Limited Submission Opportunity 

Brain Research Foundation: 2027 Scientific Innovations Award  

Number of SLU slots: 1 senior faculty member 

Internal Deadline: May 8, 2026 

LOI Submission Deadline to Funder: June 2, 2026 

Full Proposal Deadline: September 22, 2026 

The Award & Eligibility Criteria 

The objective of the Scientific Innovations Award is to support projects that may be too innovative and speculative for traditional funding sources but still have a high likelihood of producing important findings. It is expected that investigations supported by these grants will yield high impact findings and result in major grant applications and funding as well as significant publications in high impact journals. 
 
The nominee must be a full-time associate professor/full professor working in neuroscience, neurology, neurobiology, physiology, psychiatry, psychology, or related disciplines, proposing scientific projects with a focus on brain health and disease, including cancer. Current major NIH or other peer-reviewed funding is preferred but evidence of such funding in the past three years is essential. The grant period is for two years, totaling $150,000. The support focus is for new research projects of the highest scientific merit.   

Guidance for the Nomination Process 
 

An internal competition will be held to assign the single slot. Interested PIs should submit a 1-2 page summary of their proposed project and Biosketch in NIH format in OpenWater by 5pm on May 8, 2026, here: https://slu.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/243/home  

A SLU faculty selection committee will review and select the most suitable applicant and notify all applicants of the outcome by May 22, 2026, barring any unforeseen circumstances.  The LOI submission deadline to the funder is June 2, 2026 at 4pm CT. The full proposal deadline is September 22, 2026.   

For more information and a complete list of requirements, please see the guidelines here. To learn more about Brain Research Foundation, please click here.  

For more information or questions on the Foundation, contact Wendy Schlesinger at wendy.schlesinger@slu.edu.