Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 20 093

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 20 093

The Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional), Funding Opportunity Number PAR-20-093, is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant announcement administered through the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). It supports the creation of Conte Centers, which are large, team-based research programs built around ambitious questions in neuroscience and mental health. The core idea is to fund projects that require a level of coordination, shared infrastructure, and intellectual integration that would be difficult to pull off through more typical single-investigator or small-team grant mechanisms. This is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health funding category (CFDA 93.242), and it is designed for bold, high-risk, high-impact work rather than incremental extensions of existing projects.

NIMH is looking for interdisciplinary teams that work across different levels of analysis and use integrative, novel, and creative experimental approaches. The program is intentionally broad in terms of scientific approach, but the expectation is that multiple projects and investigators will be tightly linked by a unifying scientific theme, with strong synergy across components. In practice, that means the Center should operate like a cohesive research engine: shared concepts, coordinated methods, and cross-project collaboration that produces outcomes greater than what each project could deliver on its own. The “clinical trial optional” designation indicates that a clinical trial may be included if it is scientifically appropriate, but a clinical trial is not required to be competitive.

The FOA highlights three major scientific objectives. First, it aims to advance basic brain and behavior science by uncovering and dissecting underlying mechanisms that can ultimately serve as a foundation for understanding mental disorders. This includes work that clarifies how neural circuits, cellular processes, computational principles, or behavioral mechanisms operate in ways that are relevant to psychiatric risk and resilience. Second, it supports efforts that integrate and translate basic and clinical neuroscience research, particularly focused on severe mental illnesses. This objective emphasizes bridging the gap between mechanistic discoveries and clinically meaningful insights, such as linking neurobiological mechanisms to symptom dimensions, functional outcomes, or treatment response. Third, it encourages research that advances understanding of neurobehavioral developmental mechanisms and trajectories of psychopathology beginning in childhood and adolescence, recognizing that many psychiatric disorders and risk pathways emerge early and unfold over time through interactions between brain development, behavior, and environment.

The Conte Centers program is positioned as a specialized mechanism intended only for projects that genuinely require a Center-level structure. NIMH explicitly frames this as support for work with an “extraordinary level of synergy, integration, and potential for advancing the state of the field.” In other words, applicants are expected to justify why the proposed science cannot be achieved using other, more standard NIH grant mechanisms. Successful applications typically align around a compelling scientific question, show strong integration across basic and translational components where relevant, and demonstrate that the Center structure (multiple coordinated projects, shared resources, and sustained collaboration) is essential to achieving the goals.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), excluding higher education institutions where applicable); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other types of domestic entities. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, there are important limits related to foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, “foreign components” as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may include certain types of international collaboration or activities when they meet NIH’s definition and justification requirements, even though a foreign organization cannot serve as the primary applicant.

Administrative details in the source information indicate an award ceiling of $2,000,000, with the original closing date listed as May 24, 2022, and a creation date of January 16, 2020. The agency is NIH, with NIMH as the institute driving the scientific focus. Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a Center-level funding mechanism for teams ready to tackle major neuroscience and mental health questions through deeply integrated, multi-project programs that aim to shift the field rather than simply add another step to it.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic Neuroscience or Translational Mental Health Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-01-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-05-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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