National Pride Grant for LGBTQIA+ Small Businesses

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to provide continuing support for the Informatics, Coordination and Service Center (ICSC) unit of the Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (MMRRC) consortium. The ICSC is expected to provide informatics and coordinating services to the MMRRC consortium and biomedical researchers. Important functions of the ICSC are improvement, development, and maintenance of the Consortium"s in-house data management systems in a format that may facilitate their integration with other animal and non-animal resource databases and community standards for information accessibility and interoperability. Additional services include maintenance and further development of a public website portal and Customer Service Center; operation of the order processing system; review and processing of applications from donating investigators; facilitation of interactions with biomedical investigators, informatics services, database activities, and the archive of MMRRC documents and files; coordination of requests to donate mouse strains to the MMRRCs and to order mouse strains from the MMRRCs; oversight of marketing efforts; and completion of monthly and yearly metrics reports. Moreover, the ICSC will host and actively participate in the monthly teleconference, annual consortium meeting, and compose reports and summaries from these forums as requested by MMRRC consortium members or NIH staff. Of special interest of the announcement is a requirement of the Center"s close coordination with efforts to develop new approach methodologies (NAMs) that complement traditional animal-based research. These include cell culture, organoids, computational models, and microphysiological systems. Proposed activities should include collection and analysis of the comparative information on the use of NAMs that enhance the predictive power of human disease models and support their integration with traditional models.

The Texas Enterprise Fund awards “deal-closing” grants to companies considering a new project for which one Texas site is competing with other out-of-state sites. The fund serves as a performance-based financial incentive for those companies whose projects would contribute significant capital investment and new employment opportunities to the state’s economy. Eligible applicants include all companies planning a new project including a facility opening or expansion, with significant projected job creation and capital investment, where a single site in Texas is actively competing with at least one viable out-of-state option.

The purpose of the GAINS program is to promote the expansion and development of United States Department of Labor (USDOL) approved Registered Apprenticeship programs that drive economic development through skills and educational attainment and create pathways to better-paying careers and advanced credentials. While this NGO describes fourteen (14) sectoral/occupational areas of focus, all occupations that are recognized by US DOL as “apprenticeable” are encouraged to apply. Eligible applicants can request funding up to $12,000 per registered apprentice.

The Manufacturing 4.0 Technology Investment Program provides grants that assist small- and mid-sized enterprises with the adoption and integration of smart technologies into existing operations in the state. Grants offered through this program are aimed at helping manufacturers increase productivity, efficiency and competitiveness. They may be used for the purchase of equipment and specialized hardware or software in the Industry 4.0 technology groups.

A central goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to understand how electrical and chemical signals code information in neural circuits and give rise to sensations, thoughts, emotions and actions. While currently available technologies can provide some understanding, they may not be sufficient to accomplish this goal. For example, non-invasive technologies are low resolution and/or provide indirect measures such as blood flow, which are imprecise; invasive technologies can provide information at the level of single neurons producing the fundamental biophysical signals, but they can only be applied to tens or hundreds of neurons, out of a total number in the human brain estimated at 85 billion.Other BRAIN FOAs seek to develop novel technology (RFA-NS-17-003) or to optimize existing technology ready for in-vivo proof-of-concept testing and collection of preliminary data (RFA-NS-17-004) for recording or manipulating neural activity on a scale that is beyond what is currently possible. This FOA seeks applications for unique and innovative technologies that are in an even earlier stage of development than that sought in other FOAs, including new and untested ideas that are in the initial stages of conceptualization.In addition to experimental approaches, the support provided under this FOA might enable calculations, simulations, computational models, or other mathematical techniques for demonstrating that the signal sources and/or measurement technologies are theoretically capable of meeting the demands of large-scale recording or manipulation of circuit activity in humans or in animal models. The support might also be used for building and testing phantoms, prototypes, in-vitro or other bench-top models in order to validate underlying theoretical assumptions in preparation for future FOAs aimed at testing in animal models.