The Science of the Perception Box Grant Program

Overview

The Science of the Perception Box

We seek to fund up to 10 rigorous, empirical, statistically valid, and sound neuroscientific research projects related to a concept called Perception Box.

Illustrative Areas of Interest

* ONE: A variety of practices can be explored to shape the Perception Box during childhood and adolescence. These critical periods have a lasting impact but not much is known about how to navigate them in a rapidly-changing world. Today’s children grow up under circumstances that can differ greatly from what their parents experienced. Technological advancements, including social media and AI, rapidly alter the socio-cultural landscape. Together, this highlights a burgeoning demand for ecologically valid practices that can prepare children and adolescents for a long-term trajectory of Perception Box expansion into adulthood. Proposed practices should be scalable, evidence-based, and tailored to the right environment and age group.

* TWO: As taught by many spiritual traditions, disengagement with the tangles of selfhood is often a prerequisite for expanding consciousness, enabling compassion, and promoting well-being. This is at the heart of traditional meditation and mindfulness training techniques. We are eager to explore novel tools and methods to reduce the high barriers for meditation to succeed.

* THREE: Ego reduction can also be achieved by pranayama or other breathwork, by aerobic activities that induce a flow state, and by other means yet to be discovered. Different interventions, such as sensory feedback using different neural signals and modalities, transcranial current stimulation, and so on, seek to achieve this goal in a way that is safe, reproducible, practical, and universally applicable so that its impact can scale to benefit the largest number of people.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* Grants can only be awarded to a recognized Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) medical schools, colleges, universities, or not-for-profit research organizations and, to the extent permissible according to the Internal Revenue Code, to similar organizations located within or outside the United States even if such organization is not recognized as Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) organizations (collectively referred to as “Applicant Institution”).
* Applications will be considered from any country except for those on the US’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list.
* All proposals will be screened against our financial compliance criteria.
* We may require applicants to submit more information if needed.
* If an extended screening is required, then the review and processing timeline for that proposal may be extended.
* The Principal Investigator should be a clinical, applied, or basic science researcher at the Applicant Institution with an MD, PhD, or an equivalent degree.
* The research should be focused on the discovery or development of tools and interventions to help expand the walls of people’s Perception Box, to measure the effectiveness of these tools and interventions, and to track the effects of these on the minds, behaviors, and brains of subjects. 
* We fund innovative research involving mindfulness, breathwork, high-quality listening, psychedelics, neuromodulation, and other techniques.
* This RFP is intended for scientific research related to humans. Projects that include philosophical enquiry, mathematical models, laboratory animals, or in vitro experiments must provide suitable justification for a grant award.
* All finalist Applicants will be expected to pre-register their proposals and to provide a plan to disseminate their methods, data, and code, according to the FAIR principles.
* Applicants need to complete a LOI on our online portal by the deadline.
* To make use of the double-blind peer review mechanism, the required sections should exclude any information about the identity, institutional affiliation, and country of the PIs.
* The Full Proposal should briefly address whether the PI has already, or is planning to, obtain permission from the relevant regulatory organizations (e.g., IRB, IACUC, DEA) regarding work with human subjects, laboratory animals, and/or controlled substances. Such approvals can be granted after the proposal submission deadline, but no grant funding will be released until such permissions have been obtained.
* Applicants can make more than one submission with the proviso that TBD may decide to only proceed with one. In that case, we may consult with the Applicant, or we may decide internally which one to prioritize. Researchers may also collaborate with teams on more than one proposal providing that does not lead to a conflict of interest.
* Applicants from last year who were not selected may submit their applications again providing they can satisfy the criteria of this round.