BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24) | RFA NS 18 005

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 18 005

The BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24) funding opportunity (RFA-NS-18-005) is a National Institutes of Health cooperative agreement designed to move proven neuroscience resources into broader, routine research use. The central purpose is not to invent brand-new tools from scratch, but to make existing, high-value technologies, platforms, and related resources easier to access, easier to use correctly, and more widely adopted by the neuroscience community. Funded projects are expected to align tightly with the BRAIN Initiative scientific priorities laid out in the planning document "BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision," meaning applicants should clearly connect what they are disseminating or integrating to concrete needs and goals in that roadmap.

This FOA emphasizes practical, community-facing work that lowers barriers between an established resource and the researchers who could benefit from it. Responsive projects may focus on distributing tools and reagents, expanding or formalizing user training for new techniques, and providing researchers with access to existing technology platforms or specialized facilities that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. It also allows limited, targeted refinements that improve real-world usability, such as minor improvements that increase the scale, throughput, reliability, or efficiency of producing and delivering a resource, or minor adaptations that tailor a resource to the needs of a specific user community. The intent is to solve problems that prevent a valuable capability from being used widely, such as insufficient production capacity, lack of standardized training, limited access points, or missing support infrastructure.

At the same time, the FOA draws a clear boundary around what it will not support. Applications that are primarily about technology or software development, rather than dissemination and integration of an existing resource, are considered non-responsive. In other words, the program is not meant to be a typical early-stage R and D vehicle. However, the announcement explicitly notes that certain refinements are acceptable when they are necessary to customize microscopes or other tools to the experimental needs of end users. That carve-out is important: improvements are allowed when they are in service of deployment, adoption, and effective use, rather than being the main objective as stand-alone innovation.

Strong applications are expected to justify the need in practical terms and show that the proposed dissemination or integration effort addresses a compelling gap for neuroscientists pursuing BRAIN 2025 goals. The resource or capability should be something that is otherwise unavailable, difficult to obtain, too costly to implement, or impractical for most labs in its current form. Because this is a U24 cooperative agreement, applicants should also anticipate substantial programmatic involvement from NIH staff compared with a standard research grant, typically meaning closer coordination on milestones, sharing plans, community engagement, and resource stewardship expectations.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types across government, academia, nonprofits, and industry. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses; and other entities. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). The listing signals an intent to encourage wide participation and broad dissemination reach, including through institutions that serve diverse communities and through organizations positioned to run shared platforms or training programs.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include an NIH agency sponsor, an original closing date of February 9, 2018, and classification as a discretionary opportunity using the cooperative agreement funding instrument. The activity areas are tagged across education and health-related categories, reflecting that the core deliverable is research-enabling infrastructure and dissemination rather than discovery science alone. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided data, so applicants would typically look to the full FOA and NIH guidance for budgeting norms, allowable costs for resource distribution and access models, and expectations for sustainability, user support, and community uptake.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24)" 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 2017-09-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-02-09. (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.

Apply for RFA NS 18 005

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