BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA NS 22 011

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 22 011

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (RFA-NS-22-011) is a BRAIN Initiative program designed to help proven neuroscience resources reach the broader research community and become easier to use in everyday practice. It uses the U24 cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning NIH program staff are expected to have substantial involvement in guiding or coordinating aspects of the award, which is typical for large-scale community resource and dissemination efforts. The core emphasis is not on inventing brand-new tools from scratch, but on getting existing tools, reagents, platforms, and methods into the hands of researchers who need them, in ways that align with the priorities laid out in the BRAIN Initiative planning document, "BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision."

Projects proposed under this FOA are expected to be tightly connected to specific BRAIN 2025 goals and to address real, current bottlenecks for neuroscientists. The focus is on meeting compelling needs that are otherwise unavailable, hard to access, or impractical at present due to limitations like insufficient distribution, lack of training, limited facility access, or inefficient production and delivery. In other words, the opportunity is meant to scale what already works and make it broadly usable, rather than to fund primarily exploratory technology development.

NIH describes several types of activities that fit well within the scope of this program. One major category is distribution of tools and reagents, which can include producing and delivering validated resources so other labs can readily adopt them. Another major category is user training, such as developing hands-on workshops, courses, documentation, or other structured training that teaches researchers how to properly use new technologies or techniques. The FOA also supports providing access to existing technology platforms and specialized facilities, which could include centralized cores or service centers that can perform specialized procedures, measurements, or analyses for the community. In addition, the FOA allows minor improvements that increase the scale or efficiency of production and delivery, as well as minor adaptations to better meet the needs of a defined user community. These last categories are important because they allow practical engineering refinements that make a resource more usable and deployable without turning the project into a pure development grant.

At the same time, the FOA draws a clear boundary around what is not responsive. Applications that are strictly focused on technology or software development, rather than dissemination of an existing resource, do not fit this announcement. The intent is that the key innovation has largely already occurred, and the proposed work is about integration, standardization, scaling, dissemination, and community uptake. An exception is made for refinements to microscopes or other tools when those refinements are necessary to customize the technology to the experimental needs of end users; in other words, practical modifications that enable dissemination and real-world use are allowed, as long as the project is still centered on distributing and supporting an established resource.

The announcement is also explicit that clinical trials are not allowed under this U24 FOA, which means applicants should not propose studies that meet NIH’s definition of a clinical trial. The work should remain focused on research resources, enabling infrastructure, training, and dissemination that support neuroscience research broadly rather than testing clinical interventions in human participants.

Eligibility is broad across many U.S.-based organization types. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. 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 (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible agencies of the federal government, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is more limited and follows standard NIH distinctions. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible, and foreign components (as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed, meaning a U.S.-based applicant may include certain foreign activities or collaborations if they are justified and compliant with NIH policy.

From the posted source information, the agency is NIH and the opportunity is categorized as discretionary, with a cooperative agreement funding instrument. The activity category is listed broadly under education, health, income security, and social services, and the associated CFDA numbers include 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, and 93.867. The original closing date shown is April 17, 2023, and the record creation date is December 1, 2021. An award ceiling and expected award count are not specified in the provided excerpt, so applicants would typically need to consult the full FOA for budget expectations, project period norms, review criteria, and any program-specific requirements for community engagement, sharing plans, or milestones.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as BRAIN Initiative support for scaling and spreading neuroscience-enabling resources: making tools and platforms available, training researchers to use them correctly, improving access through shared facilities, and making practical refinements that help a resource work reliably for a broader community, all in service of the BRAIN 2025 scientific vision.

• 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 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, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-12-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-17. (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.

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