Funding Opportunities

Funding Opportunity (Research Project Grants)

Request for Letters of Intent to Apply for Research Project Funding

Letter of Intent Deadline: 5:00PM Sunday, January 5, 2025

Estimated Full Application Deadline: March 2, 2025

Program Summary:

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Development and Aging (CoNDA) Center is pleased to announce an opportunity for Research Project funding through an NIH/NIGMS grant. The CoNDA Center is a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) that focuses on cognitive neuroscience and strives to support neuroscience research in the Omaha region. The goal of the Research Projects Program is to provide support to junior investigators to develop independent research program and acquire the preliminary data necessary to apply for and obtain external federal funding. The benchmark of success for the CoNDA RPL is the award an NIH R01 (or equivalent grant) within 2-3 years. Successful applicants will receive up to $200,000 in direct costs per year for 2-3 years, as well as access to the resources and equipment of the Center for professional development and project support. Applicants must be able to devote 0.5 FTE to the project. We anticipate funding one Research Project through this RFA in Summer 2025.

Eligibility and Eligible Institutions:

This current RFA is limited to full-time faculty at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Creighton University, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Individuals must meet the NIH definition of an Early Stage Investigator (ESI) or New Investigator (NI). Individuals concurrently receiving research project funds from other IDeA mechanisms (INBRE, COBRE, CTR) are not eligible to apply. Applicants need to be in a tenure-leading position at rank of Assistant Professor or higher and not have or previously had an external, peer-reviewed RPG or Program Project Grant (PPG) from either a Federal or non-Federal source that names that investigator as the PD/PI (e.g. an R01 or the equivalent).

Relevant Areas of Research:

This mechanism aims to support innovative research that focuses on cognitive neuroscience which leads to the development of the recipient into an independent, NIH-funded scientist. Priority will be given to those projects that are most likely to lead to successful extramural funding, and to those that will make use of the CoNDA Center’s supported Research Cores. Applications not relevant to the Center’s themes (cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, neurocognitive disorders, development, and/or aging), will be returned without review. For this RFA, we are specifically interested in research projects performing translational research on animal models. Examples of such Research Projects that would be of high interest to the CoNDA Center include, but are not limited, to the topics below:

• Studies of neurodevelopmental disorders including Down Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Studies of Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases
• Multidisciplinary studies of aging and factors that lead to pathological (vs healthy) aging
• Neural mechanisms of psychiatric disease and/or psychiatric symptoms in other diseases
• Studies examining the impact of stress on brain structure and/or function in development and aging
• Studies examining the impact of environmental contaminants on systems-level brain health
• Studies of effects of altered brain activity (i.e., seizures) on the development of neurocognitive impairments
• Impact of neuroinflammation on brain structure and function across the lifespan
• Normative cognitive neuroscience and cognitive aging research

Please submit a letter of intent to apply, including planned Specific Aims, a description of plans to utilize CoNDA Research Cores, and an updated Biosketch. Full applications will be solicited by invitation. Email your letter, Specific Aims, and Biosketch in one PDF file to kpanas@unmc.edu by 5:00pm on Sunday, January 5^th, 2024.

Check here for new funding opportunity announcements and requests for applications. 

The CoNDA Center funds Pilot Projects, Research Projects, and Core Usage Vouchers. Requests for applications for new Pilot Projects and Core Usage Voucher mini-grants will typically be released annually.