Applicants must be designated Early Stage Investigators (ESI) by NIH as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement . In addition, applicants must have faculty appointments which are tenure track or equivalent, generally at the level of Assistant Professor or equivalent, and have a research or health professional level degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent) at the time of application. If the applicant is at an institution/organization that does not have a tenure track, he or she must hold an equivalent appointment and must have demonstrated support from the institution. Individuals must show that they have established research independence from a mentor, and have dedicated independent laboratory and research resources available to conduct the research proposed in the grant application. If an ESI applicant loses their ESI status by virtue of successfully competing as a PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award prior to the award of a BRAINS award, they will lose their eligibility to receive the BRAINS award.

Potential applicants who anticipate developing or testing interventions that focus on measuring target engagement and mechanism of action are strongly advised to contact the Scientific/Research Contact for this FOA regarding the match between an application, current NIMH priorities, and the unique goals of this FOA.

If a PD/PI has submitted to a prior BRAINS FOA but was not successful in receiving funding, they may be eligible to apply again if they still have NIH ESI status and the application proposes a scientifically distinct project than the prior submission. Resubmissions or submission of the same project as a new application are not allowed under this RFA.