Team Grant : Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex) – Preliminary Proposal
Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery
Deadlines
Academic Unit:
Memorial Deadline:
External Deadline: Friday 14th, June 2019
Description
Institutional Signature not required for Preliminary Proposal. RGCS asks that researchers please notify RGCS, your Associate Dean (Research) or your Grants Facilitator of your intention to apply to this opportunity.
CIHR and FRQ have decided to support Canadian investigators on a large-scale, interdisciplinary, international brain research initiative. Understanding how behavior emerges from the dynamic patterns of electrical and chemical activity of brain circuits is universally recognized as one of the great, unsolved mysteries of science. Advances in recent decades have elucidated how individual elements of the nervous system and brain relate to specific behaviors and cognitive processes. However, there remains much to discover to attain a comprehensive understanding of how the healthy brain functions, specifically, the general principles underlying how cognition and behavior relate to the brain’s structural organization and dynamic activities, how the brain interacts with its environment, and how brains maintain their functionality over time.
As part of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative in the United States, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has developed the Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex). The objective of the NeuroNex program is the establishment of distributed, international research networks that build on existing global investments in neurotechnologies to address overarching questions in neuroscience. The creation of such global research networks of excellence will foster international cooperation by seeding close interactions between a wide array of organizations across the world, as well as creating links and articulating alliances between multiple recently launched international brain projects. Canadian researchers are well placed to provide a leadership role within NeuroNex networks.
The goal of the NeuroNex Technology-enabled, Team-based Neuroscience solicitation is to support collaborative networks comprised of international teams of disciplinarily-diverse researchers working on a common foundational question in neuroscience. Each network will be organized around a central theme identified by the participants. Individual networks will be composed of 2 to 4 interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs), each consisting of about 3 to 6 investigators. Each IRG will have a defined intellectual role that fits within the overall research goal of the network. It is envisaged that the composition of each IRG may cut across organizations and countries, as appropriate. Through this funding opportunity, CIHR and FRQ will support Canadian investigators on NeuroNex IRGs.
Research Areas
A Network must be composed of international teams (IRGs) that include disciplinarily-diverse experimentalists and theorists working to obtain mechanistic insights into foundational questions in neuroscience. These networks must incorporate:
- Strong integration across levels of study within an organism
- Comparative analysis of neural underpinnings of behavior in naturalistic settings
- Predictive theory and modeling to guide research and uncover general principles
- Global partnerships
Networks must coalesce around a tractable, discrete behavior that is sufficiently generalizable to address a foundational question in brain function. It is desirable that the behavior under investigation is of sufficient complexity to inform how organisms function in their natural environments. Network goals must include the development of theoretical foundations that enable integration across levels, such as mapping of neural structure and activity to behavior.
The composition of each IRG may cut across organizations and countries as appropriate. The IRGs in a Network are expected to address different but complementary aspects of the central question tackled by the Network. The Network as a whole is expected to be more than the sum of its IRGs, with the synergy arising from a team science approach to integration across levels and organisms to address a common foundational question, the Network’s shared theoretical and analytical capabilities, and common workflow and data management practices.
For more information, please consult the NSF website.
Funds Available
- The total amount available from this opportunity is $5,000,000 enough to fund approximately 4 grants for the Canadian Component of an interdisciplinary research group (IRG). The maximum amount per grant is $250,000 per year for up to 5 years for a total of $1,250,000 per grant.
- Of this $5,000,000:
- $2,500,000 will be provided by FRQ for up to 2 grants for the Quebec component of a IRG. For more information on the FRQ contribution, please see the FRQ website.
- $2,500,000 will be provided by CIHR for up to 2 grants for the Canadian component of a IRG.
- Funds are available for one Canadian component per interdisciplinary research group (IRG). Note that multiple IRGs are allowed per Network application to NSF. The maximum amount per IRG ($250,000 per annum for up to five years) applies to all Canadian funding sources participating in this funding opportunity (CIHR and FRQ).
Please note all funds are in Canadian dollars.