• The project description is well-written and clearly explains the project and the project timeline is feasible.
• The project clearly focuses on a research area associated with the IBACS mission.
• The budget is itemized, appropriate to the project described, and reports the total cost of the project (even if it exceeds the funding requested).
• The faculty advisor is familiar with the student’s project and rates the student’s work to date highly.
• Students are expected to develop the submission with the mentorship of their research advisor, and research mentors are encouraged to provide feedback to applicants, but the submission should be primarily the student’s own work. Where project applications are equally meritorious, the reviewers will take note of how the student’s project will contribute to the advisor’s research goals.
• The student and his/her project meet the eligibility criteria.
• The student has secured research compliance approval(s) if necessary for the project. No award will be issued until documentation of approval(s) is received.

• The project description is well written and clearly explains the project.
• The project clearly focuses on a research area associated with the IBACS mission.
• The budget is itemized, appropriate to the project described, and reports the total cost of the project (even if it exceeds the funding requested).
• The faculty advisor is familiar with the student’s project and rates the student’s work to date highly.
• The student and his/her project meet the eligibility criteria.
• The student has secured research compliance approval(s) if necessary for the project. No award will be issued until documentation of approval(s) is received.

The Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences (IBACS) is now inviting applications to its Graduate Fellowship Program.

These $5,000 summer fellowships are intended for graduate students working on topics with relevance to the Brain and Cognitive Sciences. This program prepares students to apply for competitive external funding and equips them with valuable career skills via a summer grant writing workshop taught by Prof. Nicole Landi. IBACS Graduate Fellows attend a short grant-writing workshop where they will write an NIH F31 or F32 application and participate in a mock review panel, styled after NIH review panels, during which fellows review peer applications. Students who eventually submit an NIH F31 or F32 will have the scientific portion of the application finished by the end of the workshop. Students interested in submitting NSF GRFP, NRSA (pre- or post-doctoral fellowship), or equivalent should still apply. 

Open to: IBACS Graduate student affiliates  

Key Application Dates: Opens on December 1, 2025, and closes December 31, 2025.  

Graduate students who are not US citizens are eligible to apply and are expected to work with their advisor to develop an external research proposal if they are not eligible for federal funding. Students who were fellows in summer 2025 may apply if they submitted the external grant proposal they developed last year and it was not funded, with the expectation that they will revise their previous grant or develop a new one. If you are fully funded for the summer period (e.g. you are a UConn Health graduate student or grant -funded), you are eligible to apply and attend the workshop without the funding component. If you are a student in any of these situations, please see the details on our website for more information. 

Please refer to the full details on our webpage, including eligibility and conditions on awards before you apply. If you have any questions, please contact Crystal Mills at crystal.mills@uconn.edu. 

IBACS is pleased to welcome our affiliates back to the Spring 2025 semester! If you haven’t already, please save the date for our annual event on Wednesday, May 7th. Details to come.

Please find below some very important Spring 2025 reminders about our services: 

DEI Survey Reminder: Members of the IBACS DEI Committee would like to hear from you! Please fill out this survey to share DEI topics you would be interested in, the format you prefer, and more. Thank you for your time!

Staffing and Research Support

Research Associate
The IBACS Research Associate, Gitte Joergensen, is a Ph.D.-trained half-time staff member who provides research support to Institute-affiliated investigators billed by an hourly rate. Examples of past services include but are not limited to: implementing experimental paradigms; programming eye-tracking software and data extraction, visualization, and analysis for eye-tracking studies; coordinating across multiple methods (e.g., eye tracking, fMRI, EEG, tDCS, TMS, fNIRS); supporting research tools; developing IRB protocol.

IBACS-BIRC Research Assistantships in Neuroimaging (I-BRAIN) Fellow Support
IBACS affiliates can work with I-BRAIN Fellows, who offer specialized skills to support projects that use the Brain Imaging Research Core’s facilities. Please email us at ibacs@uconn.edu if interested.

