Assistance program
Mental Health Research Grants
$14.4 Billion committed in FY2018–FY2026
- Agency
- National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services, Department of
- Assistance
- Cooperative Agreements;Project Grants;Training
- CFDA number
- 93.242
- What it does
- The mission of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure. We fulfill this mission by supporting and conducting research on mental illnesses, health services, and the underlying basic science of the brain and behavior; supporting the training of scientists to carry out basic and clinical mental health research; and communicating with scientists, patients, providers, and the public about mental health research advances and priorities. In May 2024, NIMH released its Strategic Plan for Research. The Strategic Plan builds on the successes of previous NIMH strategic plans by providing a framework for scientific research and exploration, and addressing new challenges in mental health. The new Strategic Plan outlines four high-level Goals: • Goal 1: Define the Brain Mechanisms Underlying Complex Behaviors • Goal 2: Examine Mental Illness Trajectories Across the Lifespan • Goal 3: Strive for Prevention and Cures • Goal 4: Strengthen the Public Health Impact of NIMH-Supported Research These four Goals form a broad roadmap for the Institute’s research priorities over the next five years, beginning with the fundamental science of the brain and behavior, and extending through evidence-based services that improve public health outcomes.
- Who benefits
- Individuals and public, private, profit, or nonprofit organizations.
- Who applies
- Public, private, -profit, or nonprofit agencies (including State and local government agencies), eligible Federal agencies, universities, colleges, hospitals, and academic or research institutions may apply for research grants. SBIR grants can be awarded only to domestic small businesses, and STTR grants can be awarded only to domestic small businesses which "partner" with a research institution in cooperative research and development. An applicant for individual predoctoral fellowship support must be enrolled in a research doctoral degree program by the proposed activation date of the fellowship. A postdoctoral applicant must have received a Ph.D., Psy.D., M.D., D.D.S., Sc.D., D.N.S., D.O., D.S.W., or equivalent degree from an accredited institution to be eligible for an individual postdoctoral fellowship. All research training awards are made to appropriate domestic research centers, medical schools, departments of psychiatry, non-medical academic departments, psychiatric hospitals or hospitals with psychiatric services, community mental health centers, and biomedical research institutes on behalf of individuals who need the opportunity to realize research potential. Except for the NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award (K99/R00), the individuals must be citizens or nationals of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. The NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award (K99/R00) is open to both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens. Individuals must qualify by scholastic degree and previous training and/or experience.
- Authorized by
- Public Health Service Act
- Public Health Service Act
- SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011
- Public Law 114-255
- Program site
- http://www.nimh.nih.gov ↗
Committed by fiscal year
* FY2026 is year-to-date — the fiscal year is still in progress, so its total is still filling in. The striped band and dashed line mark that provisional stretch.
How the money flows
Committed dollars by how this program's money is paid out.
Direct payments
$8.1M
<1%
Grants
$14.4B
100%
Top recipients
By dollars committed.
How to read these numbers
- Committed through this program
Money committed under this assistance listing (its CFDA program), counted in the year each action happened.
- How it's paid
Most programs pay out one way — a grant, or a direct payment to individuals; the flow bar only appears when a program genuinely mixes types.
- Some recipients aren't itemized
For entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, the government reports one aggregate instead of naming tens of millions of people, so the recipient roster isn't part of the public record.
- Awards, counted once
An award count is the number of distinct awards with at least one action that year — each counted once, however many times it was amended.
- The colored bars
Every bar on this page splits by how the money moves:
Direct payments