Tiny Blue Dot Foundation (TBD), seeks to fund rigorous, empirical, statistically valid, and sound neuroscientific research related to a concept called Perception Box. Our grant funds will be used by recipients to support research to develop relevant techniques and interventions to expand the walls of people’s Perception Box, to measure the effectiveness of such techniques and interventions for neurotypicals and/or clinically defined populations and to track their basis in the brain using appropriate tools. This Request for Proposals (RFP) relates directly to the Expanding the Walls of Our Perception Box programmatic statement.

 Key Features

• The Request for Proposal (RFP) will involve a two-stage process to help minimize work for both principal investigators (PIs) and TBD. 

• In the first stage, applicants must submit a letter of intent (LOI). All LOIs will be reviewed by TBD staff and evaluated for relevance toward meeting the overall goals of the RFP.

• During the second stage, up to 30 applicants who submit a suitable LOI will be invited to submit a full proposal (Full Proposal), which will, to the extent possible, undergo a double-blind external review of the science proposed.

• In recognition that external review scores are an essential but imperfect predictor of project quality, we will include a lottery-style selection among the top ranked full proposals (in which proposals will be randomly selected from the top-ranked proposals before being presented for final approval).

• Applicants can seek funding for up to three consecutive years with funding of up to US$900,000. This sum includes a maximum amount of 15% overhead.

• To help applicants throughout the process, we will host webinars at key stages. Webinars will be recorded to accommodate applicants from different time zones.