OARS funding Neuroscience

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is intended to stimulate model-driven research to understand the ways that people make decisions about engaging in behaviors that impact the risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV, or to adhere to treatments for HIV. Decision making processes may contribute to both substance use/abuse and other HIV acquisition or transmission risks. A better understanding of decision making processes in the context of brain neural networks and their associated functions would lead to the development of better strategies to reduce the frequency of HIV-risk behaviors. Therefore, this FOA encourages applications to study 1) cognitive, motivational or emotional mechanisms and/or 2) brain neuroendocrine and reinforcement systems that related to HIV-risk behaviors or treatment non-compliance. Interdisciplinary studies that incorporate approaches from psychology, economics, anthropology, sociology, decision sciences, neuroscience and computational modeling are encouraged. This FOA for R03 applications encourages small research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources. The R03 activity code supports different types of projects including pilot and feasibility studies; secondary analysis of existing data; small, self-contained research projects; development of research methodology; and development of new research technology. In no cases, should research involving animals be proposed.

We are pleased to announce that the new OARS website is up and running (although the new Research Compliance and Undergraduate Research sections are still in development).   If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, we hope you will soon.  Once you've visited, we'd be grateful if you'd give us five minutes of your time to let us know how we're doing by completing a brief eight-question survey at https://miamioh.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_erhRsEFwwWVP6m1 Finally, don't forget to update any bookmarks you may have to material on our old website!

The NIH encourages institutions that seek to engage undergraduate students in innovative mentored research training programs to submit applications for cooperative agreement awards through the NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative, one of three new Common Fund initiatives that together aim to enhance diversity in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences research workforce. Addressing a major leakage point in the research workforce pipeline, BUILD awards are intended to support the design and implementation of innovative programs, strategies and approaches to transform undergraduate research training and mentorship. BUILD awards will also support institutional and faculty development to further strengthen undergraduate research training environments.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) seeks Research Project Grant (R01) applications addressing exceptionally novel hypotheses and/or remarkably difficult problems in neuroscience and disorders of the nervous system. This announcement is for support of new rather than ongoing projects, and is not intended for pilot research. The proposed research may have a high risk of failure, but it must promise results with especially high impact should it be successful. The research should be groundbreaking, innovative, original and/or unconventional, with the potential to solve important problems or open new areas for investigation.

The Global Innovation Initiative is a joint effort of the United States and the United Kingdom to strengthen global multilateral collaboration through grants to university consortia focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related issues of global significance that foster cutting-edge multinational research and strengthen institutional international partnerships.

DARPA seeks new methods for analysis and decoding of neural signals in order to understand how neural stimulation could be applied to facilitate recovery of memory encoding following brain injury. Ultimately, it is desired to develop a prototype implantable neural device that enables recovery of memory in a human clinical population. Additionally, the program encompasses the development of quantitative models of complex, hierarchical memories and exploration of neurobiological and behavioral distinctions between memory function using the implantable device versus natural learning and training.

Recognizing disciplinary differences and priorities, NSF's investment in research and development in undergraduate STEM education encompasses a range of approaches. These approaches include: experiential learning, assessment/metrics of learning and practice, scholarships, foundational education research, professional development/institutional change, formal and informal learning environments, and undergraduate disciplinary research. Both individually and integrated in a range of combinations, these approaches can lead to outcomes including: developing the STEM and STEM-related workforce, advancing science, broadening participation in STEM, educating a STEM-literate populace, improving K-12 STEM education, encouraging life-long learning, and building capacity in higher education.

The Cognitive Neuroscience Program seeks highly innovative and interdisciplinary proposals aimed at advancing a rigorous understanding of how the human brain supports thought, perception, affect, action, social processes, and other aspects of cognition and behavior, including how such processes develop and change in the brain and through time.

Applicants must choose one of the following categories they feel their project best exemplifies: 1.) Outstanding Emerging Innovation: The winning nominee is a person or company working on the basic research phase of an innovation - for three years or less, pre-commercialization - that has received grant money or outside money and that demonstrates the potential for continued growth and success. 2.) Outstanding Bioscience Innovation: The winning nominee is a company that has achieved a significant milestone in the life sciences, including but not limited to drug therapeutics, medical devices, medical imaging and pharmacogenetics. 3.) Outstanding Information Technology Innovation: The winning nominee is a company that has achieved a significant milestone in information technology, including hardware and software, packaged applications, custom applications and digital media. 4.) Outstanding Marketing Innovation: The winning nominee is a company that has achieved a significant milestone in consumer marketing. 5.) Outstanding Advanced Engineering Innovation: The winning nominee is a company that has achieved a significant milestone in advanced engineering - where technology is used to design a product.

Individuals from anywhere in the world who have conducted highly distinguished research in the field of the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nervous system.

Computational neuroscience provides a theoretical foundation and a rich set of technical approaches for understanding complex neurobiological systems, building on the theory, methods, and findings of computer science, neuroscience, and numerous other disciplines.Through the CRCNS program, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR), and the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) support collaborative activities that will advance the understanding of nervous system structure and function, mechanisms underlying nervous system disorders, and computational strategies used by the nervous system. Two classes of proposals will be considered in response to this solicitation:Research Proposals describing collaborative research projects, andData Sharing Proposals to enable sharing of data and other resources.

