The Office of Foundation Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF).
- UCSC Contact: Samantha Forde | forde@ucsc.edu
- Funder: Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
- Program: 2026 BBRF Young Investigator Grant
- Funding: up to $70,000 over 2 years
- Deadline: March 4, 2026, no later than 08:59 p.m. PT
Overview
The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation funds psychiatric brain and behavior disorder research.
The Foundation’s BBRF Young Investigator Grant program enables promising investigators to either extend their research fellowship training, or to begin careers as independent research faculty. The program is intended to facilitate innovative research opportunities and supports basic, as well as translational and/or clinical investigators. All research must be relevant to our understanding, treatment and prevention of serious psychiatric disorders.
Click here to meet 2025 BBRF Young Investigators.
For all past BBRF Young Investigator awardees, see here.
Funding
- Up to $70,000 (over 2 years)
- Funding is for one or two years and is up to $35,000 per year.
- The Foundation does not pay institutional overhead on the BBRF Young Investigator Grant Program.
Eligibility
- Applicants must have a doctoral level degree and already be employed in research training or a faculty research position. The YI Grant is intended to support advanced postdoctoral fellows, instructors and assistant professors (or equivalent).
- Applicants must have an on-site mentor or senior collaborator who is an established investigator in areas relevant to psychiatric disorders.
- Applicants may only apply three times for an initial BBRF Young Investigator Grant.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)
Timeline
- Application deadline: March 4, 2026 by 8:59 p.m. PT
- Award notifications: September 2026
Special Instructions
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (fr@ucsc.edu). Please submit a proposal intake form prior to UCSC’s internal Institutional Deadlines. For support developing your proposal, please contact the Research Development team at resdev@ucsc.edu. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu) to initiate notification and proposal support.
Call sent: February 10, 2026
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.