Active Funding Opportunities page for more details on these and other RFAs for the BRAIN Initiative. We anticipate that several other NOFOs will be issued in the near future.