Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain 2014 Research Award

The Simons Foundation has launched the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB). The collaboration now invites letters of intent that emphasize the recording of population neural data at cellular resolution and the application of advanced statistical analysis and modeling to such data through ongoing or future collaboration between experimentalists and theorists, within or between labs.
Traditionally, neuroscience research has relied heavily on studies of sensory and motor systems to reveal principles of brain function. Less is known about internal states that control motivation and decision bias or that may represent remembered events and other cognitive functions. Internal states interact with sensory and motor signals in a way that has been difficult to explore in the absence of methods for reading out and affecting neural responses that do not rely on manipulating external stimuli or monitoring actions.
Our domain of study now includes internal activity because appropriate methods have been developed: we can record simultaneously from large numbers of neurons, we can manipulate their activity optogenetically, and we have promising mathematical tools to examine the signals that they encode. By combining analyses of internal states with studies of sensory and motor processing, we hope to span the arc from sensation to action and to discover the nature, role and mechanisms of the neural activities that produce cognition.
For more information about the SCGB, click here.
A key component of the SCGB is the interaction among the members. Awardees are expected to share data and information and participate in conferences, workshops and symposia organized by the investigators and the Executive Committee of the SCGB.
Letter of Intent Submission
Letters of intent must be submitted electronically using forms provided at proposalCENTRAL. Please log in as an applicant, go to the “Grant Opportunities” tab, scroll to “Simons Foundation” and click “Apply Now” for the “Life Sciences-Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain Research Award (LIFEI-SCGBR).” For assistance, please call 800-875-2562 or email pcsupport@altum.com.
The deadline to submit a letter of intent is March 20, 2014, 5 p.m. Eastern. No extensions will be given. If you have any difficulties, please contact grants@simonsfoundation.org.
Each submission must include:

• A letter of intent that sets forth a brief description of the work you would pursue addressing the scientific aims of the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain. More information about the overall aims of the SCGB program is available here. This letter of intent narrative, including figures and references, must not exceed two (2) pages. Letters of intent that exceed the two-page limit will not be reviewed.
• A brief biographical sketch of principal investigator(s). The biographical sketches must not exceed two (2) pages.

We invite letters of intent from individual experimentalists and/or theorists and from small groups who have planned or have already developed collaborations. The SCGB Executive Committee (see below) will review each proposal and solicit further information from the investigator(s) if needed for evaluation of the proposed work. Letters of intent will be judged on the excellence of science and relevance to the stated goals of the SCGB. Recommended funding levels will be determined by both the scope of the proposed work and the existing funding for the investigator(s). The Simons Foundation Board of Directors will make final funding decisions.
In 2014, the SCGB will provide $5 million in funding (for an estimated 15-25 funded proposals). The grant period is for three (3) years, although continued funding is possible, contingent on satisfactory study progress. Letters of intent selected for SCGB awards will be announced in early May 2014, and funding will begin on July 1, 2014.
Eligibility
All applicants and key collaborators must hold a Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent degree and have a faculty position or equivalent at a college, university, medical school or other research facility. Applications may be submitted from domestic and foreign nonprofit organizations; public and private institutions, such as colleges, universities, hospitals, laboratories and units of state and local government; and eligible agencies of the federal government. There are no citizenship or country requirements.
SCGB Financial Policy Summary
The SCGB will follow the financial policies of the Simons Foundation Life Sciences program. Indirect costs are limited to 20 percent of the modified total direct costs. There is no minimum percent effort required for principal investigators or other personnel on any SCGB award, but it is expected that the principal investigator will commit sufficient effort to the project to provide a leading intellectual and guidance role.
Funding requested can creatively support collaborations that include the participation of investigators at research centers that do not typically require external grant support. These activities can extend and foster shared postdoc activity or provide supplemental funding for specific projects.
Leadership
The SCGB is directed by David W. Tank, Ph.D.
Henry L. Hillman Professor in Molecular Biology and Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
Co-Director, Princeton Neuroscience Institute.
He chairs an executive committee that comprises the following individuals:
Larry Abbott, Ph.D.
William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience, Departments of Neuroscience, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, and Biological Sciences, Columbia University
Co-Director, Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, and Member, The Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University
J. Anthony Movshon, Ph.D.
University Professor, Silver Professor, and Director, Center for Neural Science, New York University
William T. Newsome, Ph.D.
Harman Family Provostial Professor, Director of Stanford Neurosciences Institute, and Professor of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Stanford University
Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D.
Chief Scientist and Fellow of the Simons Foundation
Contacts:
Administrative inquiries: grants@simonsfoundation.org, 646-654-0066
Scientific inquiries: globalbrain@simonsfoundation.org
ProposalCENTRAL:  pcsupport@altum.com, 800-875-2562

Date:

Application deadline is March 20 2014