Utilizing Invasive Recording and Stimulating Opportunities in Humans to Advance Neural Circuitry Understanding of Mental Health Disorders (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) · NIH Institute/Center · PAR-25-291
Source: Grants.gov · View original posting ↗
- AwardWhat a single award can be worth — the funder's published per-award amount or floor–ceiling range.
- Up to $200K
- DeadlineFinal application due date.
- Jan 7, 2028
- Letter of intentDue date for the letter of intent (a short pre-application some funders require or request before the full proposal).
- —
- MechanismNIH activity code — the grant type (R01 research project, R21 exploratory, K series career development, F series fellowship, …).
- R21
- DurationMaximum project period for a single award.
- —
- Expected awardsHow many awards the funder anticipates making under this opportunity.
- —
- Funding cycleHow often the program accepts applications (annual, multiple cycles per year, rolling, or one-time).
- Standard NIH dates
- Open dateWhen applications open (or opened).
- Nov 22, 2024
- Total fundingThe overall pool the funder expects to commit across ALL awards under this opportunity — not what one project receives.
- $200K total
- Clinical trialWhether proposed projects must, may, or must not include a clinical trial.
- Optional / allowed
Funding context
Based on FY2024 NIH (all institutes) R21 applications (1,837 of 11,592 applications awarded).
Institute-specific data wasn’t available — showing the NIH-wide rate for this mechanism.
Payline: NIH discontinued percentile paylines for 2026 under its Unified Funding Strategy ↗ — scores are now weighed in context rather than against a fixed cutoff.
NIH-wide R21, all institutes.
Aggregate historical data by institute, mechanism, and fiscal year — context for planning, not a prediction for this opportunity. Source ↗
Description
Reissue of RFA-20-351.The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to encourage applications to pursue invasive neural recording studies focused on mental health-relevant questions. Invasive neural recordings provide an unparalleled window into the human brain to explore the neural circuitry and neural dynamics underlying complex moods, emotions, cognitive functions, and behaviors with high spatial and temporal resolution. Additionally, the ability to stimulate, via the same electrodes, allows for direct causal tests by modulating network dynamics. This funding opportunity aims to target a gap in the scientific knowledge of neural circuit function related to mental health disorders. Researchers should target specific questions suited to invasive recording modalities that have high translational potential. Development of new technologies and therapies are outside the scope of this NOFO.
Data notes: administering NIH institute could not be identified from the opportunity number.