BRAIN Initiative: Team-Research BRAIN Circuit Programs - TeamBCP (U19 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required) | RFA NS 22 039

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 22 039

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting applications for the BRAIN Initiative: Team-Research BRAIN Circuit Programs - TeamBCP, a U19 cooperative agreement opportunity (RFA-NS-22-039) that funds large, integrated team-science programs aimed at explaining how brain circuits generate behavior. The emphasis is on circuit function in the central nervous system, with studies that tightly link neural activity to measurable behavior or perception. This particular FOA also indicates that basic experimental studies with humans are required, signaling that applicants should include human research components as part of the overall program design.

The core purpose of the opportunity is to support interdisciplinary research teams that either build on prior BRAIN technology and/or integrated-approaches efforts or bring in new teams from the broader research community, as long as they can apply advanced and innovative tools to major questions about circuit function. NIH is looking for programs that can deliver meaningful outcomes on a 5-plus-year horizon, with awards made for a 5-year project period and the possibility of one competing renewal. The intent is not a collection of loosely related projects, but a coordinated program where the different components are scientifically and operationally integrated, producing outcomes that would be difficult to achieve through single-investigator or non-coordinated grants.

Scientifically, applications are expected to tackle overarching principles of circuit function within clearly defined neural systems and behavioral domains. The FOA explicitly names areas such as sensation, perception, emotion, motivation, cognition, decision-making, motor control, communication, and homeostasis. Successful proposals are expected to go beyond descriptive mapping and instead use experiments that systematically control stimuli and/or behavior while actively recording and/or manipulating dynamic patterns of neural activity. In other words, the program should be able to make causal or strongly testable inferences about how circuit activity produces behavioral outputs, rather than merely correlating signals with tasks.

A central requirement is a theory- or model-driven approach. Applicants are expected to articulate specific theoretical constructs that guide experimental design and analysis, and they are encouraged to use quantitative, mechanistic models where appropriate. Importantly, predictive models are identified as deliverables, meaning the team should plan to produce models that can generate testable predictions, generalize beyond a single dataset, and meaningfully shape subsequent experimentation. This puts a premium on programs that unify experimental neuroscience with rigorous computational and statistical frameworks, and that can demonstrate iterative loops between modeling and data collection.

The FOA also places substantial weight on data and method management as a shared, community-building activity. Awardees will be required to manage their data and analysis methods within a prototype framework that will be developed and used during the U19 project. This framework is not meant to remain siloed within a single team; it must be exchanged with other U19 awardees for refinement and further development. Practically, this signals expectations around robust data stewardship, reproducible analysis pipelines, documentation, and interoperability, with the added responsibility of collaborating across awardee groups to improve shared tools and standards over time.

In terms of experimental systems, the FOA allows a wide range of model systems, including potentially multiple species spanning invertebrates through humans, as long as the choice is well justified. This flexibility is intended to let teams combine the strengths of different organisms and approaches, for example pairing mechanistic circuit interrogation in animal models with human studies that test generalization and relevance to human behavior and perception. Because the FOA requires basic experimental studies with humans, applicants should plan for a credible and well-integrated human research component, aligned with the program’s circuit-level hypotheses and modeling aims.

The TeamBCP structure anticipates multi-component, highly interdisciplinary teams, and budgets are expected to match that scope. NIH explicitly notes that appropriate expertise may include neurobiologists alongside statisticians, physicists, mathematicians, engineers, computer scientists, and data scientists, reflecting the expectation that these programs will cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. The cooperative agreement mechanism also indicates a more substantial level of NIH involvement than in a standard grant, typically consistent with complex, coordinated programs where ongoing interaction with NIH program staff and initiative-level priorities is part of how the work is executed.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and includes, among others, state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses, as well as certain tribal entities and organizations. The FOA highlights inclusion of institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and U.S. territories or possessions. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible; however, foreign components as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may include certain well-justified international elements under NIH rules.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed under multiple CFDA numbers (93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867), with an original closing date of May 6, 2024, and an expectation of about five awards. The award ceiling is not specified in the provided listing, which typically means applicants must rely on the FOA text and NIH guidance to shape a budget that is justified by the scope, number of components, and infrastructure needs of a multi-project U19 program. Overall, this FOA is aimed at ambitious, coordinated circuit neuroscience programs that combine sophisticated experimental control and intervention, theory-driven design, predictive modeling deliverables, and strong commitments to shared data/analysis frameworks that can be iteratively improved across the cohort of funded teams.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Team-Research BRAIN Circuit Programs - TeamBCP (U19 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)" 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 2022-05-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-06. (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 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), 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 22 039

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: