FARA General Research Grant

FARA General Research Grant

Funds Friedreich ataxia research on disease mechanisms and translational targets.

Eligibility · United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany

The Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) General Research Grant is FARA's flagship competitive funding mechanism, supporting basic, translational, and clinical research across the full spectrum of Friedreich's ataxia (FA) biology. FARA is a US-based patient advocacy and research funding organization whose grant program is the principal non-governmental source of FA-specific research funding worldwide. The General Research Grant is offered on a spring and fall cycle; this entry covers the fall 2026 cycle, with a Letter of Intent due 15 August 2026 and the full application due 15 October 2026. Award notices are issued 1 February of the following year.

Awards are up to $125,000 per year for one to two years. Indirect costs are not funded. Budget line caps include travel at $3,000 per year, publications at $2,000 per year, and data management at $3,000 per year. Salary is capped at the NIH salary cap at 100% effort. Applications must align to at least one of FARA's six stated research priority areas: neuroscience and systems understanding, cardiac disease mechanisms in FA, molecular basis of FA, drug discovery, translational research facilitation, and clinical research advancement. Universities, research organisations, non-profits, and for-profit companies are eligible; individual applicants are not. Industry applicants must demonstrate active participation in the FA research community.

The two-stage process begins with a two-page Letter of Intent comprising project rationale, hypothesis, specific aims, preliminary data, and a budget estimate. Invited full applications run up to ten pages (excluding references) and must include a Data Management and Sharing Plan, milestone timeline, CVs, and letters of support. IRB approval is required for human subjects research and full funding is withheld until proof is provided; the same applies to IACUC approval for animal research. Applications are reviewed on five dimensions: significance, investigator qualifications, innovation, approach/methods, and environment/resources. All submissions are made via the FARA grant portal at webportalapp.com/sp/login/fara_grants.