National Eye Institute (NEI)

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Mission Statement

The NEI Mission is to eliminate vision loss and improve quality of life through vision research.

Interest Areas

General Topics

The NEI Strategic Plan identifies seven areas of emphasis: 

  • From Genes to Disease Mechanisms:  Identify ocular disease genes to develop new strategies, models, and tools for elucidating genetic and environmental interactions at the cellular and systems level; accelerate mechanistic understanding and therapy development.
  • Biology and Neuroscience of Vision:  Investigate corneal nerves, photoreceptors and phototransduction, retinal circuitry, the optic nerve and oculomotor system, and central visual processing. 
  • Immune System and Eye Health:  Investigate the “immune-privileged” structure that leads to many chronic eye diseases including uveitis, dry eye, age-related macular degeneration, and optic neuritis.
  • Regenerative Medicine:  Accelerate translation of new therapies that fix or replace damaged or diseased tissues previously thought to be irreparable.
  • Data Science:  Optimize data management and data sharing while preserving safeguards and ethical protections and maintain leadership in informatics and artificial intelligence.
  • Individual Quality of Life:  Address the needs and perspectives of individuals, including those living with blindness or low vision, to advance their independence and improve quality of life.
  • Public Health:  Facilitate basic and clinical advances to improve vision, preserve sight, and provide access for all. 

Assistance Listing

Assistance listings are detailed public descriptions of federal programs used across government agencies that provide grants, loans, scholarships, insurance, and other types of assistance awards. They are maintained in the System for Award Management (SAM) and can be used to search for opportunities in Grants.gov.

View NEI Assistance Listing Numbers

Highlighted Topics

Title Lead ICO Participating ICOs Posted Date Expiration Date

Funding Opportunities and Notices

Search for NEI’s funding opportunities and notices

ICO Funding Policies and Considerations

Visit NIH Fiscal Policies for NIH-wide information on appropriations and other budgetary information (salary limits, stipends, tuition/fees) and Funding Decisions to learn about NIH's consistent and unified approach for making funding decisions.

NEI Funding Policies and Considerations builds on that general information.

Additional Information by Funding Category

Administrative Supplements
In addition to our Administrative Supplements overview, consider the following NEI-specific information.
Administrative Supplement Interest Areas:
  • The award of an administrative supplement depends on several factors, including alignment with NEI’s priorities and documented needs.
  • NEI awards administrative supplements on a case-by-case basis.  
Administrative Supplement Due Dates:

NEI accepts and reviews applications on a continuous basis between October 1 and May 31 of each fiscal year.  Applications received after May 31 will be considered for funding in the next fiscal year. 

Administrative Supplement Contact:

NEI Extramural Research 

[email protected]

Conferences and Meetings
In addition to our Conferences and Meetings overview, consider the following NEI-specific information.
Conferences and Meetings Interest Areas:

NEI supports high-quality scientific conferences that align with its mission, including those that advance innovative research on the eye and visual system; expand knowledge of visual function in health and disease; promote the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of vision disorders; and improve rehabilitation and quality of life for individuals who are blind or have low vision. Applications that foster broad, cross-disciplinary collaboration will receive priority consideration.  Meaningful inclusion of new early-stage investigators—as co-organizers, speakers, and participants—is strongly encouraged.

Conferences and Meetings Budget Considerations:
  • There is no specific budget cap for meeting requests; however, all proposed budgets are carefully evaluated.
  • NEI generally does not provide salary support (percent effort) under R13 conference grant applications.
Conferences and Meetings Project Period Considerations:
  • Project periods may range from 1 to 5 years.
Conferences and Meetings Contacts:

NEI Extramural Research 
[email protected]

Individual Fellowship
In addition to our Individual Fellowships Overview, consider the following NEI-specific information.
Individual Fellowships Interest Areas:
  • NEI is committed to training the next generation of the biomedical workforce in vision health, optometry, and ophthalmology by providing support for individual fellowships. These fellowships are intended to provide mentored research training, research experiences in alignment with NEI’s mission in biology and diseases of the eye including individuals with backgrounds in neuroscience, data science, computer science, artificial intelligence, engineering, and epidemiology.
     
  • NEI participates in: 
    • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowships (including F30, F31, and F32 activity codes)
    • Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Awards (F99/K00) 
Individual Fellowships Key Date Considerations:
Individual Fellowships Project Period Considerations:
NEI may limit project periods for specific education activities, as follows:
  • NEI follows standard NIH guidelines on maximum award length. Prior training on an institutional training grant (e.g. T32) will be deducted from the maximum award length of the fellowship.
Individual Fellowships Budget Considerations:
In addition to current NRSA stipends, tuition/fees, and other budgetary levels, NEI may apply the following limits to applicable awards:
  • NEI follows standard NIH guidelines for stipend and other allowable expenses for individual fellowships.
Individual Fellowships Contacts:

NEI Extramural Research: 
[email protected]

Small Business
In addition to our Small Business overview, consider the following NEI-specific information.
Small Business Interest Areas:

NEI supports research including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Commercializable research and clinical innovations in ophthalmology and vision sciences
  • Commercializable therapeutics including drugs, biologics, devices, or combination therapeutics that prevent or reduce blindness or improve ocular health
  •  Market-ready technologies and diagnostic tools for predicting, identifying, or monitoring eye diseases and vision-related conditions
  • Commercializable devices and services that assist people with blindness or visual impairments to improve quality of life Commercial-grade devices and support services that help individuals with blindness or vision impairments to improve and enhance their daily living experience
  • Market-ready technologies that correct, enhance, or augment human vision
Phase IIB & Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP):
NEI accepts Phase IIB SBIR projects
NEI accepts Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) projects
Clinical Trials:
NEI accepts clinical trials through the SBIR programs
NEI accepts clinical trials through the STTR programs
NEI accepts clinical trials through the Phase IIB SBIR program
NEI accepts clinical trials through the Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP)
Small Business Contact:

NEI Extramural Research 

[email protected]

See Also

National Eye Institute (NEI)

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