Apply — Digital Brain Project

Team Goals and Expectations

Each team is expected to contribute in 4 main ways.

1 Propose protocols — Design protocols for video games, reasoning tasks, and cognitive science experiments.
2 Acquire and validate data — Collect the neuroimaging data and perform quality-control checks.
3 Share data internally — Share the data with other teams during the embargo period.
4 Disseminate data publicly — Release de-identified, standardized data on a public platform for broad scientific reuse.

Protocols

10 international teams · 10 subjects per team · 100 h per subject

Multi-device teams (e.g. MEG + fMRI) are expected to record the same subjects across devices whenever possible.
Each 90-minute session consists of 5 blocks of 10 min of interactive games interspersed with 5 blocks of 5 min of cognitive and reasoning protocols.
The foundation model will be trained on interactive games data, and evaluated on cognitive and reasoning protocols.
Each team will be responsible for designing the cognitive and reasoning protocols during the application process.
All proposed tasks — including games, stimuli, and experimental code — must be free of third-party intellectual-property restrictions (e.g. copyright, proprietary licenses) and eligible for release under an open-source license, so that the full dataset and paradigms can be publicly shared.

Recommended Session Design

Session Structure — 5 game blocks + 5 evaluation blocks per 90 min session

Who Can Apply

Eligible Applicants

+ Principal Investigators at accredited academic or research institutions.
+ Research teams may include collaborators at other institutions, including in industry.
+ Research teams can include graduate students or other research assistants.

Please see the full list of eligibility criteria and terms in the application template below.

What Is Required

Clear scientific merit and feasibility.
Ethics approval for human subjects (IRB or equivalent) in the expected timeline.
Access to adequate infrastructure (e.g. MRI scanner, MEG system, or iEEG recording setup) and the technical expertise to operate it.
Reliable data quality.
Share pseudonymized data with the other teams of the Digital Brain Project during embargo (Phase 1) and release de-identified data publicly at the end of the project term (Phase 2).

How to Apply

Download, complete, and email the application form below along with your CV. Applications close at 11:59 PM CEST on May 15, 2026.

Digital Brain Project — Application Template

.docx · Fill in and submit as PDF

Download .docx

Digital Brain Project

Application Form

Download this application, fill it in, and email it in PDF form to digitalbrain@for.paris, with the subject line: Digital Brain Project — Application — [PI Last Name]. Applications close 11:59 PM CEST on May 15, 2026.

1. Applicant Information

Project Title
Name of Principal Investigator (PI)
Email · Job Title
Name and Address of Primary Affiliation(s)
Institution Receiving Funds
Link to CV (PDF, max 3 pages, past 5 years)

2. Team

Collaborators — Name and Institution
Roles and Responsibilities (max 2,600 characters)

3. Project Information

Keywords · Data Modalities · Available Devices
Hours per Subject per Device
Pre-existing data (if any)

4. Proposal

1-page proposal covering motivation, technical considerations, expected results, and past experience.

5. Ethics and Data Sharing

Ethics approval status, timeline, and data sharing commitments.

6. Budget

Budget table (Personnel, Equipment, Travel, Participant Costs, Indirect Costs, Other) with justification. Maximum award: $500,000 USD for 36 months.

7. Additional Comments

Optional.

This is a preview. Download the full template above to complete your application.

1
Download the application template and read the grant contract template
Application Form (.docx) Grant Contract Template (.docx)
2
Complete the application and prepare your CV
The Application Form includes the project proposal and budget. Additionally, the PI must provide a curriculum vitae (CV) as a separate PDF.
3
Email both files
Send the completed Application Form and the PI's CV (PDF) to the address below.
digitalbrain@for.paris
Subject line: Digital Brain Project — Application — [PI Last Name]

Application Timeline