MIND PRIZE OVERVIEW
"Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery"
The Pershing Square Foundation’s (PSF) brain initiative funds cutting-edge research that revolutionizes our ability to predict, prevent, and treat neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). Advancing our fundamental understanding of the brain and cognition to ultimately combat neurodegeneration and related diseases is a goal of increasing urgency. Breakthroughs in basic scientific and translational research will yield critical tools for and knowledge of NDDs, including Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, which affect millions of people worldwide.
The MIND (Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery) Prize supports and empowers early-to-mid-career investigators to rethink conventional paradigms around NDDs. Modeled after the Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research, the MIND Prize catalyzes interdisciplinary approaches and facilitate collaborations across academic departments and institutions. It fuels the groundbreaking research that will accelerate our understanding of NDDs at every level.
Projects may range from the invention of novel tools, techniques, and technologies for mapping and analyzing the brain to bold approaches that demonstrate extraordinary therapeutic potential. Research domains may include—but are not limited to—neurobiology, brain imaging and mapping, machine learning, drug delivery, and synthetic biology.
MIND Prize winners will each receive $250,000/year for three years, and they become part of a unique network of researchers associated with PSF. Generally five to seven prizes will be awarded annually. Benefits include:
- Facilitated partnerships with like-minded researchers within and across institutions
- Networking programs such as collaborations and discussions with industry mentors, introductions to philanthropic and for-profit investors in the business community, special industry networking and entrepreneurship events, and more
- An annual retreat
- Opportunities to present at conferences and events (hosted by PSF and other organizations)
KEY CRITERIA
Radically innovative and scientifically sound research: PSF seeks high-risk, high-reward proposals that focus on novel interdisciplinary approaches to neuroscience research and are grounded in sound reasoning from first principles. The MIND Prize was created to fund projects that have been deemed too risky or speculative for traditional funding sources but still hold the potential for radical impact. It should be a unique project for scientists, who are encouraged to stretch their imagination into areas that can substantially change the area of research. Investigators with or without core neuroscience backgrounds are encouraged to apply. We are committed to supporting scientists whose imagination and fresh insights could substantially change an area of research by applying their expertise to new directions. Scientific merit of proposals will be determined by peer review by the Scientific Review Board.
Quality of the applicant: Applicants must display creativity, adaptability, strong written communication skills, and the ability to collaborate with others. They embody an entrepreneurial spirit for driving impact and scale.
Application to neurodegeneration: Proposals that articulate a clear application to neurodegenerative and neurocognitive disorders, with a lens on Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias, will be favored.
ELIGIBILITY
An MD, PhD, MD-PhD degree (or equivalent) is required. Applicants must have completed at least one (1) but no more than ten (10) years of independent research experience as a tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty member by the start date of the Prize (May 2025). Principal Investigators (PIs) must hold faculty appointments at academic research institutions in the United States of America. Multiple applicants from the same institution may apply as long as all eligibility criteria are met. An applicant, who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, by submitting an application for this funding, assures that his/her visa status will provide sufficient time to complete the project and grant term within the United States. Investigators need not be specifically trained in neuroscience; however, they should have access to an environment capable of conducting high-quality, high-impact research related to the understanding of the human brain and/or cognition.
The Pershing Square Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other legally protected characteristics.
2025 Prize Application Guidelines
The application portal for the 2025 Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) Prize has closed. The deadline to submit a Letter of Intent was November 4, 2024 by 5:00pm EST.
Applicants were notified about the status of their application. (If you did not receive an email, please check your spam folder.) For those selected as a finalist, presentations will be held on February 26th, 2025 in New York City.
Please be sure to read the above application guidelines. Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions here.
Please email info@MINDPrize.org with any additional questions.
Please check back in summer 2025 for information on our 2026 application cycle.
Visit: http://MINDPrize.org to learn more.
2025 MIND Prize
MIND PRIZE OVERVIEW
"Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery"
The Pershing Square Foundation’s (PSF) brain initiative funds cutting-edge research that revolutionizes our ability to predict, prevent, and treat neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). Advancing our fundamental understanding of the brain and cognition to ultimately combat neurodegeneration and related diseases is a goal of increasing urgency. Breakthroughs in basic scientific and translational research will yield critical tools for and knowledge of NDDs, including Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, which affect millions of people worldwide.
The MIND (Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery) Prize supports and empowers early-to-mid-career investigators to rethink conventional paradigms around NDDs. Modeled after the Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research, the MIND Prize catalyzes interdisciplinary approaches and facilitate collaborations across academic departments and institutions. It fuels the groundbreaking research that will accelerate our understanding of NDDs at every level.
Projects may range from the invention of novel tools, techniques, and technologies for mapping and analyzing the brain to bold approaches that demonstrate extraordinary therapeutic potential. Research domains may include—but are not limited to—neurobiology, brain imaging and mapping, machine learning, drug delivery, and synthetic biology.
MIND Prize winners will each receive $250,000/year for three years, and they become part of a unique network of researchers associated with PSF. Generally five to seven prizes will be awarded annually. Benefits include:
- Facilitated partnerships with like-minded researchers within and across institutions
- Networking programs such as collaborations and discussions with industry mentors, introductions to philanthropic and for-profit investors in the business community, special industry networking and entrepreneurship events, and more
- An annual retreat
- Opportunities to present at conferences and events (hosted by PSF and other organizations)
KEY CRITERIA
Radically innovative and scientifically sound research: PSF seeks high-risk, high-reward proposals that focus on novel interdisciplinary approaches to neuroscience research and are grounded in sound reasoning from first principles. The MIND Prize was created to fund projects that have been deemed too risky or speculative for traditional funding sources but still hold the potential for radical impact. It should be a unique project for scientists, who are encouraged to stretch their imagination into areas that can substantially change the area of research. Investigators with or without core neuroscience backgrounds are encouraged to apply. We are committed to supporting scientists whose imagination and fresh insights could substantially change an area of research by applying their expertise to new directions. Scientific merit of proposals will be determined by peer review by the Scientific Review Board.
Quality of the applicant: Applicants must display creativity, adaptability, strong written communication skills, and the ability to collaborate with others. They embody an entrepreneurial spirit for driving impact and scale.
Application to neurodegeneration: Proposals that articulate a clear application to neurodegenerative and neurocognitive disorders, with a lens on Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias, will be favored.
ELIGIBILITY
An MD, PhD, MD-PhD degree (or equivalent) is required. Applicants must have completed at least one (1) but no more than ten (10) years of independent research experience as a tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty member by the start date of the Prize (May 2025). Principal Investigators (PIs) must hold faculty appointments at academic research institutions in the United States of America. Multiple applicants from the same institution may apply as long as all eligibility criteria are met. An applicant, who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, by submitting an application for this funding, assures that his/her visa status will provide sufficient time to complete the project and grant term within the United States. Investigators need not be specifically trained in neuroscience; however, they should have access to an environment capable of conducting high-quality, high-impact research related to the understanding of the human brain and/or cognition.
The Pershing Square Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other legally protected characteristics.
2025 Prize Application Guidelines
The application portal for the 2025 Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) Prize has closed. The deadline to submit a Letter of Intent was November 4, 2024 by 5:00pm EST.
Applicants were notified about the status of their application. (If you did not receive an email, please check your spam folder.) For those selected as a finalist, presentations will be held on February 26th, 2025 in New York City.
Please be sure to read the above application guidelines. Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions here.
Please email info@MINDPrize.org with any additional questions.
Please check back in summer 2025 for information on our 2026 application cycle.
Visit: http://MINDPrize.org to learn more.