About

The Research Seed Money Grant provides short-term, merit-based funding to support innovative studies that advance the understanding, pathogenesis, or treatment of hereditary, sporadic, and acquired ataxias. Offered through the National Ataxia Foundation’s (NAF) Annual Research Grant Program, the award is designed to catalyze new or pilot-phase projects and generate preliminary data that can strengthen applications for larger external funding. NAF prioritizes both common and rare forms of ataxia: for well-characterized types, projects should demonstrate translational potential such as advancing clinical trial readiness, accelerating treatment development, or improving patient outcomes; for rare or newly identified forms, foundational research addressing mechanistic questions or developing novel disease models is encouraged. Grants provide USD 50,000 for direct research expenses only, including salary or stipend costs (up to 50%), laboratory reagents, essential equipment (up to 20%), animal care, publication costs (up to USD 2,500), and travel for presenting NAF-funded work (up to USD 2,000). Indirect costs, fringe benefits, tuition, relocation, and other unallowable expenses are excluded.

Eligibility

Applicants must have completed postdoctoral training more than five years prior to application and hold a full-time appointment as a faculty member, clinician, or senior scientist at an academic, nonprofit, or for-profit institution. Both U.S.-based and international applicants are eligible. Individuals who have received any NAF grant within the past two fiscal years, currently hold an active NAF grant under a no-cost extension, or are delinquent with reporting requirements are ineligible. Only one Letter of Intent (LOI) may be submitted per funding cycle, and duplicate funding is not permitted. Applications require submission of an LOI by November 18, 2026, with full proposals invited thereafter. All submissions undergo competitive peer review for scientific merit, feasibility, and alignment with NAF’s mission, with funding decisions communicated in June 2027.

Post Date: September 17, 2026