Target ALS funds investigators who collaborate across scientific disciplines and research constituencies to drive medical breakthroughs for the treatment of ALS.
By bringing together the right people, funding, tools, and resources, Target ALS is breaking down barriers that have existed for decades, amplifying and accelerating the ALS drug discovery and development process.
Our funding opportunities are open to investigators working worldwide.
Our Grantmaking Process
Submit LOIs
Review of LOIs
Invitation to submit research proposal
Submit research proposal
Review of research proposals by an independent panel of experts
Given the high unmet need for treating all ALS patients, we are soliciting proposals focused on understanding the fundamental biology of genetic and sporadic forms of ALS to help uncover the next wave of therapeutic targets. We are seeking applications from multidisciplinary groups with novel and innovative methods in convergent and complimentary multi-omic approaches, and applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Each year, the Target ALS team strategically designs funding opportunities to accelerate ALS research. Please find upcoming funding opportunities below.
In Vivo Target Validation: February 2026
Biomarker Consortia: April 2026
Participate in the Target ALS Mission
We encourage you to join our mission by using our core facilities or contacting us to discuss how we can help facilitate your work on ALS. To learn about our current and former grant recipients, visit our Funded Consortia page.
To stay up-to-date with Target ALS announcements, breaking news, and research articles, you can join our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.
Yes, we welcome applicants from outside the USA for all of our funding opportunities.
A competitively funded grant that is one that is awarded based on published funding opportunities on our website. In Vivo Target Validation grants are an exception to this rule and are not considered competitively funded grants. Target ALS also awards grants to further expand our Research Cores. These grants are not considered competitive.
Target ALS places restrictions on many of its funding opportunities, prohibiting applications from PIs that already have two or more competitively-awarded active Target ALS grants. We do this to encourage a greater diversity of applicants and ideas in our application pool.
No. You can only submit one application for any given funding opportunity (with the exception of In Vivo Target Validation grants).
We expect that the Principal Investigator is someone who runs an academic research lab, or industry equivalent.
A CRO can be considered a consortium partner, but they do not qualify to meet the industry partner requirement in any Target ALS funding calls that require such a partner to participate.
Target ALS requires all consortium partners to sign an IP sharing agreement amongst themselves. Depending on the structure of the consortium and the work being performed by the CRO, having a CRO as a formal partner may be simple or it may be very complex. We recommend you evaluate the relative complexity in advance of submitting your application.
Application
Yes
No
Budget
No. Target ALS staff and Independent Review Committee (IRC) members sign a confidentiality agreement with Target ALS to ensure all confidential information contained in grant applications remains confidential. Neither staff nor IRC members will enter into a separate agreement as a condition of application.
You can put TBD into the fields, if you don’t already have candidates or need an approved grant before you are allowed to hire.
No, we do not fund indirect costs. We do permit up to 15% of the award to be allocated for research-associated direct costs. These costs must be specifically tied to the project being funded. Examples include: lab rent, tuition and fees for fellows, IT costs specifically related to the project, etc. These expenses must be specified in your budget.
Yes. We adhere to the salary cap used by the NIH for Executive Level II, which is updated annually.
No. If you have other flexible sources of funding, you may use it to cover any part of the fellow’s salary. We are most concerned with ensuring a dedicated level of effort on the project.
I have an active Target ALS grant
No-cost extensions require a scientific rationale and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. A no-cost extension request should be submitted on institutional letterhead and should include:
Project title
Principal Investigator name and contact information
Grant number
Original project start date and end date
Award amount
Summary of progress made to date on the project.
A proposed new project end date.
A justification for the additional time requested. This should provide an explanation of what happened to necessitate the extension.
A completed Grant Expenditure Report showing how much of the grant funds have been spent to date.
No-cost extension requests should be submitted to Yuliya Rzad, Chief Grants Officer.
Yes. If you have been awarded a multi-year grant, unobligated funds may be rolled over from one year to the next.
Yes. If you are moving 15% or less of the total grant award for that year, you can move the funds among budget categories as needed. You do not need our permission or approval to do so. If you want to move more than 15% of the total grant award for that year, you will need to submit a budget amendment request. That request will need to be approved by Target ALS in advance of making any changes.
A budget amendment request should be submitted on institutional letterhead and should include:
Project title
Principal Investigator name and contact information
Grant number
Original project start date and end date
Award amount
Summary of progress made to date on the project.
A budget justification explaining the rationale for moving funds from one line to another or for increasing the award amount. This should include an explanation of how the budgetary changes impact the success of the project.
A revised grant budget.
Budget amendment requests should be submitted to Yuliya Rzad, Chief Grants Officer.
Yes. We provide a template for the financial report required from grantees. However, you are not required to use this template and can substitute your own format if you like.
