Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 26 100
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting applications under the BRAIN Initiative for a phased, milestone-driven grant opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-MH-26-100). The central aim is to push beyond today’s behavioral measurement approaches by creating and validating next-generation platforms and analytics that can quantify human behavior with much greater precision and then directly link those behavioral readouts to brain activity recorded at the same time. In practical terms, NIH is looking for tools that treat behavior with the same rigor commonly applied to neural measurements: high accuracy and specificity, strong temporal resolution, and enough flexibility to work across contexts, tasks, and populations, while remaining compatible with modern human neuroscience methods.
A major emphasis of the announcement is multi-modal behavior measurement. That means applicants are encouraged to think beyond a single data stream (for example, only video or only self-report) and instead consider integrated approaches that can capture behavior as a rich, time-resolved set of signals. Depending on the proposed platform, this could include combinations of video-based pose and gesture tracking, speech and language features, eye tracking, facial expression dynamics, physiology, movement and kinematics, or interaction patterns with devices and environments. The point is not simply to collect more data, but to build measurement and analytic pipelines that produce interpretable, reliable behavioral variables that can be aligned with simultaneously acquired brain data, allowing researchers to study how brain circuit activity relates to real behavioral dynamics as they unfold.
This opportunity uses an R61/R33 phased award structure. The R61 phase is intended for the early stage of the work: novel tool development and initial validation. NIH explicitly notes that the tool development may involve hardware and/or software, which leaves room for proposals ranging from new sensors and acquisition systems to analysis frameworks, algorithms, and end-to-end platforms. The expectation is that the R61 period results in a functional, testable system and evidence that it can generate meaningful behavioral measurements with appropriate performance characteristics (for example, precision, robustness, and reproducibility). The subsequent R33 phase focuses on synchronization: integrating and aligning the newly developed behavioral tools with human brain activity measures so that behavior and neural activity can be recorded and analyzed together in a time-locked manner. In other words, the R33 stage is where applicants demonstrate that their behavioral quantification can be effectively paired with neural recordings, enabling joint analysis and interpretation.
The "Clinical Trial Optional" designation indicates that applicants may propose studies that meet the NIH definition of a clinical trial if needed for tool validation, but they are not required to do so. This flexibility is important because some measurement and synchronization work can be completed in healthy volunteers or non-interventional study designs, while other approaches may require testing in clinical populations, real-world settings, or contexts where the study design could qualify as a clinical trial. Applicants should still align the study design with the goals of technology development, validation, and synchronization, rather than traditional hypothesis-driven efficacy testing.
Eligibility is broad, reflecting NIH’s interest in drawing from diverse institutional strengths and encouraging a wide range of partnerships. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses; and other organizations as allowed by NIH policy. The notice also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants 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 federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. (foreign) entities. Taken together, this signals that NIH is open to proposals that combine academic neuroscience, engineering, computer science, clinical expertise, and community or health-system partnerships, including collaborations that improve generalizability across populations and settings.
Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity under NIH, with activity categories spanning education, health, and related social service domains, and it is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867). The opportunity was created on 2024-07-09, and the original closing date listed is 2025-01-22. While the excerpted source data does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, the structure and emphasis make clear that NIH intends to fund projects that can show credible technical progress from prototype development to synchronized brain-behavior measurement within the phased mechanism.
In summary, NIH is using this R61/R33 BRAIN Initiative program to accelerate tools that can measure human behavior with the same time-resolved precision expected of modern neural recording and modulation technologies, and then tightly synchronize those behavioral measures with concurrently acquired brain activity. Successful proposals will typically make a strong case for why the behavioral variables they extract are meaningful, how the measurements will be validated, how the platform will handle real-world complexity (noise, variability, context dependence), and how synchronization with neural data will be implemented so that downstream analyses can illuminate brain-behavior relationships with minimal ambiguity about timing and correspondence.Apply for RFA MH 26 100
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)" 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 2024-07-09.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-22. (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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| Multidisciplinary Approaches for Developmental Research with Individuals with DSD (R01) Apply for RFA HD 16 021 Funding Number: RFA HD 16 021 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $499,999 |
| BRAIN Initiative: Next-Generation Invasive Devices for Recording and Modulation in the Human Central Nervous System (UG3/UH3) Apply for RFA NS 16 009 Funding Number: RFA NS 16 009 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $2,000,000 |
| BRAIN Initiative: Pre-Applications for Industry Partnerships to Provide Early Access to Devices for Stimulation and Recording in the Human Central Nervous System (X02) Apply for PAR 15 345 Funding Number: PAR 15 345 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BRAIN Initiative: Clinical Studies to Advance Next-Generation Invasive Devices for Recording and Modulation in the Human Central Nervous System (UH3) Apply for RFA NS 16 010 Funding Number: RFA NS 16 010 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $2,000,000 |
| Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions(ATN) Coordinating Center (CC) (U24) Apply for RFA HD 16 040 Funding Number: RFA HD 16 040 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BRAIN Initiative: Foundations of Non-Invasive Functional Human Brain Imaging and Recording - Bridging Scales and Modalities (R01) Apply for RFA MH 16 750 Funding Number: RFA MH 16 750 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $700,000 |
| BRAIN Initiative: Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (U01) Apply for RFA NS 16 008 Funding Number: RFA NS 16 008 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) (U19 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA HD 25 003 Funding Number: RFA HD 25 003 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $5,500,000 |
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| BRAIN Initiative: New Technologies and Novel Approaches for Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA NS 25 018 Funding Number: RFA NS 25 018 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BRAIN Initiative: Optimization of Instrumentation and Device Technologies for Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (U01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) Apply for RFA NS 25 017 Funding Number: RFA NS 25 017 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BRAIN Initiative: Reagent Resources for Brain Cell Type-Specific Access to Broaden Distribution of Enabling Technologies for Neuroscience (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA MH 26 120 Funding Number: RFA MH 26 120 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| HEAL Initiative: Understanding Individual Differences in Human Pain Conditions (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 25 020 Funding Number: RFA NS 25 020 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Implementation Research for Multi-morbidity Management in the Context of Non-communicable Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and US Tribal Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 25 213 Funding Number: PAR 25 213 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| BRAIN Initiative: Next-Generation Devices for Recording and Modulation in the Human Central Nervous System (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 25 021 Funding Number: RFA NS 25 021 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BRAIN Initiative: Clinical Studies to Advance Next-Generation Devices for Recording and Modulation in the Human Central Nervous System (UH3 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 25 022 Funding Number: RFA NS 25 022 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Research With Activities Related to Diversity (ReWARD) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 25 117 Funding Number: PAR 25 117 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BRAIN Initiative: Development and Validation of Novel Tools to Probe Cell-Specific and Circuit-Specific Processes in the Brain (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA MH 26 170 Funding Number: RFA MH 26 170 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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