December 19, 2023
- September 30, 2020 - Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS) NSF Innovative Approaches to Science and Engineering Research on Brain Function. See Notice NOT-MH-20-110.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
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 Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time):
- March 7, 2024; Deadline for FY 2024 competition
- November 13, 2024; Deadline for FY 2025 competition
- November 12, 2025; Deadline for FY 2026 competition
This Notice announces the reissue of a joint initiative, Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS), among six National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorates and Offices (DOs), ten participating National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutes and Centers (ICs), and Department of Energy (DOE). The CRCNS announcement is released under NSF 24-510. This announcement supersedes NSF 20-609. At NIH, CRCNS is affiliated with the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
Computational neuroscience provides a theoretical foundation and a rich set of technical approaches for understanding the principles and dynamics of the nervous system at all levels. Building on the theory, methods, and findings of computer science, neuroscience, biology, the mathematical and physical sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, engineering, and other fields, computational neuroscience embraces a wide range of innovative approaches to accelerate the understanding of nervous system structure and function, mechanisms underlying nervous system disorders, and computational strategies used by the nervous system.
Furthering these advances, collaboration plays a pivotal role. Collaborative research enables investigators with complementary experience and training, and deep understanding of multiple scholarly fields, to tackle otherwise intractable scientific and technical challenges. Close collaborations enable dynamic development and refinement of models, theories, and analytical or experimental methods, and in-depth interdisciplinary exchange and training. Sharing of data, models, software, and other resources facilitates collaboration at a larger scale, enabling integration and re-use of data and code, development and training of models, rigorous evaluation of models and methods, and alignment of efforts across research communities. International collaborations offer unique opportunities to further expand research perspectives and partnerships, and to develop a community of globally engaged scientists and engineers.
Through the CRCNS program, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Department of Energy (DOE); 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); the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF); Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT); and the Spanish State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación, AEI) support collaborative activities spanning a broad spectrum of computational neuroscience research, as appropriate to the missions and strategic objectives of each agency. The participating funding organizations have released parallel documents with further agency-specific information, referenced in Section VIII of the solicitation.
Two classes of proposals will be considered in response to the solicitation:
- Research Proposals describing collaborative research projects, and
- Data Sharing Proposals to enable sharing of data and other resources.
Domestic and international projects will be considered, including proposals seeking parallel international funding. As detailed in the solicitation, opportunities for parallel funding are available for bilateral US-German, US-French, US-Israeli, US-Japanese, and US-Spanish projects, and multilateral projects involving the United States and two or more CRCNS partner countries (see Section VIII of the solicitation for country-specific limitations). Collaborating PIs from outside the United States are referred to Section VIII of the solicitation for further instructions from the appropriate partner funding agency.
Questions concerning a particular project's focus, direction, and relevance to a participating funding organization should be addressed to the appropriate person in the list of agency contacts in Section VIII of the solicitation.
NSF will coordinate and manage the review of proposals jointly with participating domestic and foreign funding organizations, through a joint panel review process used by all participating funders. Additional information is provided in Section VI of the solicitation.
Applications submitted in response to the solicitation may not duplicate or be substantially similar to other applications concurrently under consideration by other programs or study sections across agencies, including those in response to NIH Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcements (NOFOs) or NIH BRAIN Initiative NOFOs. Duplicate or substantially similar applications will not be reviewed.
Award Information
It is anticipated that a minimum of $5 million will be available each year for this competition, with potentially $20 to $30 million annually, depending on the quality of proposals and availability of funds.
Award sizes for CRCNS projects (including all CRCNS-funded project components, inside and outside the United States) have typically ranged from approximately $100,000 to $250,000 (USD) per year, with durations of three to five years. Proposers contemplating projects with higher budget requirements (e.g., multilateral projects) are advised to consult in advance with the CRCNS Program Coordinator-NSF.
Additional agency-specific limitations, including maximum award budgets and durations, are described in Section VIII of the solicitation. All applicants are advised to review the additional limitations that apply to projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health and, if applicable, funding limitations specified by other national funding organizations from which parallel funding is requested. Proposals with budget requests exceeding applicable limits may be returned without review.
