Who funds neuroscience research?

We count 559 funded neuroscience projects, active between 2020 and 2034, from 7 funders. The most came from EU · ERC (218 projects), Wellcome (94 projects) and EU · MSCA (89 projects). The median award is $2.1M, across the 507 of 559 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

559

Funders

7

Median award

$2.1M

Open calls now

8

Top funders of neuroscience research

Projects whose title or summary mentions neuroscience. Median award: of the projects that list an amount, in US dollars; “—” when fewer than 3 do.

Open neuroscience funding calls

8 open calls mention neuroscience today.

• BRAIN Initiative: Reagent Resources for Brain Cell Type-Specific Access to Broaden Distribution of Enabling Technologies for Neuroscience (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: June 15, 2027 ·
• Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: May 25, 2028 ·
• Exploratory Clinical Neuroscience Research on Substance Use Disorders (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: June 16, 2028 ·
• BRAIN Initiative: Exploratory Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (R61 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthUp to $700,000Deadline: February 11, 2027 ·
• BRAIN Initiative: Integrative Team-Research BRAIN Circuits Program - iBCP (RM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthUp to $8,000,000Deadline: June 23, 2028 ·
• BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: October 6, 2028 ·
• BRAIN Initiative: Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: February 8, 2029 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Collaboratory to Advance Mathematics Education and Learning (CAMEL) for K-12
  U.S. National Science Foundation$1,000,000 – $1,500,000Deadline: Rolling (no fixed deadline listed)

Real odds

• About 1 in 8 funded · 13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025 · NIH Data Book, report 29

Published success rates for the programs behind the open calls above: the share of applications the funder funded, program-wide, not for this topic.

Forecast: announced, not open yet

6 forecast calls on neuroscience. Funders publish forecasts before a call opens; you can't apply to these yet, and dates can change.

• ForecastBRAIN Initiative: Development and Validation of Novel Tools and New Approaches for Neuroscience Research
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open February 10, 2027
• ForecastNetwork for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT) Infrastructure – Clinical Research Sites (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open September 1, 2027
• ForecastNetwork for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT) Infrastructure – Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC) & Data Coordinating Center (DCC)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open September 1, 2027
• ForecastBlueprint Neurotherapeutics Network (BPN): Small Molecule Drug Discovery and Development
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open November 15, 2026
• ForecastEstablishing a Research Network to Guide Foundational Research on Human Consciousness
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open December 1, 2026
• ForecastSfN Trainee Professional Development Award
  Society for NeuroscienceUp to $2,500Opening date not announced

Funded neuroscience projects

A sample, latest start first, at most three per program.

• Hijacking the host: molecular strategies of neurotropic enteric viruses
  Wellcome · £2,756,796 · ends 2034
• Disentangling the diverse forms of collective protein homeostasis in neuronal condensates
  Wellcome · £3,800,000 · ends 2034
• Dynamics and plasticity of neuropeptidergic circuits
  Wellcome · £4,750,000 · ends 2034
• Nonhuman Primate-Derived Enhancers for Studying Neural Circuit Functions
  NIH · NIMH · $4,028,357 · ends 2031
• Alzheimer's Risk Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ARITE)
  NIH · NIA · $5,945,498 · ends 2031
• Duke Conte Center for Basic Neuroscience on Kinase Signaling in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  NIH · NIMH · $3,068,480 · ends 2031
• CAREER: CORTEX: Next-Generation COmputing with Brain-Inspired Resilient, Transformative, and EXplainable Intelligence
  NSF · SBE · $655,286 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Lessons from a simple brain: Decoding neural computations underlying navigational and social behaviors in Drosophila larva
  NSF · BIO · $1,007,943 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Mathematical inference and analysis of spatio-temporal RNA transport and organization in development
  NSF · MPS · $505,185 · ends 2031
• Mapping the physiological regulation and function of the Parkinson's disease-associated kinase PINK1
  UKRI · MRC · £2,614,262 · ends 2031

How we count

Funded projects come from public award records (NIH RePORTER, NSF, EU CORDIS, UKRI Gateway to Research, Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, DOE, NASA and USDA NIFA) whose title or summary matches “neuroscience or neuronal”. NIH lists each budget year separately; one project counts once. Amounts are as the funder lists them; medians use only projects that list one, in US dollars. Open calls and forecasts are from our listings of October 28, 2026. A project can mention a topic without being mainly about it, so treat the counts as a guide to who funds the area.