Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 22 155

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 22 155

The Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional) funding opportunity (PAR-22-155) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) center grant designed to support ambitious, team-based research programs that tackle major unanswered questions in neuroscience and mental health. It is aimed at projects that are inherently multidisciplinary and genuinely difficult to pull off through more typical grant mechanisms, meaning the program expects a level of integration, coordination, and shared direction that goes well beyond a set of loosely connected projects. The emphasis is on high-risk, high-impact science that can substantially move the field forward rather than incremental extensions of existing work.

The scientific goals center on three broad, NIMH-prioritized directions. First, the program supports basic brain and behavior research that identifies and dissects underlying mechanisms, with the long-term intention that these mechanistic insights will provide a foundation for understanding mental disorders. Second, it encourages translational mental health research that integrates basic and clinical neuroscience, particularly as it relates to severe mental illnesses, with an expectation that discoveries at one level of analysis inform and shape the work at other levels. Third, it highlights developmental neuroscience and psychopathology, specifically research that advances understanding of neurobehavioral developmental mechanisms and the trajectories of risk and illness that begin in childhood and adolescence. Across all three areas, the program strongly favors integrative experimental strategies, novel approaches, and creative designs that can connect findings across scales (for example, molecular and cellular work linked to circuits, behavior, and clinically relevant phenotypes).

As a P50 center grant, the Conte Centers program is intended to fund a coordinated research “center” rather than a single standalone project. In practice, this typically means a group of investigators who bring complementary expertise, operate at different levels of analysis, and share an overarching conceptual framework, common resources, and a tightly aligned scientific agenda. The FOA explicitly states that the program is intended only for projects that could not be achieved using other, more standard grant mechanisms, which signals that reviewers will be looking for clear evidence of synergy: components that depend on one another, shared milestones, and a credible plan showing how the integrated structure accelerates discovery compared to separate independent projects.

The “clinical trial optional” designation indicates that proposing a clinical trial is not required to be responsive. Applicants may propose clinical trials if they are scientifically justified and fit within the overall center concept, but centers can also be entirely basic or preclinical, or they can combine basic and human research without an interventional trial. The key is that the overall program remains aligned with NIMH’s mission and the FOA’s emphasis on integration and impact.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and includes many categories of government, academic, nonprofit, and private-sector entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized governments; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions under those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other applicant types as allowed by NIH policy. The FOA also calls out additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible agencies of the federal government, tribal governments other than federally recognized ones, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign participation is restricted in a way that is common for NIH center mechanisms. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, foreign components are allowed as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S. applicant can include certain collaborations or performance sites abroad if they meet NIH’s definition and are adequately justified, but the primary applicant and the core center structure must remain U.S.-based.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, this is a discretionary grant program under the health funding category and is associated with CFDA number 93.242. The listed award ceiling is $2,000,000, which signals the scale of support NIMH is willing to consider for an individual award, although final budgets in NIH mechanisms are typically determined by scientific scope, program balance, and NIH policy constraints. The opportunity’s original closing date is June 9, 2025. The FOA was created on May 26, 2022, and is administered by NIH/NIMH.

Overall, the opportunity is best suited for research teams that can make a strong case for why a center structure is essential, how multiple disciplines and levels of analysis will be meaningfully integrated, and why the proposed work is positioned to deliver major advances in basic neuroscience, translational mental health research related to severe mental illness, and/or developmental mechanisms and trajectories of psychopathology starting in childhood and adolescence. The strongest applications are likely to be those that present a cohesive scientific vision, demonstrate true interdependence across projects and investigators, and show a credible plan for producing insights that would be difficult or impossible to achieve through standard single-project grants.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-05-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-06-09. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

Apply for PAR 22 155

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