At a glance
This program funds scaled-up production and distribution of brain cell type-specific access reagents for neuroscience, with required partnership to Armamentarium design and validation projects. Applicants must be nonprofit, university, government, for-profit, small business, tribal, faith-based, or other listed organizations, but foreign organizations and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible; foreign components are allowed. The goal is to strengthen infrastructure at Resource-Limited Institutions and institutions in IDeA-eligible states, and applicants must include milestones, a timeline, and a website-based catalog for reagent dissemination. The NIH expects to fund 2 to 4 awards with about $2.4 million total cost per year, application budgets are not limited, the project period can be up to 5 years, and clinical trials are not allowed.
What it funds
Official description from grants.gov
This Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement (NOFO) from the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is intended to support establishment of facilities at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and Institutional Development Award (IDeA)-eligible institutions for scaled production and distribution of brain cell type-specific access and manipulation reagents. Reagents will be initially developed in pilot resource projects for brain cell type-specific access and manipulation across vertebrate species from the BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium project. Awardees under this NOFO will work with the other Armamentarium awardees to manufacture and distribute the resources for use throughout the neuroscience community. It is envisioned that the awardees will work both with the Armamentarium community as well as with the neuroscience research community to optimize the use of new reagents. The types of reagents to be produced and distributed could include but are not limited to viral vectors, nucleic acid constructs, and nanoparticles designed for selective access to and manipulation of brain cell types. Such reagents will enable neuroscientists to probe circuit function with high precision in experimental animals and ex vivo human tissue and cells. Facilities are needed to contribute to the production and distribution of BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium project reagents broadly to neuroscience users.
Who can apply
- City or township governments
- County governments
- For-profit organizations other than small businesses
- Independent school districts
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized)
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Others
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Public housing authorities / Indian housing authorities
- Small businesses
- Special district governments
- State governments