BRAIN Initiative: Targeted BRAIN Circuits Projects- TargetedBCP (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA NS 21 013

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 21 013

The BRAIN Initiative: Targeted BRAIN Circuits Projects (TargetedBCP) funding opportunity (RFA-NS-21-013) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services discretionary grant program that uses the R01 mechanism and explicitly does not allow clinical trials. It is a reissue of RFA-NS-18-030 and is aimed at supporting ambitious but achievable neuroscience projects that can deliver a meaningful, well-defined outcome within a five-year project period. NIH expects to make about 20 awards under this announcement. While an explicit award ceiling is not listed (shown as 0), applicants should interpret that as not providing a single fixed cap in the synopsis and should rely on the full FOA and NIH R01 budget policies for practical budget expectations.

The scientific focus is on understanding how activity in neural circuits produces mental experience and behavior. The program is designed for projects that go beyond descriptive mapping and instead connect neural dynamics to function in a way that can explain, and ideally predict, behavior or internal states. Proposed work should be grounded in specific neural systems or domains of function, with examples including sensation, perception, attention, reasoning, intention, decision-making, emotion, navigation, communication, and homeostasis. In other words, the program is looking for targeted, circuit-level mechanistic studies tied to concrete behavioral or cognitive phenomena, rather than broad surveys or tool development without a direct circuit-function payoff.

A central expectation is methodological integration. Successful applications are expected to combine complementary approaches in a coherent design, such as coordinated experimental measurements and perturbations alongside theory-driven analysis. Projects should systematically control stimuli and/or behavior while actively recording and/or manipulating dynamic patterns of neural activity, emphasizing real-time or temporally resolved circuit dynamics rather than static snapshots. This points to study designs where the experimenter can precisely shape what the brain is processing or what the subject is doing, and then measure and intervene in the circuit to test causal hypotheses about how neural activity patterns generate specific computations or actions.

Another defining requirement is the tight linkage between theory, data analysis, and experimental design. Applicants are expected to use computational and analytical frameworks not as an afterthought but as a driver of what gets measured and manipulated. The opportunity specifically calls for predictive models as deliverables, meaning the project should culminate in models that can forecast neural or behavioral outcomes under new conditions, not just fit previously observed data. These models should emerge from an iterative loop where hypotheses and model predictions guide experiments, and experimental results refine the models, ultimately yielding testable, generalizable principles about circuit function.

The FOA allows studies in both non-human and human species. However, applicants must clearly justify the chosen species in terms of why it provides the best conditions for uncovering general principles about the circuit basis of a specific behavior. That justification should be more than convenience; it should explain how the species, behavioral repertoire, accessibility of the circuit, available measurement/perturbation methods, or ethical and practical constraints make it particularly well-suited to answer the core mechanistic question. The emphasis on general principles suggests reviewers will value proposals that can translate insights across contexts, even if the work is performed in a single species.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and local governments; 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; tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities as clarified in the full eligibility text. The administering agency is NIH, and the program is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.313, 93.853, 93.865, 93.867), reflecting participation across several NIH institutes and centers aligned with the BRAIN Initiative.

Overall, this opportunity is best suited for teams proposing focused circuit neuroscience projects that can causally link neural dynamics to defined behavioral or mental functions, integrate experiments with sophisticated analysis and theory, and produce predictive models within a five-year horizon. It prioritizes rigorous control of stimuli and behavior, active recording and manipulation of neural activity, and a clear plan for delivering interpretable, mechanistic outcomes that advance understanding of central nervous system circuits.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Targeted BRAIN Circuits Projects- TargetedBCP (R01 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, 93.313, 93.853, 93.865, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 05, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 10, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for RFA NS 21 013

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