New Approaches for Measuring Brain Changes Across Longer Timespans (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)
Applications close May 7, 2027
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- Agency
- National Institutes of Health
- Opportunity number
- PAR-25-272
- Posted
- Nov 25, 2024
- Closes
- May 7, 2027
- Cost sharing required
- false
About this opportunity
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to encourage multidisciplinary investigators to submit applications developing exploratory, highly novel new approaches, or innovative applications of existing approaches to measure brain activity, connectivity, genomics, or other aspects across the age spectrum of neurodevelopment. The overarching goal is to extend our understanding of brain development and aging, including studies of the neurodevelopmental origins of later health and disease, by improving repeated measures across longer epochs of the lifespan to better predict outcomes at later ages. . Research can include healthy human participants of any age, specific clinical groups such those with cognitive, motor, or affective regulation challenges, and/or animal research on these domains of function. The studies can focus on longitudinal neuroanatomical or functional changes at any level, including genetics/genomics, single cells, connectomics, neural population activity patterns, and others. This funding opportunity is intended to encourage technological and conceptual innovation through this high risk, high reward funding mechanism to develop highly innovative ideas that either lack preliminary data or need additional preliminary data
Who can apply
Other Eligible Applicants include the following: Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs); Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government; Faith-based or Community-based Organizations; Hispanic-serving Institutions; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized); Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations); Regional Organizations; Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) ; U.S. Territory or Possession.
How to apply
- 1Register your organization
Applications are submitted by your institution, not individuals. Make sure your organization has an active SAM.gov registration (with a UEI) and a Grants.gov account with an Authorized Organization Representative.
- 2Read the full notice
Open the official notice for the complete eligibility rules, review criteria, page limits, and required forms. Applications close May 7, 2027.
- 3Download the application package
From the Grants.gov opportunity page, download the package (or apply via your agency's system where required) and prepare each component.
- 4Build and submit
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Agency contact: National Institutes of Health · grantsinfo@nih.gov
Details are pulled from Grants.gov and can change, always confirm against the official notice. GrantsManager isn't affiliated with these agencies.
About the NIH R21 program
A shorter NIH grant for exploratory, high-risk/high-reward work that doesn't yet have extensive preliminary data.
Typical award: Up to 2 years, with combined direct costs normally capped at $275K and no more than $200K in any single year.
Resources for applying
All NIH grants and resources- Proposal submission checklist
A pre-submission checklist for research proposals: solicitation review, internal routing, budget, compliance, and sponsor-system steps to hit the deadline cleanly.
- NIH modular budget
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- Letter of Support Template for Grant Applications
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- NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan Template
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- Budget Justification Template
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- Grant Application Cover Letter Template
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- NIH salary cap 2026
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- NIH modular budget
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- Grants.gov
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- NIH eRA Commons
NIH application status, progress reports (RPPR), and award management.
- SciENcv
Biosketches and Current & Pending (Other) Support documents.
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