About BD2
Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder, or BD², is a collective force transforming what we know about and how we treat bipolar disorder. It’s a commitment to the 40 million people living with bipolar disorder, those not yet diagnosed, and their loved ones. Our vision is that breakthroughs in scientific understanding will create new interventions so that everyone living with bipolar disorder will thrive.
The Opportunity
Throughout the decades of bipolar disorder research, it has become clear that research strategies must shift drastically to ensure faster and more significant discoveries. Philanthropic support has presented a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop a unique mechanism to bring the most capable and innovative minds together to explore one of the most complex mental disorders.
Teams of three to five scientists may apply to receive up to $1.5 million per year for three years, totaling $4.5 million per award. Teams must submit a 2-page letter of intent (LOI) outlining the causal mechanistic hypothesis, goals, general aims, scientific strategies, and methodologies they will employ. This LOI must have a scientific scope that is impactful and will significantly contribute to our understanding of the causal mechanisms of bipolar disorder.
Selected teams will then be invited to develop a 5-page application that describes the scientific scope, technical strategies, team capabilities, a comprehensive budget, organizational commitments, and other details. Funded teams will be expected to share resources, data, and progress with other teams in the network throughout the funding period. Teams will also have the opportunity to develop new partnerships with other teams within the network and the potential to access additional collaborative grants. We intend to continue funding an additional two years beyond the original three-year grant period for teams exhibiting strong productivity and promise.
A Focus on Mechanisms of Bipolar Disorder
We seek multidisciplinary teams of researchers from across the world to pool ideas and work together across expertise to explore the fundamental mechanisms of bipolar disorder. Successful teams will present a diversity of techniques, methodologies, and expertise that focus on a central causal mechanistic hypothesis that gives rise to the etiology of bipolar disorder. Applications that utilize any of multiple approaches, such as animal models, biochemical techniques, cell models (including human iPSCs and brain organoids), and human investigation (including brain imaging and circuit analyses), will be considered. A gender and racial diversity of subjects and samples reflective of the general population will strengthen an application. Applications focused primarily on the clinical efficacy of a treatment or intervention, especially recruitment of participants into new or existing trials or administrative or infrastructure support for clinical trials, are not within the scope of this program and should not be submitted for consideration.
Funded teams should champion team science, open science, and innovative thinking. We encourage applications from teams that are diverse in perspective, expertise, gender, race, ethnicity, institution, and career stage. We are building a vibrant community of funded investigators who use ambitious and creative strategies to test causal mechanisms and hypotheses to better understand the etiology, temporal dynamics, and heterogeneity of bipolar disorder.
Though this RFA represents a general call for applications across broad areas of inquiry, for this funding cycle we are especially encouraging applications that address the following:
- Cellular and molecular mechanisms of mood-state switching;
- Biological mechanisms by which manic or depressive episodes are induced by external risk factors, such as pregnancy, childbirth, substance use, or seasonal changes;
- Using experimental pharmacology to test causality of a molecular or circuit-level mechanism underlying mood-state switching.
Sex as a biological variable should be considered in all applications. Studies limited to animal models without a human component or phenomenological human studies that lack a mechanistic hypothesis and readout, will not be prioritized
Important Dates
September 10, 2025: RFA released
November 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT: Letters of Intent (LOIs) due
December 19, 2025: Invitation for full proposals sent
February 20, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT: Full proposals due
March to June 2026: Scientific and strategic evaluation
July 2026: Awardees notified
August 2026: Grants awarded
Read our Open Science Policy here.
Download the full Request for Applications (RFA) here.
BD2 Discovery Research Grants - Request for Applications
About BD2
Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder, or BD², is a collective force transforming what we know about and how we treat bipolar disorder. It’s a commitment to the 40 million people living with bipolar disorder, those not yet diagnosed, and their loved ones. Our vision is that breakthroughs in scientific understanding will create new interventions so that everyone living with bipolar disorder will thrive.
The Opportunity
Throughout the decades of bipolar disorder research, it has become clear that research strategies must shift drastically to ensure faster and more significant discoveries. Philanthropic support has presented a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop a unique mechanism to bring the most capable and innovative minds together to explore one of the most complex mental disorders.
Teams of three to five scientists may apply to receive up to $1.5 million per year for three years, totaling $4.5 million per award. Teams must submit a 2-page letter of intent (LOI) outlining the causal mechanistic hypothesis, goals, general aims, scientific strategies, and methodologies they will employ. This LOI must have a scientific scope that is impactful and will significantly contribute to our understanding of the causal mechanisms of bipolar disorder.
Selected teams will then be invited to develop a 5-page application that describes the scientific scope, technical strategies, team capabilities, a comprehensive budget, organizational commitments, and other details. Funded teams will be expected to share resources, data, and progress with other teams in the network throughout the funding period. Teams will also have the opportunity to develop new partnerships with other teams within the network and the potential to access additional collaborative grants. We intend to continue funding an additional two years beyond the original three-year grant period for teams exhibiting strong productivity and promise.
A Focus on Mechanisms of Bipolar Disorder
We seek multidisciplinary teams of researchers from across the world to pool ideas and work together across expertise to explore the fundamental mechanisms of bipolar disorder. Successful teams will present a diversity of techniques, methodologies, and expertise that focus on a central causal mechanistic hypothesis that gives rise to the etiology of bipolar disorder. Applications that utilize any of multiple approaches, such as animal models, biochemical techniques, cell models (including human iPSCs and brain organoids), and human investigation (including brain imaging and circuit analyses), will be considered. A gender and racial diversity of subjects and samples reflective of the general population will strengthen an application. Applications focused primarily on the clinical efficacy of a treatment or intervention, especially recruitment of participants into new or existing trials or administrative or infrastructure support for clinical trials, are not within the scope of this program and should not be submitted for consideration.
Funded teams should champion team science, open science, and innovative thinking. We encourage applications from teams that are diverse in perspective, expertise, gender, race, ethnicity, institution, and career stage. We are building a vibrant community of funded investigators who use ambitious and creative strategies to test causal mechanisms and hypotheses to better understand the etiology, temporal dynamics, and heterogeneity of bipolar disorder.
Though this RFA represents a general call for applications across broad areas of inquiry, for this funding cycle we are especially encouraging applications that address the following:
- Cellular and molecular mechanisms of mood-state switching;
- Biological mechanisms by which manic or depressive episodes are induced by external risk factors, such as pregnancy, childbirth, substance use, or seasonal changes;
- Using experimental pharmacology to test causality of a molecular or circuit-level mechanism underlying mood-state switching.
Sex as a biological variable should be considered in all applications. Studies limited to animal models without a human component or phenomenological human studies that lack a mechanistic hypothesis and readout, will not be prioritized
Important Dates
September 10, 2025: RFA released
November 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT: Letters of Intent (LOIs) due
December 19, 2025: Invitation for full proposals sent
February 20, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT: Full proposals due
March to June 2026: Scientific and strategic evaluation
July 2026: Awardees notified
August 2026: Grants awarded