Research Facilities

Electrophysiology Resource Laboratory (E-Lab)
E-Lab is a shared research facility administered by IBACS. It offers space, equipment, training, and support for researchers who wish to monitor the human body’s physiological responses to a wide range of stimuli. Current equipment includes EEG (32 and 64 channel), eye-tracking, and tDCS. Click on the link above to find out more.

Murine Behavioral Neurogenetics Facility (MBNF)
MBNF is a shared research facility administered by IBACS. It provides behavioral phenotyping services for engineered mouse models and other mouse models with human clinical relevance. Click on the link above to find out more, including the fee structure.

Science Alliance Mobile (SAM)
This shared facility is a mobile laboratory for research, community outreach, training, and clinical services. It is available to anyone in the UConn community by reservation. Click on the link above to view photos and the fee structure. IBACS affiliates can apply for awards to use SAM if funds are not available.

Other Resources & Services

Desks in Arjona 311 Available 
There are desk spaces available for graduate students, post-docs, visiting scholars, and sponsored undergraduates working in IBACS-affiliated labs in Arjona 311. Desks can either be signed out individually or if you plan to use the space sporadically, access can be provided to use our flex-space desks. Access to our kitchen/lounge and meeting rooms will also be provided. Please contact Crystal to sign out a desk.

Arjona Meeting Space Available  
IBACS has three Arjona meeting/classroom spaces available for use by affiliates, including recent technology additions for hybrid participation. Please email Crystal to inquire about access to the spaces and making reservations (Arjona 324, 340, and 307 with capacity up to 22 people).

Facilities, Resources, & Equipment Documentation for NIH/NSF Applications
The Institute offers extensive documentation of facilities, resources, and equipment that can serve as a template for your external grant application. Email Crystal to request a copy.

External Application Review
EAR supports faculty affiliates applying for competitive external awards. IBACS-affiliated investigators can submit their proposal drafts for formal review by an advisory committee, who will make recommendations for the final proposal. Additionally, external advisors with domain-specific expertise can provide input to significantly enhance the likelihood of achieving a fundable score.
Open to: Faculty affiliates
Key Application Dates: accepted on a rolling basis

Spring 2025 Large & Small IBACS Seed Grant Funding 
Seed Grants provide funding to eligible faculty for interdisciplinary projects and research initiatives. Successful applications typically involve collaborations that require expertise across laboratories and traditional disciplinary boundaries. We prioritize projects that will lead to publications and external awards.
Open to: Faculty and postdoctoral affiliates
Key Application Dates: Large awards (>$10K) spring deadline: April 1, 2025. Small awards (<$10K): accepted on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted.
Please note an important change for the academic year: Unfortunately, UCHC has pulled their financial contribution to IBACS for the 24/25 year due to budget cuts. As a result, we will be requiring that all proposals with a UCH investigator must also have at least one Storrs investigator. We hope this will change as we negotiate future support from UCHC.

Publication Awards  
The Institute awards funding to help researchers cover the cost of submitting their publications, providing affiliates with greater access to the top publications in their fields. The award provides a lump-sum up to $1.5K to cover full publication costs, or up to 50% of the costs with a $3K cap on IBACS contribution.
Open to: Faculty, graduate student, and postdoctoral researchers
Key Application Dates: accepted on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted

Meeting/Event Support
IBACS offers funding for one-time or recurring meetings, workshops, and conferences that support the Institute’s mission.
Open to: Faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral, and external affiliates
Key Application Dates: accepted on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted

Science Alliance Mobile Awards
IBACS affiliates can apply for awards to use our Science Alliance Mobile (SAM) for research or outreach. Please visit the webpage for more information and use the meeting/event support form to apply.

Undergraduate Research Supply Awards
This award provides funding for undergraduate students conducting an independent research project. The student’s project must contribute to the Institute’s mission. Students can apply for awards of up to $1,000.
Open to: Undergraduate students working with an IBACS-affiliated faculty member
Key Application Dates: spring deadline is February 4, 2025.

