Funding and award period

Each AARFA award is limited to a maximum of $200,000 total funding over three years (minimum two years). Component parts of the award include:

• A total of $180,000 (including both direct and indirect costs) may be requested to support research-related expenses over a grant period of up to three years. No more than $70,000 may be requested in any single year (inclusive of both direct and indirect costs). Indirect costs are capped at 10 percent of total direct costs and apply to both the primary applicant institution and any subcontracted organizations. Allowable research-related costs include personnel salaries, laboratory supplies, equipment (within guidelines), and other direct costs necessary to carry out the proposed project.
• Support for travel to scientific and professional meetings, including any additional travel required to carry out the research (e.g., site visits), may be requested up to a total of $12,500 over the full duration of the award. No more than $7,000 may be requested for travel in any single year. Attendance at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) at least once during the funding period is required and must be included in the travel budget. If the full $12,500 is requested over two years of a three-year award, no travel funds will be allowed in the remaining year. Full details about allowable and unallowable costs are outlined in the budget policy section of this RFA.
• An additional $20,000 in research stipends may be awarded upon successful completion of the fellowship and fulfillment of required benchmarks. This includes $10,000 to the Fellow and $10,000 to the primary mentor. These stipends are not guaranteed and are contingent on the applicant meeting all program milestones, such as progress toward scientific aims, mentor evaluation submissions, and participation in professional development activities. Stipend funds are intended to support continued research in Alzheimer’s and related dementias and will be disbursed directly to the Fellow’s and mentor’s institutions at the time of release.

Key dates

• Letter of Intent Launch: July 30, 2025
• Letter of Intent Deadline: Sept. 4, 2025, 5 p.m. EDT
• Application Deadline: Nov. 10, 2025, 5 p.m. EDT
• Application Review: November to February 2026
• Award Notifications: By Feb. 28, 2026

Note: Due to the high number of submissions, specific feedback and reviewer comments are not provided at the letter of intent (LOI) stage.

Eligibility and ineligibility considerations

To avoid disqualification, investigators are encouraged to carefully consider these eligibility and ineligibility requirements before applying. The Alzheimer’s Association reserves the right to find an investigator ineligible to submit for a particular program, based on the guidelines below. This section describes general inclusion and exclusion criteria. Specific requirements and additional exclusions to eligibility are noted in some detailed competition descriptions.

Eligibility (applicant)

• The Alzheimer’s Association recognizes the need to increase the number of scientists from underrepresented groups to strengthen the research enterprise for Alzheimer’s and related dementia. Scientists from these groups are encouraged to apply.
• Applications will be accepted from postdoctoral fellows (or an equivalent level position) with full-time (but not continuing / tenured) positions at their respective academic institution or VA* and less than 10 years of research experience after receipt of their doctorate (Ph.D) or other advanced terminal degree (MD, MBBS, DO, JD, PharmD, ScD or similar).
• Adjustments to this eligibility period may be considered for documented career interruptions such as family leave, military service, or major illness or injury. The approval of any exemptions must be obtained prior to submitting a LOI.
• Only one primary PI per application. Multiple PI projects are not allowed. However, collaborators may be included as key personnel on the project.
• The Alzheimer’s Association reserves the right to request further documentation to confirm eligibility of an applicant.

Eligibility (organization / institution)

• In general, public, private, research laboratories, medical centers, hospitals and universities are eligible to apply. State and federal government-appropriated laboratories in the U.S. and abroad, and for-profit organizations are prohibited from serving as the applicant institutions for this program. However, state and federal government scientists can participate as collaborating scientists with research teams from other eligible applicant institutions.
  • For the Letter of Intent (LOI), you will be required to upload proof of your organization’s not-for-profit status. An IRS Letter of Determination is no longer accepted and you must submit either of the following:
    • a W-9 that is signed and dated within the past five years by the signing official for US entities
    • a W-8 or W-8-BEN that is signed and dated within the past five years by the signing official for international entities
    • each must include the EIN, TIN or VAT number
  • For non-profit organizations (non-academic), additional documentation may be required to confirm your organization has segregation of duties between transaction execution and transaction recording.

