Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science

COBRE Center for Nervous System Function - Pilot Project Applications

Funding Opportunities

Applications are currently closed.

The Carney Institute for Brain Science’s COBRE Center for Nervous System Function (CNSF) aims to increase the quantity and quality of research on the nervous system in Rhode Island. One means of attaining this goal concerns identifying and nurturing talented young investigators and enabling established investigators to create a new research line.

Pre-proposals due by July 7, 2023 at 5 p.m. (EST).
Full applications (by invitation only) due by August 4, 2023 at 5 p.m. (EST).
Download full instructions

We announce the availability of up to six 12-month grants of between $75,000 and $100,000 for research related to nervous system function to be funded through our COBRE grant. We particularly welcome projects that explore the neural basis of attention, decision-making, learning, memory, or other cognitive functions, though any area of fundamental or translational neuroscience will be considered.

We will consider work with humans or pre-clinical model systems, including invertebrate models. We aim to enable an investigator to collect preliminary data in support of grant applications for independent external research funding, especially from the NIH. Pilot project investigators can take advantage of the CNSF community to help guide their science and career development. Pilot project investigators will have access to the CNSF’s Behavior and Neuroimaging Core to provide expertise for study design and data analysis.

The pilot project will be funded for 12 months, with an earliest possible start date of September 1, 2023.

Address inquiries regarding COBRE CNSF Pilot Projects to Deputy Principal Investigator David Sheinberg.

Faculty at any rank or senior post-doctoral fellows who will have a faculty appointment (tenure or research track) by September 1, 2023 at a Rhode Island academic institution are eligible to apply. Early-Stage Investigators (defined here) must identify a mentor with expertise related to the proposed research. Established investigators must propose a new area of research. Because the pilot project funds derive, in part, from our NIGMS-funded COBRE, awarding of a COBRE-funded Pilot Project will require one to relinquish any other NIGMS sponsored NIGMS IDeA programmatic funding.

This call will include a short Pre-proposal which, if acknowledged as falling within the scope of the COBRE pilot program, will be followed by a more formal Application. Please submit a single page pdf pre-proposal to cobre-cnsf@brown.edu. Full applications will be submitted through UFunds, by invitation only.