Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 22 049
The BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS): Specialized Projects for Scalable Technologies funding opportunity (RFA-NS-22-049) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement (U01) that aims to accelerate the creation of comprehensive, brain-wide connectivity atlases, often described as wiring diagrams, across multiple spatial scales. The central idea is to push technologies and workflows that make it faster, cheaper, and more practical to map how neurons and brain regions are connected, with particular emphasis on human, non-human primate, and mouse brains. While those three receive priority attention, the announcement also allows work in other species when applicants provide a strong justification for why that model is needed to validate or generalize a method.
This FOA focuses on Specialized Projects that either significantly advance existing connectivity-mapping approaches or introduce entirely new, potentially high-risk but high-reward technologies. NIH is looking for teams that bring distinct technical capabilities, clear competencies, and a concrete plan to deliver scalable tools rather than incremental improvements. In practice, that can include innovations in experimental methods for tracing connections, tissue handling and labeling, imaging platforms, and computational approaches that convert raw measurements into interpretable connectivity maps. The emphasis on scalability means the technology should be suitable for generating comprehensive atlases, not just small proof-of-concept datasets, and it should be designed with throughput, cost, reliability, and standardization in mind.
A notable feature of the opportunity is that applicants can propose work spanning any part of the end-to-end pipeline involved in building connectivity atlases. That includes data collection (for example, labeling strategies, tracing techniques, imaging modalities, and automation), data analysis (image processing, reconstruction, segmentation, registration, quantitative inference of connectivity, quality control, and uncertainty estimation), and data dissemination (data standards, metadata practices, sharing infrastructure, and tools that allow the broader community to use and interpret the resulting maps). The goal is not only to generate datasets, but to make the overall ecosystem for producing and using wiring diagrams more efficient and broadly usable.
Another major expectation is networked collaboration. Awardees are not funded as isolated labs; instead, they become part of the BRAIN CONNECTS Network, which is described as a coordinated structure that will include other Specialized Projects funded under this same announcement as well as Comprehensive Centers supported under companion FOAs. The intention is that Specialized Projects contribute focused technology capabilities that integrate with larger, center-driven efforts to produce wiring diagrams spanning entire brains and multiple biological scales. Because the funding mechanism is a cooperative agreement, NIH typically maintains substantial involvement in coordinating milestones, data sharing expectations, and cross-project integration, with the network functioning as a collective program rather than a set of independent grants.
The opportunity is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the proposed research should not involve clinical trial activities as defined by NIH. The work is intended to be technology and atlas-development oriented, rather than testing clinical interventions or enrolling participants in a trial framework. Human-focused work may still be relevant in terms of human brain connectivity mapping, but proposals must stay within the non-clinical-trial boundaries of the FOA.
Eligibility is broad and includes many types of institutions and organizations. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in those nonprofit categories as specified); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and additional categories described as "others." The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. (foreign) entities. This breadth signals an intent to attract a wide range of technical teams, including those with specialized engineering, computation, imaging, and data-infrastructure strengths.
From an administrative standpoint, the sponsoring agency is NIH, the instrument type is a cooperative agreement (U01), and the opportunity falls under a broad activity category that includes health-related research and development (with multiple CFDA numbers listed: 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867). The opportunity record indicates an original closing date of 2024-06-13 and a creation date of 2022-02-22. The listed award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data, which often means applicants need to rely on the full FOA text or NIH guidance for budget expectations, typical project scope, and anticipated program scale.
Overall, this FOA is best understood as a technology-development and integration opportunity under the BRAIN Initiative, aimed at producing practical, standardized, and scalable methods that make whole-brain connectivity mapping feasible across species and across scales. Successful applications are likely to emphasize clear technical deliverables, robust validation plans, attention to throughput and cost, thoughtful data sharing and interoperability, and a realistic strategy for operating within a coordinated network where methods and outputs are designed to plug into broader atlas-building efforts.Apply for RFA NS 22 049
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS): Specialized Projects for Scalable Technologies (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2022-02-22.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.
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| BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS): Comprehensive Centers for Human and Non-Human Primate Brain (UM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA NS 22 047 Funding Number: RFA NS 22 047 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| BRAIN Initiative: Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (U01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required) Apply for RFA NS 22 041 Funding Number: RFA NS 22 041 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| BRAIN Initiative: Transformative Brain Non-invasive Imaging Technology Development (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA EB 22 001 Funding Number: RFA EB 22 001 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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