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Grant and Fellowship Opportunities

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The Epilepsy Foundation supports a series of grants and fellowships to advance the understanding of epilepsy that will lead to better treatment, more effective prevention, and ultimately to a cure. Funding is available to researchers at all professional levels including students, junior investigators and established investigators. For researchers intending to apply for funding, please download the information and instructions for each program listed below.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD

PATENT AND COPYRIGHT POLICY Please note that the Epilepsy Foundation Patent and Copyright Policy applies primarily to awards offered to academic institutions and is open to clarification as needed. Commercial companies that are offered funding to support their research will have the opportunity to negotiate a suitable agreement with the Foundation regarding intellectual property rights as needed.

Research Grants Program

Application Deadline: August 31, 2012

Award Amount: up to $50,000 maximum for one year

  • Program guidelines
  • Apply via Proposal Central website
  • Proposal Central website tip: filter the list to show Epilepsy Foundation programs

The Research Grants Program stimulates epilepsy research by providing funding for investigators in the early stages of their careers. Seed grants are awarded to clinical investigators or basic scientists for support of biological or behavioral research which will advance the understanding, treatment, and prevention of epilepsy. Applications from established investigators (Associate Professor level or above) and those that are PIs or co-PIs on past or currently active major federal grants such as NIH (R, P, or K series grants), DOD, or NSF are ineligible.

Predoctoral Research Training Fellowship

  • Application Deadline: August 31, 2012
  • Award Amount: up to $20,000 maximum for one year
  • Program guidelines
    Apply via Proposal Central website
  • Proposal Central website tip: filter the list to show Epilepsy Foundation programs

The Predoctoral Research Training Fellowship supports pre-doctoral students with dissertation research related to epilepsy, thus strengthening their interest in establishing epilepsy research as a career direction. Graduate students must be matriculating in a full-time doctoral (Ph.D.) program with an academic career focus. Areas of interest considered include, but are not limited to neuroscience, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, biochemistry, genetics, nursing, or pharmacy. ($20,000/year)

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

The Postdoctoral Research Fellowship develops academic physicians and scientists committed to research related to epilepsy. Applications are considered equally from individuals interested in acquiring experience either in basic laboratory research or in the conduct of human clinical studies. Physicians or Ph.D. neuroscientists who desire postdoctoral research experience are eligible to apply. ($45,000/year)

Research and Training Fellowships for Clinicians

The Research and Training Fellowships for Clinicians is for clinically trained professionals. This fellowship is one-year of supervised study and research. Individuals with an MD or DO who will have completed residency training in neurology, neurosurgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, or psychiatry by the time the fellowship commences may apply. Other clinically trained professionals (i.e. PharmD, Doctor of Nursing) are also eligible to apply. ($50,000)

Behavioral Sciences Post-Doctoral Fellowship

The Behavioral Sciences Post-Doctoral Fellowship develops excellent behavioral scientists to teach the appropriate psychosocial intervention techniques used in working with people with epilepsy, and contributes to the body of behavioral research in epilepsy. Individuals who will have received their doctoral degrees in a field of the social sciences by the time the Fellowship commences, and desire additional postdoctoral research experience, may apply. ($40,000/year) 

Behavioral Sciences Student Fellowship

The Behavioral Sciences Student Fellowship stimulates individuals to pursue careers in epilepsy in either research or practice settings. Appropriate fields include sociology, social work, psychology, anthropology, nursing, economics, vocational rehabilitation, counseling, political science, and others relevant to epilepsy research or practice. Both graduate and undergraduate students are eligible. ($3,000 stipend)

Health Sciences Student Fellowship

The Health Sciences Student Fellowship stimulates individuals to pursue careers in epilepsy in either research or practice settings. Predoctoral training students in the Health Sciences may be accepted at any point in their schooling-following acceptance to the doctoral program, but before beginning the first year, or in the period immediately following their final year. ($3,000 stipend)

Targeted Research Initiative for Cognitive and Psychiatric Aspects of Epilepsy

The Targeted Research Initiative for Cognitive and Psychiatric Aspects of Epilepsy supports research leading to new insights into the diagnosis etiology, complications and treatment of persons with epilepsy and mood disorders including comorbid cognitive disorders; depression, anxiety, suicidality, other psychiatric symptoms; and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.

Applicants may request up to $50,000 maximum for one year.

Targeted Research Initiative for Morbidity and Mortality

The Targeted Research Initiative for Morbidity and Mortality supports research that generates initial data leading to more extensive projects that will generate knowledge that will ultimately improve the lives of persons with epilepsy. This initiative recognizes the need for research and new insights into these scientific areas.

