The objective of this phase of the NeuroNex Program is the establishment of distributed, international research networks that build on existing global investments in neurotechnologies to address overarching questions in neuroscience. The creation of such global research networks of excellence will foster international cooperation by seeding close interactions between a wide array of organizations across the world, as well as creating links and articulating alliances between multiple recently launched international brain projects. The potential transformative advances in neuroscience stemming from this activity will have profound scientific and societal impacts. This interdisciplinary, international program is one element of NSF's broader effort directed at  Understanding the Brain, a multi-year activity that includes NSF's participation in the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative and the phased approach to develop a research infrastructure for neuroscience as outlined in the  Dear Colleague Letter NSF16-047. 

Through this program, the NSF and international partner agencies seek to support groups of investigators with a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds to work together at the nexus of their respective fields to accelerate our understanding of brain function across the phylogenetic spectrum. The goal of this solicitation is to support collaborative networks (approximately 15 to 20 investigators in each network, including one or more investigators eligible for funding through one or more of the international partner agencies). Each network is expected to be comprised of 2 to 4 Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) of disciplinarily diverse experimentalists, theorists, and research resource (including technology and cyberinfrastructure) developers working on a common foundational question in neuroscience. The IRGs in a Network, each involving about 3 to 6 investigators, are expected to address different but complementary aspects of the central question tackled by the Network. It is anticipated that these international networks will enable experimentation, analysis, and discovery in neuroscience at scales much larger than currently possible.

NSF will coordinate and manage the review of preliminary and full proposals jointly with participating domestic and foreign funding organizations, through a joint panel review process used by all participating funders. Please note that an individual may appear as PI, co-PI, or other Senior Personnel on no more than one Network proposal.