DARPA seeks to develop a new understanding of complex, systems-based disorders of the brain. A major goal of this effort is to deliver a platform technology for precise therapy in humans living with neuropsychiatric and neurologic disease, including veterans and active duty soldiers suffering from mental health issues. Methods developed through this program will use neural recording and stimulation to close the loop on therapeutic treatment in individuals who receive minimal benefits from currently available treatments. This program could lead to improved knowledge of multiple neural subnetworks of the brain that are involved in disease and illness. This program combines novel device development, complex modeling of behaving human neural systems, clinical neurology, and animal research in order to advance the understanding and translation of safe, effective neurotechnological therapies.

This Notice is to inform the community that NIH has revised its approach to resuming operations after the government shutdown.

The Paul Janssen Fellowship is awarded to an outstanding young physician-investigator (must have M.D. or Ph.D. degree) to conduct novel translational research in the field of neuroscience as it relates to psychiatric disease and medicine. The Paul Janssen Fellow will be assigned both a basic scientist mentor and a clinical investigator mentor from the faculty at Columbia University to serve as joint mentors. The fellow will take a basic observation made by the basic science mentor and apply it to the study of disease or treatment with the clinical research mentor.

The goal of the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) Program is to accelerate the development and use of innovative approaches that would support the much needed transformation of healthcare from reactive and hospital-centered to preventive, proactive, evidence-based, person-centered and focused on well-being rather than disease. Approaches that partner technology-based solutions with biobehavioral health research are supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of this program is to develop next generation health care solutions and encourage existing and new research communities to focus on breakthrough ideas in a variety of areas of value to health, such as sensor technology, networking, information and machine learning technology, decision support systems, modeling of behavioral and cognitive processes, as well as system and process modeling.

NSF and selected foreign counterpart science and technology agencies sponsor international research institutes for U.S. graduate students in seven East Asia and Pacific locations at times set by the counterpart agencies between June and August each year. The Summer Institutes (EAPSI) operate similarly and the research visits to a particular location take place at the same time. Although applicants apply individually to participate in a Summer Institute, awardees become part of the cohort for each location. Applicants must propose a location, host scientist, and research project that is appropriate for the host site and duration of the international visit. An EAPSI award provides U.S. graduate students in science, engineering, and education: 1) first-hand research experiences in Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, or Taiwan; 2) an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and 3) an orientation to the society, culture, and language. It is expected that EAPSI awards will help students initiate professional relationships to enable future collaboration with foreign counterparts. The NSF award includes participation in the Pre-Departure Orientation, summer stipend of $5,000, and roundtrip airplane ticket to the host location. EAPSI partner agencies pay in-country living expenses during the Summer Institutes.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages Research Project Grant (R01) applications from institutions/organizations that propose to study the developing brain or brain areas that play significant roles in mediating emotional and motivated behavior and in substance use and dependence. All stages of brain development are of interest, but a new emphasis of the current reissue of this initiative is to support basic neuroscience research on fundamental mechanisms of brain development during prepuberty and the adolescent period in relation to the problems of substance abuse and co-morbidity with psychiatric disorders. Topics of interest pertaining to brain development of this initiative include, but are not limited to, the euphoric properties of abused substances, actions of psychotherapeutic agents, and their consequences on memory, cognitive and emotional processes. An additional major goal of this initiative is to understand how exposure to substances of abuse affects the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying nervous system development and neural circuit functions implicated in substance use and addiction.

The purpose of this FOA is to provide resources for integrated development of experimental, analytic and theoretical capabilities for large-scale analysis of neural systems and circuits. We seek applications for exploratory studies that use new and emerging methods for large scale recording and manipulation of neural circuits across multiple brain regions. Applications should propose to elucidate the contributions of dynamic circuit activity to a specific behavioral or neural system. Studies should incorporate rich information on cell-types, on circuit functionality and connectivity, and should be performed in conjunction with sophisticated analysis of ethologically relevant behaviors. Applications should propose teams of investigators that seek to cross boundaries of interdisciplinary collaboration by bridging fields and linking theory and data analysis to experimental design. Exploratory studies supported by this FOA are intended to develop experimental capabilities and theoretical frameworks in preparation for a future competition for large scale awards.

Understanding the dynamic activity of neural circuits is central to the NIH BRAIN Initiative. This FOA seeks applications for proof-of-concept testing and development of new technologies and novel approaches for large scale recording and manipulation of neural activity, to enable transformative understanding of dynamic signaling in the nervous system. In particular we seek exceptionally creative approaches to address major challenges associated with recording and manipulating neural activity, with cellular resolution, at multiple spatial and/or temporal scales, in any region and throughout the entire depth of the brain. It is expected that the proposed research may be high risk, but if successful could profoundly change the course of neuroscience research.

This funding opportunity announcement, in support of the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative aims to support planning activities and the initial stages of development of entirely new or next generation brain imaging technologies and methods that will lead to transformative advances in our understanding of the human brain.