BRAIN Initiative: Exploratory Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (R61 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NIH will fund exploratory, early-stage human neuroscience projects using invasive intracranial recording and stimulation during surgery to generate preliminary data and feasibility for future research, for eligible U.S. applicants.
⚑ Clinical Trial Not Allowed · Foreign organizations and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible; foreign components are allowed · Applicants join an NIH-coordinated consortium working group and must contribute data for ancillary studies and standardization
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 80 strong | technical depth: substantial; funds basic research |
| IPPRA | 58 good | peripheral portfolio topic: public_health; social/behavioral work is substantial; funds basic research; biomedical core — IPPRA health lane is communication/crisis/policy (capped); clinical-trial/biomedical core — IPPRA angle is policy/community (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 15 none | deep-tech content; no commercialization signal |
Description
Invasive surgical procedures in humans offer the unique opportunity to intracranially record and stimulate neuronal activity within precisely localized brain structures, enabling high-impact human neuroscience investigations. This NOFO seeks exploratory research projects, from newly formed or established multi-disciplinary teams, to understand how dynamic activity of single cells and ensembles of neurons in spatially organized networks gives rise to the internal states we experience as sensations, perceptions, emotions, thoughts, and memories, and to observable motor and social behaviors. The research should be proposed as exploratory research and planning activities to establish feasibility and early-stage development that, if successful, would support, enable, and/or lay the groundwork for a potential, subsequent research project grant applications using invasive neural recording and stimulation technologies in the human brain. Projects should maximize opportunities to conduct innovative in vivo human neuroscience research made available by direct access to the brain from invasive surgical procedures. Projects should employ approaches guided by specified theoretical constructs and by quantitative, mechanistic models where appropriate. Recipients will join a consortium working group, coordinated by the NIH, to identify consensus standards of practice, including neuroethical considerations, to collect and provide data for ancillary studies, and to aggregate and standardize data for dissemination among the wider scientific community.
Eligibility
Refer to Section III. Eligibility Information in the NOFO for additional information on eligibility.Foreign Organizations/International Collaborations:Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are not eligible to apply.Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: National Institutes of Health <BRAINeROH@ninds.nih.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · National Institutes of Health conventions SEE AN NIH EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — National Institutes of Health's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.