Neuroscience Funding Through NIH

The National Institutes of Health is the world’s leading biomedical research enterprise, providing essential support to U.S. neuroscience. In FY2011, funding for research in the category of “neurosciences” made up a quarter of all NIH extramural awards (research can belong to more than one category), totaling $5.55 billion for 16,472 grants to 893 organizations across the United States.

In 2004, NIH launched the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research with the goal of identifying cross-cutting areas of research and confront challenges in a more collaborative way. The blueprint includes the NIH Office of the Director and 14 NIH institutes and centers involved in research on the nervous system. NIH launched Blueprint Grand Challenges in key scientific areas in 2009 to push neuroscience research even further.

For more information, read Making the Case for NIH Funding and check out SfN's handout: NIH Funding for Neuroscience Research.