The Opportunity: The National Institute of Mental Health issued a call for proposals to establish a handful of new Silvio O. Conte Centers to support interdisciplinary basic neuroscience or translational research that demonstrates an extraordinary level of synergy, integration, and potential for advancing the state of the field. This funding program is intended for highly integrative approaches that could not be achieved using standard grant mechanisms. 

The Stakeholders: Yael Niv, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Princeton, approached the Research Development team to ask for help developing a proposal with Rutgers University to establish a center that would explore the fundamental underpinnings of mental function with the goal of designing solutions that could lead to new diagnostics and treatments. The team from Princeton included professors Jon Cohen, Ken Norman, Ilana Witten and Nathaniel Daw. 

The Challenge: Although the teams at Princeton and Rutgers already collaborate frequently, the researchers needed help managing the proposal development process for such a large, multi-faceted center. Beyond the team’s ambitious research goals, the proposed center must also support specialized training and mentoring in addition to engaging its members in public outreach and communication activities.

The Process: The proposal required a significant team effort to develop four distinct but tightly interconnected research projects, three research cores (platforms), plus an administrative core to coordinate scientific operations, training, mentoring, data management, outreach, and communications. The narrative totaled 60 pages, with the entire submission package totaling 745 pages. The research development staff in the Office of the Dean for Research supported the entire proposal development process, assisting with content strategy, editing, graphics design, and coordinating with campus partners for non-technical elements of the narrative. 

The Outcome: The five-year $16M award brings together ten accomplished investigators from Princeton and Rutgers to conduct a multidimensional characterization of a new cognitive process, tying it to mental illnesses and uncovering its neural mechanisms. The center will facilitate this cutting-edge research through regular team meetings, seminars, and annual retreats, and support training and mentoring of a new generation of neuroscientists to develop fresh approaches to mental health. Read more about the center in this Princeton Neuroscience Institute announcement.