NOT-NS-23-092: Notice of Special Interest: Administrative Supplements for the U.S.-Japan Brain Research Cooperative Program (BRCP)

Notice of Special Interest: Administrative Supplements for the U.S.-Japan Brain Research Cooperative Program (BRCP) - U.S. Entity (Admin Supp)

Notice Number:

NOT-NS-23-092

Key Dates

Release Date:

July 12, 2023

First Available Due Date:

September 18, 2023

Expiration Date:

September 19, 2025

Related Announcements

October 9, 2020 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional). See NOFO PA-20-272,

Issued by

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Purpose

Purpose

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces the continuation of the U.S. entity of the U.S.-Japan Brain Research Cooperative Program (BRCP). This administrative supplement program will provide funds to currently active research grants that are currently supported by one of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers. This Notice is soliciting administrative supplements for the following mechanisms ONLY: DP1, DP2, DP5, R00, R01, R03, R21, R33, R34, R35, R37, R61, RM1, U01, UH2, and UH3.

The purpose of the BRCP is to promote scientist exchange, training, and collaborations in basic, translational and clinical research between neuroscientists from the U.S. and Japan.

The U.S. entity of the BRCP supports the following activities:

1) Visit of U.S. scientists to conduct collaborative research and/or to acquire advanced research skills at institutions in Japan.

2) Joint workshops to exchange scientific information and to foster collaborations.

Background

An agreement on “Cooperation in Research and Development in Science and Technology” was signed by the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Japan on May 1, 1980, and has subsequently been renewed and extended. Under the umbrella of this Agreement, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki National Research Institutes, Japan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a Brain Research Cooperative Program (BRCP) on November 29, 2000.

Since the inception of the U.S. BRCP in 2002, the NIH has successfully supported U.S. neuroscientists’ collaborative activities at institutions in Japan, and joint workshops in the neurosciences. For additional details on NIH supported activities, please see: U.S. component: U.S.-Japan BRCP . The Japan entity of the BRCP has been active since 2001. Details of the program are available at http://www.nips.ac.jp/jusnou/eng/

Within the funding guidelines of the BRCP program, each country supports its own scientists who participate in the aforementioned activities.

BRCP Activities Supported by the NIH

A. Collaborative Research Fund

The Collaborative Research Fund provides support for the travel and lodging expenses of the U.S. scientist’s visit to Japan. The visit to the institution in Japan may be performed by the PD/PI, collaborators, postdoctoral fellows or students who work on the collaborative project. Support from the Collaborative Research Fund can be used for one or multiple trips.

The duration of the supplement is one year. The supplement may be carried over into the next fiscal year, with prior approval from NIH Program staff.

B. Workshop Fund

The U.S. Workshop Fund provides partial support for joint workshops.

The U.S. and Japan funding agencies of the BRCP will provide parallel support for joint-workshops. Each entity will support the travel and lodging expenses of the joint-workshop participants from their own country. If the joint workshop will be held in the U.S., the U.S. entity of the BRCP will support the logistical meeting expenses. If the joint workshop will be held in Japan, the Japan entity will support the logistical meeting expenses.

The proposed workshop should have at least one co-organizer from the U.S. and one from Japan. Co-organizers are encouraged to work together to develop the workshop applications. The U.S. co-organizer must have an active grant from a participating NIH Institute or Center. Workshop applications from U.S. co-organizers should be submitted in response to this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) . Similarly, co-organizers from Japan should submit their application to the NIPS. See: http://www.nips.ac.jp/jusnou/eng/.

Applicants are encouraged to use the Workshop Fund to compensate the travel and lodging of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences in the U.S. and facilitate their participation in the planning and implementation of, as well as participation in, the proposed workshop. The support of U.S. junior investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students is also encouraged.

Research interests of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) supports basic, translational and clinical research across the spectrum of neurological, neuromuscular, neuroinfectious and neurovascular diseases and disorders in all ages.

Awardees of projects funded by the NIH BRAIN Initiative (braininitiative.nih.gov/) are encouraged to submit supplement requests for collaborative efforts that are within scope of this and NIH’s goals for the BRAIN Initiative, as defined by the strategic planning report, BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision. Investigators are encouraged to contact potential collaborators participating in related efforts led by Japan such as the Brain/MINDS project (http://brainminds.jp/en/). Collaborations that promote interdisciplinary approaches to research questions within the NINDS mission are also strongly encouraged.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) supports a wide range of basic, clinical, and translational research on communication disorders including those affecting hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language.

