Neuroscience institute announces investment in grand-challenge research

The Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience (PIIN) is investing resources to support new interdisciplinary research teams through its new program, Grand Challenges in Neuroscience. Six to 10 project teams will receive funding for a one-year project period, with the potential for additional funding upon completion of agreed-upon milestones.

The application deadline is 9 a.m. Sept. 16, and the anticipated project start date is Oct. 15.

The announcement comes on the heels of this summer’s PIIN Life Sciences-Engineering Workshop Series, designed to identify major challenges in neuroscience that could benefit from engineering technologies with a strong presence at Purdue.

Over three sessions involving presentations and brainstorming discussions, Purdue faculty members identified six key areas of research. They are:

• Addiction.
• Neurodegeneration.
• Hearing loss.     
• Neurotrauma.
• Neurocircuitry.
• Autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

“These areas, which encompass such medical issues as Alzheimer’s disease, autism, traumatic brain injury and opioid addiction, are not only areas of strengths at Purdue, but also topics in the national conversation,” says Chris Rochet, the John and Donna Krenicki Director of the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience. “Medical professionals, patients and their families are searching for new treatments and earlier diagnoses, and funding agencies are eager to support innovative studies that examine these challenges from new perspectives.”

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Significance and innovation of the research.
• Scientific merit/rigor of the approach.
• Rationale for the roles of research team members.
• Strategies for generating new extramural grant support.
• Benefits to the PIIN community.

A key expectation of funded teams is that they be willing to share technology, equipment and unique data sets created with their neuroscience colleagues at Purdue. Teams will need also to provide reports at regular intervals, outlining milestones achieved.

“A major goal of this initiative is to position teams of PIIN investigators to be highly competitive for extramural funding opportunities,” Rochet says. “Therefore, teams selected for funding are expected to engage with PIIN leadership during and after the period of PIIN support.”

View the complete Request for Application here. For more information, contact neuro@purdue.edu.

The Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience is one of six interdisciplinary life sciences research centers harnessing the University’s unique strengths to improve the quality of life for people around the globe. Through an ambitious integration of traditional life sciences with Purdue’s powerhouse engineering program, PIIN aims to address the greatest challenges in mental illness and neurological disorders by revolutionizing diagnostic and treatment capabilities.