BRAIN Initiative: Promoting Equity Through BRAIN Technology Partnerships (R34 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA NS 25 016

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 25 016

The NIH BRAIN Initiative funding opportunity "Promoting Equity Through BRAIN Technology Partnerships" (RFA-NS-25-016) is an R34 grant mechanism designed to broaden who gets to use and benefit from BRAIN Initiative technologies. The core idea is practical and capacity-building: validated tools developed through the BRAIN Initiative can have much larger scientific impact if they are disseminated beyond the relatively small set of well-resourced institutions that typically dominate NIH funding. This opportunity targets that gap by supporting structured partnerships that help investigators at resource-limited institutions (RLIs) bring BRAIN tools into their own labs, learn how to use them well, and start generating BRAIN-relevant research momentum locally.

The program is built around a partnership model. A principal investigator based at an RLI applies for the award and formally pairs with a "BRAIN technologist," meaning an investigator or team with demonstrated expertise in a BRAIN Initiative tool or platform that has already been validated. The partnership is not intended to be one-directional technical help; the announcement emphasizes two-way knowledge transfer. In practice, that means the technologist provides hands-on training and guidance to enable adoption of the technology in the recipient lab, while also learning from the RLI investigator about different scientific questions, constraints, populations, or institutional contexts that may shape how the technology is deployed and improved. The overarching goal is to increase sustained participation of RLI investigators in BRAIN Initiative-relevant research by lowering barriers to entry and by embedding advanced neurotechnology capabilities in places that have historically had fewer opportunities to access them.

Because this is an R34 with "Clinical Trials Not Allowed," the supported activities are meant to focus on planning, training, implementation, and early-stage integration work rather than conducting clinical trials. Applicants should read that as a signal that the expected scope is about building readiness and enabling research capacity around BRAIN technologies, not running interventional human studies. The emphasis on dissemination and integration suggests that strong applications will likely include concrete training plans, workflows for technology installation or deployment, approaches to troubleshooting and quality control, and a realistic strategy for making the capability durable at the RLI after the award ends (for example, through staff training, shared protocols, maintenance plans, and integration into the lab's ongoing research program).

Eligibility is broad in the general NIH sense and includes many organizational types: state, county, and city governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled colleges and universities; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional categories of applicants aligned with equity and capacity-building priorities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, tribal governments that are not federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions. While the list is inclusive, the program's intent is clearly centered on resource-limited settings and institutions that historically have not been major NIH funding recipients, so competitive applications should connect the institution's context to the program's equity and dissemination goals rather than treating eligibility as the only consideration.

On the international side, the rules are specific: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as applicant organizations. However, "foreign components" as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant can include certain foreign collaborations or elements when justified and appropriately structured under NIH policy, even though a foreign organization cannot be the applicant.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant offered by the National Institutes of Health under multiple CFDA numbers (93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867), reflecting the cross-cutting nature of NIH neuroscience and related programs. The original closing date listed is 2026-06-17, and the opportunity was created on 2024-11-21. The posting does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the provided text, so applicants would need to consult the full RFA and NIH budget guidance for the R34 mechanism to understand practical budget ranges and project period expectations.

In plain terms, this opportunity is about making sure cutting-edge neurotechnology does not stay concentrated in a small number of well-funded labs. NIH is putting money behind partnerships that transfer validated BRAIN tools into under-resourced research environments, with an explicit equity lens and an expectation that training and adoption will lead to longer-term participation in BRAIN-relevant science.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Promoting Equity Through BRAIN Technology Partnerships (R34 - Clinical Trials 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 2024-11-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-06-17. (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.

Apply for RFA NS 25 016

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