Data / Federal grants / RFA-AT-27-002

Establishing a Research Network to Guide Foundational Research on Human Consciousness

National Institutes of Health (Department of Health and Human Services) expects to post this opportunity around December 1, 2026, with applications due around February 8, 2027. It lists 1 award expected, $600,000 in total.

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Key facts

Opportunity number

RFA-AT-27-002

Status

Forecast

Posted

April 28, 2026

Closes

February 8, 2027

Expected awards

1

Total funding

$600,000

Cost sharing

Not required

Funding instrument

Cooperative Agreement

Category

Health

Assistance listing

93.213 Research and Training in Complementary and Integrative Health; 93.476 Complementary and Integrative Health - Research Centers

Contact

NCCIH Division of Extramural Research Program Officer · [email protected] · Please contact via e-mail

Who can apply

• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Independent school districts
• County governments
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• State governments
• Special district governments
• City or township governments
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
• Private institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Small businesses
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)

Other Eligible ApplicantsIndian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized);Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government;U.S. Territory or Possession;Faith-based or Community-based Organizations;Regional Organizations

What the agency says

This Funding Opportunity will establish the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research Network to Guide Foundational Research on Human Consciousness , leveraging a trans-NIH collaboration of 14 Institutes, Centers, and Offices dedicated to reducing the burden of nervous system disorders. Consciousness is central to numerous serious biomedical conditions, including coma, delirium, dementia, traumatic brain injury, stroke, sleep disorders, metabolic disorders, and seizures - conditions central to NIH's biomedical mission. Yet the neural mechanisms that support conscious states remain insufficiently understood, limiting clinicians’ ability to diagnose and treat patients effectively. Advancing foundational science on human consciousness will strengthen clinical decision-making and improve outcomes for patients with costly and hard-to-treat neurologic and systemic illnesses by: Detecting consciousness in minimally responsive patients to guide prognosis, treatment, and ethical decisions (e.g., organ harvesting). Improving understanding of consciousness in Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias, and delirium. Investigating altered states in mental disorders to inform treatments. Identifying sentience and state transitions under anesthesia and during recovery. Advancing knowledge of sleep states and improving treatments for insomnia and other sleep disorders. Exploring non-sensory visual perception (e.g., hallucinations, aphantasia) to deepen insight into mental health. Evaluating therapeutic effects of consciousness-modulating interventions such as meditation, hypnosis, and neurostimulation. Applying New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to study human consciousness. Despite its importance, biomedical research on consciousness lacks shared standards, resulting in fragmented efforts and limiting understanding of underlying neurocircuitry. To accelerate rigorous, reproducible, and ethically grounded research, this initiative will create a national interdisciplinary Research Network to strengthen and integrate consciousness-related neuroscience, rather than support discrete, hypothesis-driven projects. The Network will develop coordination frameworks, standards, and infrastructure, uniting expertise from neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, anesthesiology, sleep and meditation research, computational science, AI, bioethics, and philosophy. The Network’s goal is capacity building: developing and providing needed research resources to advance understanding of the neural mechanisms supporting conscious states. It will lead planning and consensus-building activities to: Harmonize operational definitions across consciousness research. Identify research settings, model systems, and experimental designs with the greatest potential. Evaluate indicators and measures of consciousness for diverse scientific approaches. Determine which measures best reflect preserved or perturbed neurobiological function. Address essential ethical considerations. To strengthen U.S. leadership and cultivate a highly trained workforce, the Network will provide interdisciplinary cross-training opportunities, such as workshops and visiting scholar programs, not feasible in siloed environments. This initiative will create resources that enable rigorous biomedical research on the neural mechanisms of conscious states, aligning with NIH's strategic priorities to improve population health and well-being.

The notice on Grants.gov

Other open grants from the Department of Health and Human Services

All grants open to Nonprofits (501(c)(3)) · All grants open to Independent school districts · All grants open to County governments · Everything closing in February 2027

Read from the Grants.gov API, last updated 2026-10-23. The agency's notice on Grants.gov is the official record; check it before you apply.