BRAIN Initiative: Standards to Define Experiments Related to the BRAIN Initiative (R24) | RFA MH 17 256

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 17 256

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Standards to Define Experiments Related to the BRAIN Initiative (R24)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA MH 17 256) supports projects focused on creating shared, community-driven standards for describing experimental protocols used in the NIH BRAIN Initiative. The central goal is to make it easier for researchers to compare, interpret, reproduce, and reuse data by ensuring that experiments are described in consistent and well-defined ways. Rather than funding new basic science experiments directly, this announcement is aimed at the infrastructure layer of neuroscience research: the common language and structured documentation that helps different labs and consortia align how they record what they did, how they did it, and what their data mean.

A defining feature of this opportunity is its emphasis on broad community engagement throughout the entire standards-development process. Applicants are expected to actively solicit input from relevant stakeholders at all stages, which typically includes researchers generating BRAIN-related data, technologists and method developers, data scientists, informatics experts, tool builders, and end users who will later rely on the standard. The FOA also encourages a practical starting point for building a standard: early sharing and comparison of data and metadata practices across multiple key groups in the experimental community. The reason for this recommendation is straightforward: if a standard is written based on a narrow slice of how one lab documents its protocols, it can fail when applied to the wider field. By aligning early with multiple groups, the resulting standard is more likely to capture real-world variation in experimental workflows while still providing enough structure to support interoperability.

The expected deliverable is a standard (or set of standards) that clearly describes experimental protocols relevant to BRAIN Initiative work and that is made widely available for broad adoption. In practice, "widely available" implies that the standard should be openly disseminated to the community rather than kept proprietary or limited to a closed consortium. While the announcement text provided does not list every required component, the intent is that these standards function as shared references for how experiments and protocols are documented, which can include structured metadata elements, controlled vocabularies or ontologies where appropriate, and guidance that supports consistent reporting across different sites and platforms. The R24 activity code commonly aligns with resource-related efforts, which fits the emphasis here on developing shared research standards that enable the broader scientific ecosystem.

This is a discretionary grant mechanism under the federal activity areas of education, health, income security, and social services, reflecting NIH's role in supporting health-related research infrastructure. The FOA 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), indicating that it spans or intersects with several NIH programs and institutes that participate in BRAIN-related efforts and neuroscience data ecosystems.

Eligibility for this opportunity is broad and inclusive. In addition to the typical range of U.S. applicants such as state, county, and city governments; 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; and a wide range of nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), the FOA also allows applications from for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses. It also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories that are often emphasized in NIH funding announcements to encourage inclusive participation and partnerships, including 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, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations). That broad eligibility is consistent with the reality that standards development often benefits from cross-sector collaboration, including academic labs, research software teams, data resource organizations, and international partners.

Key administrative details in the provided source include an original closing date of 2017-10-11 and a creation date of 2016-09-21. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the supplied record, which typically means applicants would have needed to consult the full FOA text for budget limits, project period expectations, and review criteria. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as NIH support for building the shared protocol-description standards that help BRAIN Initiative experimental data become more interoperable, comparable across labs, and more useful to the wider neuroscience community over time.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Standards to Define Experiments Related to the BRAIN Initiative (R24)" 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 2016-09-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-10-11. (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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