The BRAIN Initiative: Promoting Health for All Through BRAIN Technology Partnerships (R34 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) is a planning grant opportunity offered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with participation from multiple NIH institutes and centers, including the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Eye Institute (NEI), and others. This funding opportunity is designed to support resource-limited institutions (RLIs) by enabling their investigators to integrate established BRAIN Initiative technologies into their research and training programs. The focus is on enhancing research capacity through collaboration with BRAIN disseminators—individuals with expertise in disseminating validated technologies listed on the NIH BRAIN Initiative U24 Programs or BRAIN Initiative Alliance Developed Resources and Tools.

The primary objective is to facilitate the adoption and sustained integration of BRAIN Initiative resources at RLIs. Activities supported may include exploratory pilot studies to test feasibility or validity for future research or innovative efforts to embed these technologies into institutional training programs. The grant promotes two-way knowledge transfer between the RLI-based principal investigator (PI) and the BRAIN disseminator, emphasizing mutual capability-building rather than deficit correction. This initiative supports the broader BRAIN Initiative goal of developing technologies that illuminate how the brain processes, stores, and retrieves information.

Funding is available for up to $225,000 in direct costs annually, with a total of $450,000 over a three-year project period. Approximately $1.8 million is expected to be awarded across four projects. The funding is intended for planning and early-stage projects and is not meant for clinical trials, unproven technology development, or patient services. Eligible activities may include travel, training, student research participation, and minor enhancements to the BRAIN resource to suit local research environments. Significant new technology development is not permitted under this grant.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of U.S.-based entities, including public and private higher education institutions, nonprofits, small businesses, and local and state governments. The key eligibility requirement is that institutions must have received less than $7.5 million annually in NIH Research Project Grants (RPGs) in at least four of the past seven fiscal years. Applications must include a PI from an RLI and a BRAIN disseminator listed as key personnel. The program is not open to foreign organizations or non-domestic components of U.S. institutions.

Applications must adhere strictly to the NIH’s standard application procedures and include a Research Strategy limited to six pages. The application should clearly describe the chosen BRAIN Initiative resource, the rationale for the collaboration, and how the project will lead to future research or sustained training integration. Applicants are encouraged to engage students in the research and plan for long-term dissemination of any developed materials or curricula. Letters of intent are encouraged 30 days prior to the application due date.

Applications are due by 5:00 PM local time on June 17, 2025, and again on June 17, 2026. The earliest project start dates are February 2026 and February 2027, respectively. Applications are reviewed for scientific merit, feasibility, investigator qualifications, and institutional environment, with a focus on rigor, reproducibility, and the potential for lasting integration of the resource into the applicant’s research and training infrastructure.