Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: November 16, 2026 (Resubmission/revision) | February 16, 2027 (New) | March 16, 2027 (Resubmission/revision) | June 16, 2027 (New) | July 16, 2027 (Resubmission/revision) | October 16, 2027 (New) | November 16, 2027 (Resubmission/revision) | January 7, 2028 (Closing date)
Funding Amounts: Up to $275,000 in direct costs over 2 years, with no more than $200,000 in any year
Summary: Supports multidisciplinary development of novel or significantly improved brain stimulation devices for mental health treatment.
Key Information: Clinical trials are not allowed, and an Intellectual Property Strategy attachment is mandatory for review.
Description
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of NIH, supports next-generation brain stimulation devices through this R21 exploratory/developmental research opportunity. It funds novel invasive or non-invasive devices and substantial hardware or software improvements to FDA-approved or cleared devices. Priorities include greater spatial and temporal precision, deeper stimulation, multi-focal recording and stimulation, and closed-loop control.
Projects should focus on engineering development, bench testing, and preclinical validation rather than hypothesis-driven studies that simply use existing devices. Animal studies and limited human testing that do not constitute clinical trials may establish initial proof of concept. The mechanism supports shorter, higher-risk projects that may lack preliminary data, as well as smaller projects closer to final form. All tools must be designed for eventual human use.
