Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for the BRAIN Initiative: New Concepts and Early- Stage Research for Large-Scale Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (R21)
Notice Number:
NOT-EY-15-001
Key Dates
Release Date: December 12, 2014
Estimated Publication Date of Announcement: January 2015
First Estimated Application Due Date: April 2015
Earliest Estimated Award Date: September 2015
Earliest Estimated Start Date: September 2015
Related Announcements
None
Issued by
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Purpose
The NIH BRAIN initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) intends to promote a new initiative by publishing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for research on New Concepts and Early- Stage Research for Large-Scale Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System.
This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations for responsive projects.
The FOA is expected to be published in Winter of 2015 with an expected application due date in Spring 2015.
This FOA will utilize the R21 activity code for an award with a 1 or 2 year term. Details of the planned FOA are provided below.
Research Initiative Details
A central goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to understand how electrical and chemical signals code information in neural circuits and give rise to sensations, thoughts, emotions and actions. Available technologies for recording and manipulating neural circuit activity in human and animal experiments are not sufficient to accomplish this goal. Non-invasive technologies are low resolution and/or provide indirect measures such as blood flow, which are imprecise. Invasive technologies can provide information at the level of single neurons producing the fundamental biophysical signals, but they can only be applied to tens or hundreds of neurons, out of a total number in the human brain estimated at 85 billion.
Previous BRAIN FOAs sought to develop novel technology (RFA-NS-15-003) or to optimize existing technology ready for in-vivo proof-of-concept testing and collection of preliminary data (RFA-NS-15-004). This FOA seeks applications for technology at an even earlier stage of development. It seeks new and untested ideas that are in the very earliest stages.
The support provided might enable calculations, simulations, computational models, or other mathematical approaches for demonstrating that the signal sources and/or measurement technologies are theoretically capable of meeting the demands of large-scale recording or manipulation of circuit activity. The support might also be used for building and testing phantoms, prototypes, in-vitro or other bench-top models in order to validate underlying theoretical assumptions in preparation for future FOAs aimed at testing in animal models.
Invasive or non-invasive approaches are sought that will ultimately enable or reduce the current barriers to large-scale recording or manipulation of neural activity, and that would be compatible with experiments in humans or behaving animals. Applications are encouraged from any qualified individuals, including physicists, engineers, theoreticians, and scientists, especially those not typically involved with neuroscience research.
APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME.
Inquiries
Please direct all inquiries to:
Michael Steinmetz, PhD
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Telephone: 301-451-2020
Email (strongly preferred): brain-initiative-FY15-FOA@mail.nih.gov