Ineligibility (applicant)

• Individuals who have a position of assistant professorship or the equivalent at their organization or a position with more seniority above are not eligible.
• Individuals currently enrolled as a student in an undergraduate, Master or Doctoral Program are not eligible, regardless of prior degree status.
• Temporary or part time or acting faculty are not eligible.
• Investigators delinquent in reporting. The Alzheimer's Association will not accept new grant applications from investigators currently awarded an Association grant who are delinquent in submitting required reports and other deliverables on active grants. Investigators that have previous Alzheimer’s Association awards closed as "Incomplete" are not eligible to apply without exception. This policy will be strictly adhered to with no exceptions.
• Overlapping funding of more than one Alzheimer's Association grant is not allowed. Investigators with Association awards in programs not listed above may still apply to a program listed in this call, but the project must be distinct from their current award.
• Applications that represent the same aspects of a project should not be submitted to different programs of the Alzheimer’s Association. There are some exceptions so please contact grantsapp@alz.org if you have questions.
• Current MSAG and IRGP Council members of the Alzheimer’s Association cannot serve as principal investigators in any award. They may serve as key personnel or collaborators, provided there is no financial benefit and/or salary allocated to them.

Ineligibility (organization / institution)

• State and federal government-appropriated laboratories in the U.S. and abroad and for-profit organizations are prohibited from serving as the applicant institutions for this program.
• Applications will not be accepted if the institutional official responsible for fiscal oversight of the award also serves as the principal investigator (PI) on the project. Additionally, no familial relationship may exist between the PI and the institutional official with fiscal authority.
• Applicants cannot submit more than one proposal to any of the programs in the current grant competition—even if the proposals cover distinctly different topics (i.e., only one application is allowed regardless of the distinct areas of focus). It is allowed for members of the same team to submit different aspects of a project to different programs. As long as they are complementary and not the same project.
• Applicants may revise and resubmit an application that was previously submitted for an earlier grant cycle; however, a new LOI is required each year. A current LOI corresponding to the application year must accompany each application. Revisions of previous submissions will be treated as new applications. Efforts will be made to provide some continuity in reviews. A resubmission of an approved LOI does not guarantee that you will be invited to resubmit a full application in a future cycle. Resubmissions may be submitted to a different program in this call and still be a resubmission. Resubmissions are reviewed holistically again, and merely responding to reviewer critiques is not enough to be funded on resubmission.

Note: Alzheimer’s Association grants are generally open to scientists and researchers across the globe; however, as a U.S.-based charity, the Alzheimer’s Association is subject to, and complies with, U.S. law. As a result, the Alzheimer’s Association cannot award, and will not award, grants in violation of applicable U.S. statutes and regulations. This means, among other things, that the Alzheimer’s Association cannot, and will not, fund any individual or entity (i) that is subject to U.S. comprehensive or targeted sanctions or if awarding funding would result in a violation of such sanctions, (ii) that is on the U.S. List of Specially Designated Nationals or entities owned or controlled by such persons, or (iii) when doing so is otherwise prohibited by U.S. laws related to combating terrorism.

Letters of Intent

LOIs are a required component of the application process. No application will be considered without an approved LOI, including resubmitted applications. Additional details about the LOI components, review criteria and process are included below.

To ensure a fair and unbiased review process, the Letter of Intent (LOI) will undergo blinded review. Applicants must not include any personally identifiable information (e.g., names, institutions, locations, or other identifiers) within the body of the LOI. Any submission containing such information may be disqualified or returned for revision. Please adhere strictly to this guideline to maintain the integrity of the review process.

LOI components

Applicants must complete the required sections and upload any required documents. Some of these required fields are described below:

• Principal investigator
  • Name and contact information
• Lead institution
  • Applicant must be a full-time employee at time of submission.
  • Institution/organization name must be in English.
• Current academic rank/position
  • Must be current at the time of submission; pending promotions are not allowed.
• Proposal title
• Area of focus
  • Specific options will be available from a dropdown menu.
• Brief project description
  • Brief project summary, including methodology
  • Specific aims of the proposed project
  • Innovation/novelty of the proposed project
  • Overall Impact on the field of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia

Note: Each section is limited to 1,000 characters, including spaces.

