Funder: National Science Foundation
Due Dates: November 13, 2024 (FY25) | November 12, 2025 (FY26)
Funding Amounts: Estimated $5M–$30M/year total; typical awards $100,000–$250,000/year (direct costs), 3–5 years; agency-specific caps apply
Summary: Supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research and data sharing in computational neuroscience, open to US and international teams.
Key Information: Proposals may be returned without review if budget or eligibility rules are not followed; see agency-specific limits for international/parallel funding.
Description
This program supports innovative, collaborative research and data sharing projects in computational neuroscience, aiming to advance understanding of nervous system structure, function, disorders, and computational strategies. The scope is broad, spanning theory, modeling, analysis, and data-driven approaches at all levels of the nervous system, and welcomes both domestic and international collaborations. Two proposal types are accepted: (1) Research Proposals for interdisciplinary research, and (2) Data Sharing Proposals to support the dissemination of data, software, and other resources.
The program is jointly managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and partner agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Energy (DOE), and international funders in Germany, France, Israel, Japan, and Spain. Parallel funding is available for bilateral and multilateral projects involving these countries.
Due Dates
- November 13, 2024: Full proposal deadline for FY 2025 competition
- November 12, 2025: Full proposal deadline for FY 2026 competition
All deadlines are 5:00 p.m. local time of the submitting organization.
Funding Amount
- Total program funding: Estimated $5,000,000 to $30,000,000 per year (subject to availability)
- Typical award size: $100,000–$250,000 per year (direct costs), for 3–5 years
- Number of awards: 20–30 per year
- Agency-specific caps:
- NIH: Max $250,000/year (direct costs)
- DOE: Max $400,000/year (total costs), up to 3 years
- International partners: See solicitation Section VIII for country-specific limits
- Larger budgets: Multilateral projects may request higher budgets but must consult with the NSF program coordinator in advance
Eligibility
- Eligible applicants:
- US institutions of higher education (2- and 4-year, including community colleges)
- US-based non-profit, non-academic organizations (e.g., museums, research labs)
- US-based for-profit organizations (including small businesses)
- US Department of Energy National Laboratories
- International collaboration: Strongly encouraged; parallel funding available for projects involving Germany, France, Israel, Japan, and Spain (see Section VIII of the solicitation for details)
- PI/Co-PI limits: An individual may serve as PI or co-PI on no more than two proposals per review cycle (across all participating agencies and countries)
- No citizenship restrictions for PIs, but the lead institution must be US-based
- No limit on proposals per organization
- Proposals must not duplicate or substantially overlap with other submissions to participating agencies
Application Process
- Submission platforms: Research.gov or Grants.gov
- Proposal types:
- Research Proposals (collaborative research)
- Data Sharing Proposals (resource/data dissemination)
- Letters of Intent/Pre-proposals: Not required
- Full proposal requirements:
- Follow the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and solicitation-specific instructions
- Project Description: Up to 15 pages (+2 pages for Coordination Plan if applicable)
- Results from prior support (for all PIs/co-PIs with CRCNS funding in the past 5 years)
- Data Management Plan (2 pages max)
- Supplementary documents as required (e.g., human subjects, vertebrate animals, cloud/HTC resource requests)
- Letters of collaboration must use the prescribed format
- International/parallel funding: US PIs submit to NSF; non-US partners follow their agency’s instructions and may need to submit parallel documents (see Section VIII)
- Budget: Must include travel for PI to attend annual CRCNS PI meeting; must not exceed agency-specific caps
Additional Information
- Review process: Joint panel review by all participating agencies; proposals may be funded by NSF, NIH, DOE, or international partners
- Merit review criteria: NSF’s Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, plus quality and value of collaboration
- Cloud/high-throughput computing: May be requested; see solicitation for instructions
- Reporting: Annual and final reports required via Research.gov
- Special award conditions: Publications must acknowledge the joint CRCNS program and funding agency
External Links
Contact Information
For agency-specific or international partner contacts, see Section VIII of the solicitation.