From Genomic Association to Causation: A Convergent Neuroscience Approach for Integrating Levels of Analysis to Delineate Brain Function in Neuropsychiatry (Collaborative U01) | PAR 17 176

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 17 176

This National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity, titled "From Genomic Association to Causation: A Convergent Neuroscience Approach for Integrating Levels of Analysis to Delineate Brain Function in Neuropsychiatry (Collaborative U01)" (PAR-17-176), supports collaborative research that moves beyond identifying genetic associations and instead works toward explaining how those associations relate to brain function and, ultimately, neuropsychiatric symptoms and behavior. The central aim is to promote Convergent Neuroscience (CN), meaning tightly integrated, team-based science that links neighboring (contiguous) biological and behavioral levels of analysis in a way that can support causal conclusions or, where causality is not yet possible, strong probabilistic explanations. The FOA is focused on building explanatory models of psychopathology by showing how processes at one level, such as genes or molecular pathways, contribute to measurable properties at another level, such as cellular activity, circuit dynamics, systems-level function, cognition, affect, or other behaviors. A key preference is for projects that connect at least three levels of analysis and that keep genetics as a major emphasis, reflecting the program's push to translate genomic findings into mechanisms.

The opportunity emphasizes interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary team formation as a core requirement rather than an add-on. Applicants are expected to assemble highly synergistic teams that include neuroscience expertise and also draw from "orthogonal" fields that can provide new methods and theoretical perspectives, such as data science, computational modeling, physics, engineering, mathematics, and environmental sciences. In practical terms, NIH is looking for projects where these disciplines are not working in parallel silos, but are jointly developing new concepts, tools, and integrative approaches that make it possible to connect one level of analysis to the next in a coherent chain. The expectation is that successful teams will either create new conceptual frameworks or meaningfully expand existing ones, then formalize those ideas into computational explanatory models that explicitly map relationships across levels (for example, from genetic variation to molecular signaling changes, to cell type-specific physiology, to circuit properties, to behavior). Those models should not remain purely theoretical; they should be tested and validated using experimental approaches designed to probe the proposed links and clarify biological mechanisms behind complex behavioral outcomes relevant to psychopathology, including both cognitive and affective domains.

Another major program goal is community impact through sharing. The FOA is not only funding individual projects, but also aiming to advance the broader field of Convergent Neuroscience by encouraging the creation of shared resources and a common framework that other researchers can build on. Because of that, competitive applications are expected to include a robust plan for sharing data, methods, models, and other resources generated by the team, so the outputs can accelerate further research beyond the funded group. This emphasis signals that NIH values infrastructure-like contributions (well-documented datasets, reusable computational models, and broadly applicable methods) alongside the specific scientific findings of the project itself.

Mechanistically, this is a Cooperative Agreement (U01), which typically implies a more active partnership with NIH compared to a standard research grant. The activity category is Health, and the CFDA number listed is 93.242. The award ceiling is noted as $2,500,000, indicating an upper bound on the total amount per award under the announcement as provided in the source. The listing also indicates an original closing date of 2020-01-07 and a creation date of 2017-02-27, which is useful context for understanding the timeline of the announcement as posted.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations. Eligible applicants encompass various levels of government (state, county, city or township, special district), independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, and other Native American tribal organizations. Nonprofits are eligible whether or not they have 501(c)(3) status, and both for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses are also eligible. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, non-U.S. (foreign) entities, U.S. territories or possessions, and certain tribal governments other than federally recognized ones. Overall, the funding opportunity is designed to bring together diverse institutions and disciplines to produce experimentally grounded, computationally explicit, multi-level explanations that connect genetic findings to brain mechanisms and clinically relevant behavior in neuropsychiatry, while also generating shareable resources that strengthen the larger research community.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "From Genomic Association to Causation: A Convergent Neuroscience Approach for Integrating Levels of Analysis to Delineate Brain Function in Neuropsychiatry (Collaborative U01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-02-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-01-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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