Tools and Techniques for Elucidating and Manipulating Neural Circuit Development

Submission Date: September 17, 2007

Anticipated Number of Awards: 4-5

The total project period for an application submitted in response to this funding opportunity may not exceed two years. Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over an R21 two-year period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year.

The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is a framework to enhance cooperative activities among the NIH Office of the Director and 15 NIH Institutes and Centers that support research on the central and peripheral nervous systems. In fiscal year 2008, the Blueprint is emphasizing neural development. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications directed toward the discovery of novel and/or improved means for precise spatiotemporal analysis or manipulation of circuit assembly in the developing central and peripheral nervous systems. For the purposes of this FOA, neural circuit development is defined as processes occurring during prenatal and postnatal development (through adolescence) that begin with axon and dendrite formation and continue through axon guidance and pathfinding, myelination, synapse formation and synapse refinement. Tools and technologies for the study of invertebrates, vertebrates and/or humans are acceptable if the resulting resources will accelerate research in the area of neural circuit development.

For complete information, visit the Tools and Techniques for Elucidating and Manipulating Neural Circuit Development webpage.