Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (required): September 22, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): November 22, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: November 15, 2021
Award Information: This is not a funding opportunity; no money will be distributed to selected applicants. Instead, a selected proposal provides access to fully funded data collection activities at the Allen Institute (funded through an NIH BRAIN Initiative U24 grant awarded directly to the Allen Institute). This award also provides support for one team member to take one trip to the Allen Institute.
The OpenScope program is soliciting proposals for experiments to be carried out
using the Allen Brain Observatory in vivo imaging and electrophysiology platforms in the brains
of mice. Data will be collected by skilled operators at the Allen Institute and will be packaged in
a standardized format and distributed to external teams for their own analysis. In the current call for proposals, recordings will be targeted to the visual pathways of mice passively viewing a stimulus monitor (future calls for proposals may include more brain regions and/or active behavioral tasks). The Institute anticipates selecting three projects in 2021 distributed across Allen Brain Observatory rigs: Neuropixels electrophysiology and two-photon imaging. The resulting cellular data (spiking activity and segmented ROI) and meta-data will be delivered to the applicant team for their own subsequent analysis and publication. Experiments should be designed to address fundamental questions related to the function of the mammalian neocortex and associated structures in health or disease.
The Allen Institute will host an applicant webinar on September 13, 2021. At this webinar, attendees will be introduced to the NIH-supported OpenScope resource, meet the Allen Institute OpenScope program team, and learn about the application process, expectations, and recent selected projects. Register here for this event.