BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS): Specialized Projects for Scalable Technologies (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Federal funding opportunity RFA-NS-27-015 from National Institutes of Health (Department of Health and Human Services).

Apply on Grants.gov →Application closes October 4, 2027

Posted: May 28, 2026
Closes: October 4, 2027
Program funding: $10,000,000
Cost sharing: No
Instrument: Cooperative Agreement
Assistance listing: 93.279, 93.242, 93.853, 93.867, 93.286, 93.372, 93.866, 93.865, 93.173, 93.213, 93.273
Category: Health
Archives: December 3, 2027

Program funding history

Awards made under Assistance Listing 93.279 across FY2024–FY2026, from public federal spending records.

FY2024 obligated: $1.5B
FY2025 obligated: $1.5B
FY2026 (to date) obligated: $754.3M
Awards in window: 5,529

Top recipients: Yale Univ, University of California, San Diego, The Johns Hopkins University, University of Pittsburgh - of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, Regents of the University of Michigan

Source: USAspending.gov · refreshed July 2026

Synopsis

This funding announcement, issued by the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, seeks transformative, cutting-edge, and innovative research that embraces new technologies, ideas, and approaches to understand brain circuit function and contributions to behavior. It is a component of the BRAIN Initiative Connectivity Across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS) Program, which aims to lay the scientific foundation for the next generation of neural circuit-based approaches for preventing and treating devastating brain disorders.This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) supports Specialized Projects to develop current or emerging technologies to generate comprehensive atlases of brain connectivity, with an emphasis on human, non-human primate (NHP), and mouse. Projects using other species are also permitted, if their use is well justified and the goal is to test and validate approaches that can be generalized across species. Applications may address any aspect(s) of brain connectivity and associated data pipelines, including data collection, reconstruction, analysis, integration, dissemination, and interpretation, to enable faster, more precise, and more cost-effective generation and interpretation of brain-wide wiring diagrams. Funded projects will be integrated into the BRAIN CONNECTS Network consisting of projects funded under this and preceding BRAIN CONNECTS NOFOs, as a coordinated effort aimed at developing the capabilities to generate wiring diagrams that can span entire brains across multiple scales.

Who can apply

Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
Private institutions of higher education
State governments
County governments
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Independent school districts
Small businesses
Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
City or township governments
Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Special district governments
For profit organizations other than small businesses

Refer to Section III. Eligibility Information in the NOFO for additional information on eligibility. Foreign Organizations/International Collaborations:Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are eligible to apply.Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are eligible to apply.Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.

How to apply

Applications go through the official government listing. Grants Radar links you straight to the source.

View on Grants.gov

Agency contact: National Institutes of Health · BRAIN-CONNECTS-Inquiries@nih.gov · 301-402-2541

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