Updated October 28, 2026
Mental Health Research Grants 2026
Open mental health research grants for 2026 from NIMH, DOD, and foundations like the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and AFSP. Updated daily.
Mental health research grants in 2026 come mainly from the National Institute of Mental Health, which has an enacted budget of about $2.3 billion this year, plus NIDA, the Department of Defense, and foundations such as the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; this page lists the ones open now. NIMH funds across basic, translational, clinical, and services research and says it prioritizes early stage investigators when making awards.
Featured grants
Updated automatically from Atom's grant database. Summaries are AI-generated.Richardson-Lowman Serious Mental Illness Research Grant
Richardson-Lowman Serious Mental Illness Research Grant supports doctoral-level psychologists conducting clinical research and program evaluation to contribute to the serious mental illness field.
Child & Family Mental Well-Being Grants
Funds evidence-based programs improving child and family mental health, focusing on prevention, intervention, trauma-informed care, and collaborative community behavioral health solutions.
Standard Research Innovation Grants
Standard Research Innovation Grants support individual investigators conducting basic and applied research to understand suicide and test treatments and other interventions that prevent suicide and save lives.
The outlook beyond this year is less settled. The administration's fiscal 2027 request would cut NIMH by about $269 million, and the 21st Century Cures Act funding that supported parts of the brain research portfolio ends after 2026. At the same time, youth mental health, suicide prevention, serious mental illness, and the overlap between mental illness, substance use, and homelessness have strong attention in federal health policy and in philanthropy. Foundations tend to fund smaller, faster awards, and several focus on specific conditions or career stages.
This collection ranks open mental health research funding across federal agencies, foundations, and nonprofits, covering depression, anxiety, psychosis, suicide, trauma, substance use, and digital and community interventions. It updates as new calls post and deadlines pass. For neuroscience funding on brain circuits and neurological disease, see Atom's Neuroscience Research Grants collection.
Postdoctoral Traineeship in Substance Use Disorders Treatment and Services Research
Postdoctoral Traineeship in Substance Use Disorders Treatment and Services Research supports postdoctoral scholars' mentored and independent studies to advance clinically relevant substance use treatment and services.
Behavioral Health Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders
Elevance Health Foundation funds nonprofit-led, evidence-based programs tackling substance use and mental health disorders through prevention, treatment, and holistic community care.
One Mind Rising Star Awards
One Mind Rising Star Awards support early-career investigators pursuing bold psychiatric research to advance understanding, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of psychiatric disorders.
Childrens Mental Health Initiative
This grant funds community mental health services for children and young adults up to age 21 with serious emotional disturbances, including early identification and support for at-risk youth and families.
BBRF Distinguished Investigator Grants
BBRF Distinguished Investigator Grants support established scientists’ innovative neurobiological and behavioral research to open new approaches to understanding or treating severe mental illness.
Linked Standard Research Innovation Grants
Linked Standard Research Innovation Grants support investigators collaborating across sites on research to understand suicide and test treatments or interventions that could prevent it.
Marian R. Stuart Grant
Marian R. Stuart Grant supports early-career psychologists’ research, practice, and education linking mental and physical health to advance understanding and contribute to public health.
Focus Grants
Focus Grants support experienced investigators conducting innovative suicide-prevention research to better understand causes and risk factors and test treatments and interventions designed to save lives.
Research Training in Psychiatric Epidemiology
Research Training in Psychiatric Epidemiology supports social scientists, epidemiologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists with coursework and research participation to build skills in psychiatric epidemiology.
Development of Psychosocial Therapeutic and Preventive Interventions for Mental Disorders (R33 Clinical Trial Required)
This grant supports developing and testing innovative psychosocial interventions for mental disorders to accelerate translating research into therapies.
Research Training in Mood and Anxiety Disorders: From Animal Models to Patients
Columbia Psychiatry offers a 2–3 year fellowship for early-career scientists to train in translational research on mood and anxiety disorders, bridging animal models and patient studies.
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Innovation Grants
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Innovation Grants support early-career researchers through training and suicide-focused studies to advance understanding and prevention and prepare independent investigators.
BBRF Young Investigator Grants
The BBRF Young Investigator Grants fund innovative early-career neuroscience and psychiatry research to advance understanding and treatment of serious mental illnesses.
Early Career Researcher Innovation Grants
Early Career Researcher Innovation Grants support early-career investigators in mentored suicide-focused research to understand suicide risk and test preventive treatments and interventions.
Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research
This grant supports collaborative research teams advancing basic or translational neuroscience to better understand and treat severe mental illnesses, especially those beginning in childhood or adolescence.
Research Focus Grants
The Research Focus Grants from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention fund rigorous, innovative studies to advance suicide prevention science and develop impactful, evidence-based interventions.
Development of Psychosocial Therapeutic and Preventive Interventions for Mental Disorders (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required)
Research grant to develop and test new psychosocial interventions for mental disorders, with focus on experimental therapeutics to translate basic science into treatments.
Frequently asked questions
The National Institute of Mental Health is the largest funder, with related work funded by NIDA, NIAAA, and the Department of Defense's Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program. Private funders include the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Wellcome Trust, which treats mental health as one of its core priorities.
NIMH's enacted budget for fiscal 2026 is about $2.3 billion. The administration's fiscal 2027 request would cut that by about $269 million, partly because 21st Century Cures Act funding ends after 2026, so researchers should expect tighter paylines if Congress follows the request.
Yes. NIMH says it prioritizes early stage investigators in its funding decisions, and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation's Young Investigator Grants provide up to $35,000 a year for two years to postdocs and junior faculty who have not yet led an R01. Many suicide prevention and youth mental health funders also run early career programs.
This collection focuses on research funding, so it ranks studies of causes, treatments, prevention, and services above grants for delivering care. Program funding from agencies like SAMHSA and state health departments is available in Atom's full grant search.