The broad focus of the morbidity portion of this program includes: identification of somatic comorbidities in epilepsy that occur more than expected among controls, including but not limited to diabetes, gastrointestinal bleeding, chronic lung disease, congenital cardiac abnormalities, heart failure, and pneumonia; and
associations between somatic comorbidities in epilepsy and epilepsy outcomes, including quality of life in epilepsy, seizure remission, stigma and other outcomes.

The mortality portion of the program is focused upon potentially preventable causes of death in epilepsy, such as accidents, suicide and SUDEP. Applicants are encouraged to examine risk factors for these causes of death in epilepsy; as well as interventions to decrease the presence of risk factors for these causes of death where risk factors have been identified.

Applicants may request up to $50,000 maximum for one year.

Targeted Research Initiative for Severe Symptomatic Epilepsies


The Epilepsy Foundation is pleased to announce its first annual Targeted Research Initiative for Severe Symptomatic Epilepsies grant program. This program seeks to better understand, diagnose, identify co morbidities, and treat these rare but devastating epilepsy syndromes. The catastrophic epilepsies of childhood commonly include Othara's syndrome, severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy (Dravet), infantile spasm, progressive myoclonic epilepsies, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Doose syndrome, Sturge-Weber syndrome, Rasmussen encephalitis and, in later childhood, Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) and continuous spike and wave in slow-wave sleep (CSWSS).

Applicants may request up to $50,000 maximum for one year.

Targeted Research Initiative for Youth


The Targeted Research Initiative for Youth grant program recognizes the increasing need for epilepsy and seizure research in populations from birth through the teen years involving pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, behavioral manifestations, medication therapy, and quality-of-life issues.

The Foundation invites research grant applications from investigators interested in psychosocial problems and comorbidities of infants, children and adolescents with epilepsy including, but not limited to topics such as psychiatric comorbidity; treatment of behavioral and cognitive comorbidities, including innovative techniques such as utilization of internet or computer based technologies; studies of the impact of impaired social cognition on educational and occupational outcomes; difficulties and treatment gaps for adolescents transitioning to adulthood; social supports for adolescents with epilepsy; health access and literacy including family communication with health care professionals; the impact of other health conditions (e.g. sleep difficulties, migraines, etc.) on epilepsy treatment and outcome.

Applicants may request up to $50,000 maximum for one year.

Targeted Research Initiative for Women with Epilepsy


The Targeted Research Initiative for Women with Epilepsy grant program was developed to support research that generates initial data leading to more extensive projects that will have direct relevance to care of women with epilepsy. Research should focus on investigation of one of the many areas that preferentially affect women with epilepsy during the reproductive life cycle. The research may target any point along the reproductive spectrum, including puberty through menopause. Examples of topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas: neuroendocrine disorders, hormone influence on seizure susceptibility, infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome, contraceptive strategies, complications during pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes.

The Foundation invites research grant applications from interested investigators to conduct innovative research in these areas, ultimately leading to advances in diagnosis and optimal therapeutic strategies for women with epilepsy. The broad focus of this RFP includes both fundamental and clinical research, and encourages translational research. The peer review for this program will assess proposals based not only on scientific merit, but also on relevance to the goals of the program.

Applicants may request up to $50,000 maximum for one year.

Targeted Research Initiative for Health Outcomes

The Targeted Research Initiative for Health Outcomes targets an important need for research to understand how different components of health care systems affect outcomes in people with epilepsy. The purpose of this initiative is to support research that generates initial data leading to more extensive projects that will generate knowledge that will ultimately improve the healthcare of persons with epilepsy. The broad focus of the proposal includes methodological aspects of health and outcome measurement, health care needs assessment, nature and determinants of disparities in healthcare, access to care, quality of life, comparative effectiveness research, insurance and healthcare system issues, and methods of health care delivery.

Applicants may request up to $50,000 maximum for one year.

New Therapy Grants Program Information

The New Therapy Grant Program was created through a partnership between the Epilepsy Foundation and The Epilepsy Therapy Project. The New Therapy Grants Program supports the development of more effective therapies by serving as a catalyst for moving innovative therapies from the laboratory to the patient. Investigators must hold a relevant advanced degree (M.D., and/or Ph.D.), and have completed all research training.This call for proposals is open to investigators at corporations as well as the academic/university arena.

New Therapy Grants Program information and application instructions.


Additional Questions?

If you have any questions regarding grant and fellowship opportunities, please feel free to contact Research Web Support.