Estimated program budget, number of awards, and average award size and duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Upon conclusion of the review process, meritorious research and data sharing proposals may be recommended for funding by one or more of the participating funding organizations, at the option of the funders, not the proposer. Subsequent grant administration procedures will be in accordance with the individual policies of the awarding agency.
Further information about agency processes and agency-specific award information is provided in Section VI.B. and Section VIII of the solicitation.
Eligibility Information
Who May Submit Proposals:
The categories of proposers eligible to submit proposals to the National Science Foundation are identified in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Chapter I.E. Unaffiliated individuals are not eligible to submit proposals in response to the solicitation.
Who May Serve as PI:
There are no restrictions or limits.
Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:
There are no restrictions or limits.
Limit on Number of Proposals per Program Director (PD)/Principal Investigator (PI): 2
In response to the solicitation, an investigator may participate as PD/PI (either in a single PD/PI application or a multiple PDs/PIs application) in no more than two proposals per review cycle. In the event that a PD/PI does appear in this role on more than two proposals, all proposals that include that person as a PD/PI will be returned without review. This limit applies to all PDs/PIs, based inside or outside of the United States.
Additional Eligibility Info:
U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories are eligible to submit proposals in response to the solicitation. Other Federal Agencies and FFRDCs are referred to PAPPG Chapter I.E. for guidance.
Proposal Limit:
Proposals submitted in response to the solicitation may not duplicate or be substantially similar to other proposals concurrently under consideration by other programs or study sections of the participating agencies. Duplicate or substantially similar proposals will not be reviewed.
Budgetary Information
Cost Sharing Requirements:
Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.
Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations:
Not Applicable
Other Budgetary Limitations:
Other budgetary limitations apply. Please see the full text of the solicitation for further information.
NIH Process
For those proposals that are selected for potential funding by participating NIH Institutes or Centers, the PI will be required to resubmit the proposal in an NIH-approved format directly to the Center for Scientific Review (http://www.csr.nih.gov/) of the NIH. PIs invited to resubmit to NIH will receive further information on resubmission procedures from NIH.
An applicant will not be allowed to increase the proposed budget or change the scientific content of the application in the resubmission to the NIH. NIH budgets may not exceed $250,000 in direct costs, and the total direct costs requested for all years may not exceed the total requested on the NSF application. However, in some cases, NIH Institutes may request that the budget request be reallocated across the years of the grant to conform to NIH modular budget practices. Indirect costs on any foreign subawards/subcontracts will be limited to eight (8) percent. Applicants will be expected to utilize the Multiple Principal Investigator option at the NIH (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/multi_PI/) as appropriate.
Proposals that are selected for potential funding by participating NIH Institutes or Centers will be subject to the NIH Data Management and Sharing policy (NIH NOT-OD-21-013, effective January 25, 2023) intended to promote the sharing of scientific data. Following the resubmission instructions provided by NIH, applicants planning research that results in the generation of scientific data will need to submit a Data Management and Sharing Plan, as described at https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy. As outlined in the NIH Guide Notice Supplemental Policy Information: Allowable Costs for Data Management and Sharing (NIH NOT-OD-21-015), investigators may request funds toward data management and sharing in the budget and budget justification sections of their applications.
These NIH applications will be entered into the NIH IMPAC II system. The results of the review will be presented to the involved Institutes' or Centers' National Advisory Councils for the second level of review. Subsequent to the Council reviews, NIH Institutes and Centers will make their funding determinations and selected awards will be made. Subsequent grant administration procedures for NIH awardees, including those related to New and Early Stage Investigators (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/), will be in accordance with the policies of NIH. Applications selected for NIH funding will use the NIH R01 funding mechanism.
At the end of the project period, renewal applications for projects funded by the NIH are expected to be submitted directly to the NIH as Renewal Applications, rather than as proposals to the CRCNS program. Principal Investigators should contact their NIH Program Officer for additional information. For informational purposes, NIH Principal Investigators may wish to consult the NIH Grants and Funding web site (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/about_grants.htm), which provides excellent generic information about all aspects of NIH grantsmanship, including Renewal Applications.
Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged. Please see the NSF program announcement for names and contact information for each of the participating NSF DOs and/or NIH ICs at https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2024/nsf24510/nsf24510.htm .
and Human Services (HHS)
