What does the Dana Foundation not fund?

Across our grant programs:  

• The Foundation does not make grants to political campaigns, to support political activities, or to lobby for or against legislation.  
• The Foundation does not make grants to individuals.  
• The Foundation does not generally make grants to for-profit institutions.  
• The Foundation does not fund purely empirical or conceptual biomedical and/or behavioral research projects without a substantive, active emphasis on addressing complex societal problems. For example, an interdisciplinary team working on a purely empirical behavioral neuroscience study would not constitute a competitive application.  
• The Foundation generally does not provide funding for one-off events or conference programming, unless otherwise specified.  
• The Foundation generally does not fund requests to support ongoing programs or general operating support, unless otherwise specified; instead, we are interested in applications proposing discrete interdisciplinary projects that are well-aligned with our mission and our programmatic priorities.  

Specific to the Dana Education program, we will not consider proposals for:  

• Educational or training programs that target undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs (see Dana NextGen program). 
• Passive learning approaches, such as documentary films, videos, podcasts, performances, or websites without a sustained educational component that provides opportunities for continued learning and engagement.  
• Projects that primarily aim to increase awareness about brain health and wellness or specific brain-based diseases. (See Brain Awareness Week grants)  

Specific to the Dana NextGen program, we will not consider proposals for:  

• Educational or training programs primarily targeting high school students, professional audiences, or the public (see Dana Education program). 
• Neuroscience research without a non-science component.   
• Development of traditional course materials such as textbooks.   
• Development of courses that lack an experiential component.   
• Training or education models that utilize neuroscience to improve learning for students.   
• The Dana Foundation champions efforts to broaden participation in neuroscience amongst individuals from groups that have been historically excluded, however, broadening participation in neuroscience alone is not a sufficient societal emphasis.  

Specific to the Dana Frontiers program, we will not consider proposals for:  

• Projects that primarily aim to increase awareness about brain health or specific brain-based diseases. (See Brain Awareness Week grants) 
• Projects that primarily aim to remedy a perceived “knowledge deficit” in communities and public audiences without creating multidirectional relationships, fostering mutual learning, or collaboration.  
• Research projects that draw on community input only to improve recruitment, participation, or shaping research questions, practices, or outcomes, without building genuine partnerships that directly benefit communities. 
• Projects that primarily produce static deliverables such as reports or websites without developing them in partnership with the communities they intend to serve. 
• Performances, art, films, or exhibits, except as part of larger sustained, multidirectional and collaborative community engagement. 
• Projects focused only on engagement among academics or experts, unless they also build skills, resources, capacity, or opportunities for connection with non-scientific communities. 

For expanded terms, conditions, and policies, please see our General Grant Guidelines.