National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

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Mission Statement

The NINDS Mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease for all people.

Interest Areas

General Topics

The NINDS supports research providing a deeper understanding of the workings of the brain and nervous system, driving improvements in the quality of life for all people with neurological disorders, and with the ultimate goal of preventing or curing neurological diseases and disorders. General topics of interest for research and training or career development support include:

  • Understanding the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and neuromuscular system
  • Understanding the basic mechanism of neurological diseases and disorders
  • Neurological biomarkers and outcome measures
  • Improving treatments
  • Preventing neurological disorders
  • Eliminating neurological health disparities
  • Training and workforce development 

NINDS also leads or partners with other NIH institutes, centers, offices, and other government agencies in several Congressionally supported initiatives, including:

  • Act for ALS
  • Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Program
  • Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative
  • Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative
  • Undiagnosed Disease Network (UDN)

NINDS is also one of the Institutes that funds research through the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience.

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 NINDS Assistance Listing Numbers

  • 93.853 - Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders

Highlighted Topics

Title Lead ICO Participating ICOs Posted Date Expiration Date

Funding Opportunities and Notices

Search for NINDS’s funding opportunities and notices

Additional Information by Funding Category

Administrative Supplements
In addition to our Administrative Supplements overview, consider the following NINDS-specific information.
Administrative Supplement Interest Areas:
  • NINDS highly recommends interested applicants reach out to their current program officer as listed on the Notice of Award for the most recent parent award to discuss whether a supplement request would be appropriate.
  • NINDS prioritizes funding supplement requests with at least one year remaining on the parent award and that include a strong justification for why it is not possible to re-budget within existing funds.
  • For mentored research and training supplements, NINDS prioritizes applications that justify the need, explain how it will advance the candidate’s development (including, as appropriate, submission of an individual application), demonstrate their intellectual contribution, and show strong mentor and institutional commitment.
Administrative Supplement Due Dates:
  • Supplements are considered on a rolling basis with requests received after July 1st considered in the next fiscal year.
  • Contact the program officer listed on the Notice of Award for the most recent parent award to discuss timing considerations.
Administrative Supplement Contact:
  • Contact the program officer listed on the Notice of Award for the most recent parent award.
Conferences and Meetings
In addition to our Conferences and Meetings overview, consider the following NINDS-specific information.
Conferences and Meetings Interest Areas:

NINDS supports high quality scientific conferences that are relevant to the NINDS mission and to public health.

Conferences and Meetings Budget Considerations:

NINDS typically supports awards in the range of $5,000 to $20,000 and is intended to provide partial support for the conference. Some appropriate uses of NINDS R13 funding include:
•    Supporting the dissemination of the proceedings
•    Web-casting or web-archiving
•    Supporting students or junior investigators to attend or participate

Conferences and Meetings Key Date Considerations:

•    It is critical that applicants follow the meeting date and submission timing guidelines in the table below as awards cannot be made after the meeting has concluded
•    If your organization is new to NIH funding, even more advance time may be needed for required registrations.

Standard Receipt DateMeeting Date
April 12January - March
August 12April - July
December 12August - December
Conferences and Meetings Project Period Considerations:

•    NINDS generally only accepts R13 applications for a single year of support.
•    In exceptional circumstances, NINDS may support multi-year applications that have a demonstrated history of yearly funding success and that meet NINDS mission objectives.
•    It is highly recommended to contact program staff in advance if you wish to apply for multiple years of support.
 

Conferences and Meetings Contacts:

Applicants are encouraged to use NIH Matchmaker to find an NINDS Program Officer, or

NINDS Referral Team
[email protected]

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

NINDS utilizes the SBIR and STTR programs to enable the commercial development of tools and technologies that serve the NINDS mission space. Priority is given to proposals with the greatest potential to advance the NINDS mission. NINDS is especially interested in:

1) Novel and innovative technologies being developed for their first indication or market opportunity
2) Companies that are new to SBIR/STTR funding

Phase IIB & Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP):
NINDS accepts Phase IIB SBIR projects
NINDS accepts Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) projects
Clinical Trials:
NINDS accepts clinical trials through the SBIR programs
NINDS accepts clinical trials through the STTR programs
NINDS accepts clinical trials through the Phase IIB SBIR program
NINDS accepts clinical trials through the Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP)
Small Business Contact:

NINDS Small Business Program

[email protected]   

See Also

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

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