Funding Opportunities

Posted: August 22^nd, 2025

Request for Letters of Intent to Apply for Pilot Project Funding

Funding Opportunity (Pilot Projects Grants) – Requests for Letters of Intent to Apply
Cognitive Neuroscience of Development & Aging (CoNDA) Center

Letter of Intent to Apply Deadline: 5:00 PM Friday, September 12^th, 2025

Program Summary: The CoNDA Center is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for Pilot Projects. The CoNDA Center is a NIH/NIGMS supported Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) that focuses on the cognitive neuroscience across the lifespan and strives to support and develop neuroscience research in the region.

The goal of the Pilot Project Program is to provide support to promising research led by faculty at CoNDA participating institutions (UNMC, UNO, & Creighton). This mechanism aims to support innovative, collaborative projects in the field of neuroscience in general with emphasis on the cognitive neuroscience in development and aging in health and disease. Applicants must not have concurrent funding from other IDeA programs (INBRE, other COBRE or CTR). Applicants must be in a full-time, independent faculty position; postdocs, trainees, or similar non-independent positions are not eligible to receive COBRE funding. Faculty investigators of all ranks are eligible to apply, though priority will be given to Early Stage and New Investigators. If you have any questions about these criteria, please contact the Project Coordinator or Center Director. Applications that propose the use of the CoNDA Center Research Cores will be prioritized. Preference will be given to those proposals likely to lead to the submission of Research Project Leader proposals to the CoNDA COBRE. 

Successful applicants (up to two candidates) will receive up to $50,000 in direct costs for one year. Upon receipt of letters of intent, up to four candidates will be chosen to complete a full application. Awardees must devote at least one person-month of effort to the CoNDA Pilot Project.

To apply, please submit a brief letter of intent highlighting your research background and plans for the Pilot Project; please also provide your planned Specific Aims (one page) and your biosketch.

Please submit your Letter of Intent, Specific Aims, and Biosketch as one PDF file to kpanas@unmc.edu by 5:00pm on Friday, September 12^th, 2025

LETTER OF INTENT DEADLINE: 5:00 PM Friday, September 12^th, 2025

Anticipated Full Application Due Date: Friday, October 24^th, 2025

Anticipated Project Start Date: November 2025

Posted:  August 21^st, 2025

Request for Applications: CoNDA Core Usage Voucher Program 

Cognitive Neuroscience of Development & Aging (CoNDA) Center

Application Deadline: 5:00PM on Friday, September 5th, 2025

 

Program Summary: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Development & Aging (CoNDA) Center, a NIH/NIGMS funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), offers research vouchers to pay for services provided by CoNDA Research Cores, with the goal of supporting data collection for research proposals and stimulating new research directions within the Center’s theme. Successful applicants will receive services from CoNDA Center Cores for up to $5,000 (in $1,000 increments) to be utilized in 1 year. This program is targeted towards investigators in a faculty position at CoNDA participating institutions (UNMC, UNO, & Creighton). Applications proposing the study of animal models or human subjects will be considered.  

Pre-Evaluation from CoNDA Core Directors: Applicants must consult with the Core Directors to ensure feasibility of the proposed project and budget. Use of one or more Core is permitted. Core Director(s) will need to review and sign applications prior to final submission.

Translational Imaging & Behavioral Assessment (TIBA) Core:  

• In-Vivo Imaging Core: Padmashri Ragunathan, PhD (ragunathan@unmc.edu)
• Animal Behavior Core: Mystera Samuelson, PhD (mystera.samuelson@unmc.edu)
• Small Animal MRI Core: Yutong Liu, PhD (yutongliu@unmc.edu)

Neuroimaging Acquisition & Analysis (NA2) Core:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): David Warren, PhD (david.warren@unmc.edu)
• Magnetoencephalography (MEG): Valentina Gumenyuk, PhD (vgumenyuk@unmc.edu)

Voucher Application and Submission Information: Utilize the CoNDA Core Usage Voucher Program Application 2025 packet (click link to download) to generate your project proposal. Provide a 1-page description of the study design and the need for core usage. Voucher applications must describe how the results generated will be utilized to support new research proposals.

Email completed and signed application with your NIH Biosketch to kpanas@unmc.edu by 5PM CST on September 5^th, 2025. 

Anticipated voucher start date is September 22^nd, 2025, and funding must be used by June 30^th, 2026. Please note that extensions past this date are not possible, and the CoNDA Center reserves the right to reclaim any unused voucher funds after that date.

Please note: upon the onset of the CoNDA Center's Phase 2 (August 2025), UNMC's MITI Core is no longer partially supported by the CoNDA.