National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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Mission Statement

The NIMH Mission is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.

Interest Areas

General Topics

NIMH supports biomedical, behavioral, and health services research, as well as research training and workforce development, on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, management, and prevention of mental illnesses across the lifespan.

Priority research areas include, but are not limited to:

  • Suicide prevention
  • Early intervention in psychosis
  • HIV research
  • Digital health technology
  • Genetics
  • Neural circuits
  • New or improved preventive, treatment, or services interventions
  • Comorbidities
  • Reducing mental health disparities

Additional interest areas:

  • Experimental therapeutics
  • Physiological and computational models
  • Data sharing and data science approaches
  • Multi-level analyses (genomic, molecular, cellular, circuits, behavior)
  • Novel biomarkers (e.g., genetic, proteomic, imaging) and behavioral indicators for diagnosing and/or detecting risk/vulnerability, onset, progress, and/or severity of mental disorders
  • Multiple disciplines (e.g., statistics, mathematics, physics, computer science, engineering) and/or community-engaged research approaches
  • The role of genetic variants, epigenetic mechanisms, and gene-environment interactions that influence vulnerability to mental disorders
  • Ways to increase access to evidence-based interventions, promote high quality care, improve clinical and recovery outcomes, and advance implementation science
  • New targets and tools for treatment development
  • Safety and efficacy of novel mechanism pharmacological agents and/or behavioral interventions
  • Learning health care
  • Predicting treatment response and side effects
  • Harnessing real-world data to continuously improve mental health outcomes and cost-effectiveness

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 NIMH Assistance Listing Numbers

  • 93.242 - Mental Health Research Grants

Highlighted Topics

Title Lead ICO Participating ICOs Posted Date Expiration Date

Funding Opportunities and Notices

Search for NIMH’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.

NIMH 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 NIMH-specific information.
Administrative Supplement Interest Areas:

NIMH may provide administrative supplements during the current budget period and, if necessary, in future years to address unforeseen costs within the scope of an approved grant. Awards are contingent on alignment with NIMH priorities, documented need, and availability of funds.

NIMH may consider supplements to support orderly termination or temporary continuation of research to prevent loss of critical resources or personnel hardship, including responding to rare events or time-sensitive opportunities. 

  • Supplements may not be used to cover costs associated with an investigator’s change of institution or promotion, nor to circumvent NIMH administrative cuts.

Investigators are encouraged to contact the grants management and program officials listed on the parent award to discuss unforeseen circumstances and potential funding options.

Administrative Supplement Due Dates:

NIMH accepts and reviews administrative supplement applications continuously until April 1 of each fiscal year (FY). Applications received after April 1 will not be considered for funding until the next FY. Earlier submission is encouraged.

Administrative Supplement Contact:

NIMH Grants Management

[email protected]  

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

To advance its mission, NIMH supports small businesses to develop technologies, including, but not limited to, the following: 

  • Neurotechnology development to enhance research on brain structure and function 
  • Central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery/development for treating mental disorders – novel drug screening assays, novel compounds and drug targets; Research & Development (R&D) ranging from compound synthesis up to early stage clinical trials 
  • Novel brain modulation methods/devices as potential therapeutics 
  • Biological markers for CNS dysregulation/function and mental illness - objective, measurable biological indicators of physiological or disease processes to further assess replicability, reproducibility, stability, etc. at the subject level 
  • Digital health technologies – as interventions or service delivery tools, to augment clinical care, and/or to enhance clinical research, and clinical trial design/implementation at the subject/patient level 
  • Technologies addressing basic, behavioral, and implementation science related to people living with HIV – including all areas listed above 
Phase IIB & Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP):
  • NIMH accepts Phase IIB SBIR projects
  • NIMH accepts Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) projects
Clinical Trials:
  • NIMH accepts clinical trials through the SBIR programs
  • NIMH accepts clinical trials through the STTR programs
  • NIMH accepts clinical trials through the Phase IIB SBIR program
  • NIMH accepts clinical trials through the Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP)
Small Business Contact:

NIMH Small Business Research Programs

[email protected]  

See Also

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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