Undergraduate Summer Research Awards 
This award provides funding for undergraduate students conducting an independent research project. The student’s project must contribute to the Institute’s mission. The award consists of $5,000  or a single summer. Students may use up to $3,500 of the award on fellowship funds to covering living expenses and remaining funds to purchase materials and equipment in support of the research project.
Open to: Undergraduate students working with an IBACS-affiliated faculty member
Key Application Dates: closes on February 7, 2025.

Travel Awards
These awards provide up to $500 to be used for meeting/conference travel expenses where data will be presented that aligns with the IBACS mission.
Open to: Graduate student and postdoctoral affiliates; undergraduate students who are members of an IBACS-affiliated lab
Key Application Dates: accepted on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted

IBACS Soapbox
Have something you want to share with our affiliates? Please submit to the IBACS soapbox! Anyone can submit on topics such as events, training opportunities, course announcements, talks, funding opportunities, and more. Our soapbox is sent out to our listserv every other Monday at 2pm.

Refer a Colleague to IBACS 
The Institute is always looking to expand our base of University affiliates, helping researchers network and connect to generate collaborative research.  If you know of others in your department that would like to be affiliated with the Institute, please forward this email or recommend they check out the benefits of affiliation by clicking on the link above.

 
Best wishes for a safe and productive year ahead!

Inge-Marie Eigsti, Director of Research, IBACS
Emily Myers, Director of Training, IBACS
John Salamone, Director of Communication and Outreach, IBACS
Crystal Mills, Institute Coordinator, IBACS

The Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences (IBACS) is inviting graduate students to apply for the IBACS-BIRC Research Assistantships in Neuroimaging (IBRAiN) Program. These graduate assistantships are for 10 hours per week during the Fall (2025) and Spring (2026) semesters at the Brain Imaging Research Center Core (BIRC). During the first year, assistants will be trained in neuroimaging methods, data science, and reproducibility. They spend the remaining allocated hours at BIRC, supporting users of the facilities. Examples of work include:

• Helping design and implement experimental procedures for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalogram (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), etc.
• Advising users on how to effectively prepare research participants.
• Advising users on data analysis.
• Overseeing use of equipment by others.
• Training undergraduate students with basics of equipment use.

Students will participate in common training activities but will primarily specialize in one of three roles at BIRC. Applicants should indicate which role(s) they wish to be considered for: 

1. Research Software Engineer. This role assists researchers in using BIRC facilities including equipment training, data analysis, sing existing software, and engineering and implementing new analytic tools when needed, implement changes to BIRC webpage when necessary. Qualified candidates will have demonstrated proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or Julia, as well as Unix-like computing environments.
2. User Support and Communication. This role assists researchers in using BIRC facilities, including experimental design and setup, equipment training, data management, and maintaining documentation resources. The candidate will also help maintain and update BIRC official social media sites, represent BIRC at the internal events. Qualified candidates will have prior experience in designing and running in-person experiments. Familiarity with Python or MATLAB is preferred.
3. MRI Support. This role assists researchers in obtaining and analyzing functional and structural MRI data by learning how to operate the Siemens Prisma 3T MRI Scanner to perform brain research studies when necessary. Qualified candidates will have demonstrated an understanding of MRI safety, a high level of reliability, and the ability to work with participants across the lifespan and will be responsible to conduct safety trainings for the new users.

Key Application Dates: Opens on December 4, 2024, and closes January 6, 2025.  

Subject to funding constraints, these assistantships could be renewed for a further year. Please view full details on our IBRAiN webpage before applying. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Institute Coordinator, Crystal Mills at crystal.mills@uconn.edu. 

• The project description is well written and clearly explains the project.
• The project clearly focuses on a research area associated with the IBACS mission.
• The budget is itemized, appropriate to the project described, and reports the total cost of the project (even if it exceeds the funding requested).
• The faculty advisor is familiar with the student’s project and rates the student’s work to date highly.
• The student and his/her project meet the eligibility criteria.
• The student has secured research compliance approval(s) if necessary for the project. No award will be issued until documentation of approval(s) is received.