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)The mission of NIBIB is to improve human health by leading the development and accelerating the application of biomedical technologies. The NIBIB encourages submission of applications that support the development of bioengineering and biomedical imaging technologies.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) supports basic, clinical, and applied research on the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of drug abuse and addiction.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) supports basic mechanistic and human based studies on the interplay of environmental neurotoxicant exposure in neuronal dysfunction across the life span. This includes the influence of prenatal exposure on both childhood and adult dysfunction/disease as well as adult exposures on the aging brain.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) supports research to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic, translational, clinical, and services research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure. NIMH encourages innovative thinking to ensure that a full array of novel scientific perspectives are used to further discovery in the evolving science of brain, behavior, and experience. NIMH is now focusing on an experimental medicine approach to evaluating novel interventions for mental illnesses. This strategy is designed to increase the value of the public investment in early clinical trials by ensuring informed, data-driven decisions at an early stage for behavioral, device, and pharmacologic studies.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) supports rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and integrative health approaches, and their roles in improving health and health care. This includes collaborations involving studying the neurobiological mechanisms of natural products (such as herbs, prebiotics, probiotics, and dietary supplements) and mind and body interventions (such as acupuncture, meditation, manual therapy, yoga, Tai Chi, hypnosis, music or art therapy, etc) and their effects on pain, sleep, stress, anxiety, emotional well-being, and/or behavioral changes.

Award Project Period

To be eligible, the parent award must be active in the current fiscal year (i.e., the parent award received funds in the current fiscal year and is not in an extension period), and the research proposed in the supplement should be requested for one year and should be accomplished within the currently approved project period for the existing parent award. The awarding Institute may consider a no-cost extension of up to an additional year at the conclusion of the first year.

Award Budget

Application budgets for Collaborative Research Funds are limited to $25,000 direct cost. Up to $2,500 may be used for research supplies. Funds from the BRCP may not be used as salary support to the PD/PI, collaborators, postdoctoral fellows, students or collaborators. Travel costs associated with Collaborative Research Fund requests should not exceed the U.S. Government Foreign Per Diem Rates for Japan. See: https://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem_action.asp?MenuHide=1&CountryCode=1128

Application budgets for Workshop Funds are limited to $35,000 direct cost. The support of travel and lodging expenses should not exceed the U.S. Government Per Diem Rates ( https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates ; or http://aoprals.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=184&menu_id=81/ ). No honorarium is allowed. It is recommended that investigators secure additional funding support from other sources, if needed.

This announcement is for supplements to existing NIH awards from the participating Institutes and Centers. The research proposed by the NIH recipient in the supplement application must be within the original scope of the NIH-supported grant award. Similarly, the scope of the proposed collaborative research activities and workshops should be well aligned with the aims of the parent award.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator)

Individual(s) must hold an active grant award from one of the participating NIH Institutes or Centers. For supplements to parent awards that include multiple PDs/PIs, the supplement may be requested by any or all of the PDs/PIs (in accordance with the existing leadership plan) and must be submitted by the awardee institution of the parent award.

New and early stage investigators are encouraged to apply, as well as established neuroscientists. Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. See: NOT-OD-20-031

Collaborative Research Fund

Submitted applications for collaborative research must include:

Description of the goals of the collaboration/training and how it will enhance the research of the NIH-supported parent grant
Details of the supplement's specific aims, research design, methods and data analysis
Background and significance of the proposed research/training and its relevance to the goals of the BRCP and the mission of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers
The unique opportunities offered by this collaboration/training. The reciprocal (U.S. and Japan) entity of the project should be clearly delineated
Description of the qualifications of the Japan host and the research facilities and resources of the host institution
Submitted applications for collaboration/training must include a letter of invitation and biosketch from the Japan host(s)

Workshop Fund

Submitted applications for joint workshops must include:

Description of the importance of the proposed workshop to investigators in the field and the larger neuroscience community
Relevance of the workshop to the goals of the BRCP and the mission of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers
Background and anticipated outcomes
Description of the meeting content, including topics, sessions, and a tentative agenda
Plans to foster potential collaborations between U.S. and Japan participants
Justification for the proposed workshops' location and duration
Composition and role of the organizing committee and the name and credentials of key participants (i.e., presenters, moderators)
Plans to disseminate information generated from the proposed workshop to the larger scientific community Plans for the inclusion of junior investigators, women, racial/ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities

Review Process: Administrative supplement requests will undergo an administrative evaluation by NIH Program staff from the participating Institutes and Centers.

Reporting: Reporting requirements will be specified in the terms and conditions of award as applicable to the supplemental activities. In most non-competing continuation applications, the progress report and budget for the supplement must be included with, but clearly delineated from, the progress report and budget for the parent award. The progress report must include information about the activities supported by the supplement, even if support for future years is not requested.

Final Report

Within one month of the completion of all collaborative research/training efforts and workshops, U.S. BRCP supported investigators are required to submit a final report to the NIH, detailing the following information:

Project objectives
Significance
Results/findings including a list of publications, presentations, dissemination material or research grant applications resulting from the collaboration/training or workshop
Outcome of collaboration/training or workshop and how it benefits the NIH supported research plans for continued collaboration with the Japanese investigator(s)

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity or its subsequent reissued equivalent.

PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-20-272 must be followed, with the following additions:

Application Due Date(s) – September 18, 2023, September 18, 2024, September 18, 2025, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.
For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-IC-23-” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.
Requests may be for one year of support only.
The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
Only existing awardees from a participating Institute or Center are eligible to apply.

Administrative supplement applications to PA-20-272 must use the application form package with the Competition ID that contains “FORMS-F-ADMINSUPP”. In addition,

The process for Streamlined Submissions using the eRA Commons cannot be used for this initiative.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at the Institute supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this NOFO in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request.