RFA-NS-26-007
BRAIN Initiative: Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (U01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
Summary
NINDS Intracranial Recording in Human Neuroscience (U01)
This opportunity supports fundamental research leveraging direct intracranial access during clinical procedures to investigate core questions in human neuroscience—perception, memory, decision-making, motor control, emotion regulation, language processing, and sensory integration. The program recognizes that surgical access to the human brain enables experiments impossible in other systems, offering unique insights into how the brain operates at cellular and circuit levels in ways that are inherently human. Research may also generate mechanistic understanding relevant to neurological and psychiatric disorders, though the primary focus is basic investigation rather than disease-specific applications. The initiative encourages multidisciplinary teams combining neuroscientists, clinicians, engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, data scientists, and ethics specialists.
- Who can apply: Researchers at eligible institutions; no specific restrictions stated, but applications must propose fundamental human neuroscience questions using intracranial recording/manipulation during surgical procedures.
- Funding & project length: Not stated.
- Award mechanism: U01 (cooperative agreement).
- Key dates: Applications are not being solicited at this time. Researchers are encouraged to develop collaborations now; actual submission window undefined.
- Best fit for: Neuroscientists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and bioengineers in human neuroscience, clinical neuroscience, and computational neuroscience with access to intracranial recording during clinical procedures.
Critical note: This is a pre-announcement. No submission deadline or funding amount has been released. Interested researchers should begin building collaborative teams immediately but should monitor NIH for the formal NOFO release.
Insights (6)
Undefined submission window creates planning uncertainty for multi-year collaboration setup
The NOFO explicitly states 'Applications are not being solicited at this time' while encouraging collaboration development, but provides no timeline for when the actual submission window will open. This creates a strategic planning challenge: teams investing months in collaboration design and preliminary work face uncertainty about whether the opportunity will materialize within their funding cycle or career timeline.
Multi-disciplinary team composition is strongly encouraged, not optional
The NOFO explicitly encourages 'collaborative investigations from newly formed or established teams, combining expertise of clinicians, scientists, device engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, data scientists, regulatory specialists and/or ethics specialists.' This signals that competitive applications will likely require diverse expertise beyond traditional neuroscience, making solo-PI or single-discipline approaches strategically disadvantaged.
Access to surgical patients with intracranial electrodes is the critical bottleneck
Success depends entirely on having established relationships with clinical teams performing epilepsy surgery, deep brain stimulation, or other procedures that provide direct brain access. Applicants without existing partnerships at institutions with active intracranial recording programs will face a substantial competitive disadvantage, as building these relationships requires time and institutional credibility.
Fundamental human neuroscience questions outweigh disease-focused applications
The NOFO emphasizes 'fundamental questions in human neuroscience' and notes that 'basic research often provides insights relevant to disorders.' This suggests the program prioritizes mechanistic understanding of perception, memory, decision-making, and motor control over direct therapeutic development, favoring applicants with strong theoretical frameworks and human-specific experimental designs.
U01 mechanism with multi-IC co-funding suggests moderate award size and selectivity
The U01 activity code (cooperative agreement) combined with participation from 10 NIH ICs indicates this will likely support substantial, collaborative research programs rather than small grants. The broad IC participation suggests moderate competition but also indicates the program expects well-developed, multi-faceted research teams with clear collaborative structure.
Established clinical-research partnerships favor mid-to-senior career investigators
The requirement for meaningful collaboration with surgical teams and the emphasis on innovative, fundamental research suggests this opportunity is better suited to investigators with established credibility and institutional relationships rather than early-stage researchers. ESI applicants would need strong mentorship and co-PI support from established clinician-scientists to be competitive.
Key Facts
Deadline
—
Posted
Thu, August 28, 2025
Keywords
Research Areas
Gotchas (3)
The NOFO states 'Applications are not being solicited at this time' but simultaneously encourages potential applicants to develop collaborations and consider applying. The timing and actual submission
85%
Source Text
“Applications are not being solicited at this time. Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects.”
This NOFO requires collaborative investigations combining expertise from multiple disciplines (clinicians, scientists, engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, data scientists, regulatory and ethics
75%
Source Text
“collaborative investigations from newly formed or established teams, combining expertise of clinicians, scientists, device engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, data scientists, regulatory specialists and/or ethics specialists, as appropriate”
The NOFO requires investigations of 'fundamental questions in human neuroscience' using 'intracranial access to recording and manipulating the brain directly.' The scope of what qualifies as 'fundamen
70%
Source Text
“Applications to this NOFO must propose to investigate fundamental questions in human neuroscience. In addition, collaborative investigations from newly formed or established teams, combining expertise of clinicians, scientists, device engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, data scientists, regulatory specialists and/or ethics specialists, as appropriate, to propose innovative research plans will be encouraged”