Establishing a Research Network to Guide Foundational Research on Human Consciousness
🏛 National Institutes of Health (HHS-NIH11)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Sep 12, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for research institutions and networks conducting foundational neuroscience research on human consciousness. Eligible applicants typically include universities, medical schools, research hospitals, and nonprofit research organizations with capacity to lead or participate in a collaborative national research network. The initiative supports capacity-building activities such as developing research standards, infrastructure, and workforce training rather than discrete research projects. Geographic scope is national, and applicants must demonstrate expertise in neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, or related disciplines that contribute to understanding conscious states.
The focus is on interdisciplinary collaboration across neuroscience, psychology, anesthesiology, sleep research, computational science, bioethics, and philosophy. Applicants should be prepared to engage in planning, consensus-building, and standardization activities. This funding mechanism is a Cooperative Agreement, meaning active collaboration with NIH is expected.
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Key dates
- Apr 28, 2026 Applications open
- Feb 8, 2027 Application deadline in 148 days
- Sep 27, 2027 Award announced
- Sep 27, 2027 Project start
Program description
This Funding Opportunity will establish the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research Network to Guide Foundational Research on Human Consciousness, leveraging a trans-NIH collaboration of 14 Institutes, Centers, and Offices dedicated to reducing the burden of nervous system disorders. Consciousness is central to numerous serious biomedical conditions, including coma, delirium, dementia, traumatic brain injury, stroke, sleep disorders, metabolic disorders, and seizures – conditions central to NIH’s biomedical mission. Yet the neural mechanisms that support conscious states remain insufficiently understood, limiting clinicians’ ability to diagnose and treat patients effectively. Advancing foundational science on human consciousness will strengthen clinical decision-making and improve outcomes for patients with costly and hard-to-treat neurologic and systemic illnesses by:
- Detecting consciousness in minimally responsive patients to guide prognosis, treatment, and ethical decisions (e.g., organ harvesting).
- Improving understanding of consciousness in Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias, and delirium.
- Investigating altered states in mental disorders to inform treatments.
- Identifying sentience and state transitions under anesthesia and during recovery.
- Advancing knowledge of sleep states and improving treatments for insomnia and other sleep disorders.
- Exploring non-sensory visual perception (e.g., hallucinations, aphantasia) to deepen insight into mental health.
- Evaluating therapeutic effects of consciousness-modulating interventions such as meditation, hypnosis, and neurostimulation.
- Applying New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to study human consciousness.
Despite its importance, biomedical research on consciousness lacks shared standards, resulting in fragmented efforts and limiting understanding of underlying neurocircuitry. To accelerate rigorous, reproducible, and ethically grounded research, this initiative will create a national interdisciplinary Research Network to strengthen and integrate consciousness-related neuroscience, rather than support discrete, hypothesis-driven projects. The Network will develop coordination frameworks, standards, and infrastructure, uniting expertise from neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, anesthesiology, sleep and meditation research, computational science, AI, bioethics, and philosophy.
The Network’s goal is capacity building: developing and providing needed research resources to advance understanding of the neural mechanisms supporting conscious states. It will lead planning and consensus-building activities to:
- Harmonize operational definitions across consciousness research.
- Identify research settings, model systems, and experimental designs with the greatest potential.
- Evaluate indicators and measures of consciousness for diverse scientific approaches.
- Determine which measures best reflect preserved or perturbed neurobiological function.
- Address essential ethical considerations.
To strengthen U.S. leadership and cultivate a highly trained workforce, the Network will provide interdisciplinary cross-training opportunities, such as workshops and visiting scholar programs, not feasible in siloed environments. This initiative will create resources that enable rigorous biomedical research on the neural mechanisms of conscious states, aligning with NIH’s strategic priorities to improve population health and well-being.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
- Project Narrative/Network Plan
- Budget and Budget Justification
- Organizational Capacity and Infrastructure
- Letters of Commitment from Network Partners
- NIH Biographical Sketches (Key Personnel)
- Facilities and Resources documentation
Program contact
- 👤 NCCIH Division of Extramural Research Program Officer
- 📧 NCCIHDERFunding@nih.gov
- 📞 Please contact via e-mail
Funding track record
No recent recipient data available for CFDA 93.476 in our database.
This can happen for newer programs, programs that use non-standard award types (loans, direct payments, fellowships), or those funded through sub-agencies under different codes.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 93.476). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $3,485,969 | |
| 2025 | $350,000 | |
| 2026 est. | $903,616 |
FAQ
What type of organization can apply for this grant?
Universities, medical schools, research hospitals, and established nonprofit research organizations with neuroscience research capacity are typically eligible. Applicants must demonstrate ability to lead or participate in a national collaborative research network.
What research areas does this grant support?
The grant supports foundational research on human consciousness across multiple conditions including dementia, sleep disorders, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and anesthesia. It also covers consciousness in mental disorders, meditation, and neurostimulation.
Is this for individual research projects or network activities?
This is for network capacity-building, not discrete hypothesis-driven projects. Activities include developing research standards, consensus frameworks, cross-training, and infrastructure—not funding individual investigator research.
What is the application deadline?
The deadline is fixed at February 8, 2027. Plan to submit well before this date to allow time for internal review and revision.
Can international researchers or institutions apply?
The grant emphasizes U.S. leadership and workforce cultivation, suggesting U.S.-based applicants are preferred, though explicit restrictions are not stated in the announcement.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Emphasize your organization's capacity to coordinate interdisciplinary teams across neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, anesthesiology, and computational fields.
- Highlight past experience with research standardization, network coordination, or multi-site collaboration rather than solo investigator projects.
- Clearly explain how your network will develop shared operational definitions and consensus frameworks for consciousness research.
- Demonstrate commitment to ethical considerations and workforce development through workshops, training programs, or visiting scholar opportunities.
- Align your proposal with NIH's stated priorities for U.S. research leadership and addressing major neurologic and psychiatric conditions.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Submitting a proposal focused on discrete research projects instead of network capacity-building and standardization activities. Failing to demonstrate interdisciplinary collaboration across the eight key fields (neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, anesthesiology, sleep research, computational science, bioethics). Underestimating the emphasis on planning, consensus-building, and infrastructure development over traditional hypothesis-driven research.
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