• Employer Identification Number (EIN) or TIN
  • This number must match the non-profit documentation

• ORCID ID
• Non-profit verification
  • W-9 (US entities) signed and dated within the past five years by an authorized institutional signing official and must include the EIN number
  • W-8-BEN (non-US entities) signed and dated within the past five years by an authorized institutional signing official and must include the EIN/TIN or VAT number

• Biosketch
  • For Principal Investigator only (with the exception of the Fellowship program, mentor bio should be included)
  • We highly recommend using the latest NIH biosketch format (excluding Section D. Scholastic Performance), but any format will be accepted. Hyperlinks are allowed in the biosketch only for individual research projects.
  • Applicants will be able to provide biosketches for other members of the project team at the full application stage.
• LOI review criteria and process
  • LOIs will be evaluated in a blinded review, where the reviewer has no information about the applicant and their environment for conducting the research. Each LOI is evaluated with attention to:
    • Demonstrable innovation / novelty of the proposed project
    • Alignment with the research priorities of the Alzheimer’s Association
    • Impact of project on Alzheimer’s and all related dementia research
    • Evidence of methodological rigor that address the research question(s) being proposed
  • LOIs will be reviewed by two or three reviewers with expertise in the area of the application. Due to the number of LOIs received, individual feedback or comments from reviewers will not be shared.
  • A fraction of LOIs will be invited for full application.

Applications

Following the LOI review, some of these projects are invited to submit full applications. The PI who submits the application must be the same PI who submitted the approved LOI. The application does not need to be completed in one session; a partially completed application can be saved and completed at any time before the deadline. It is imperative that you proofread your application before submission; you will not be allowed to make any changes to the application after the deadline or once applications are under review.

The application must be submitted by the receipt date / time deadline. Once submitted, you will receive a confirmation e-mail from ProposalCentral that your application was successfully submitted. If you do not receive a confirmation, click the Proposals tab and under the “Status” column make sure it says, "Submitted" and not, "In Progress," which indicates you have not yet submitted your application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make sure that the application is complete and accurate before submission. Only a single copy of an application will be accepted.

Signatures are not required at the time of submission by the Association, however, the signature page provided is for use should your institution/organization require signatures; the Association does not override any institutional policies and/or procedures. Please do not submit the signature page with your application.

Applicants may use LLMs and other generative AI tools in the preparation of their LOIs and full applications. Applicants are fully responsible for the content of their proposal, even those parts produced by an AI tool. Using one of these tools will not affect the review of your application.

Additional details for the application process are described below:

Application components

• If you are invited to submit a full application, the required materials including the application format, templates, and instructions, will be available online at ProposalCentral after your LOI has been approved in the system.
• Applications include both the research plan and training plan.
  • In the training plan, applicants are asked to address the “Environmental Context” where the proposed work will be taking place. This should include context on the environment that they will conduct the work (i.e., strong community relationships or partnership, unique and/or specialized aspects of the institution where the research will be taking place and/or where the team is based, rural or urban environment, limited infrastructure, or some personal context that would be informative of the proposed work)
• Full applications will not be accepted without an approved LOI from the current cycle
  • If you did not receive an email from an Alzheimer’s Association staff member about your approval to submit a full application for the current cycle you should not submit an application, even if one is available in your ProposalCentral Account.
• Applicants must complete the required sections and upload required documents as listed. Some fields are identical to the LOI. Some of these required fields are described below:
• For an application that is also a resubmission:
  • It is up to the investigator whether or not they wish to declare their application a resubmission. Even if you are submitting a similar application to a prior submission you do not need to declare it a resubmission. Resubmissions are granted a one-page summary addressing comments raised by reviewers in a prior review cycle(s).

Budget considerations

• A budget justification for the proposed research project is required and must be submitted with the application and within the allowable two-page limit. However, if the application is to be awarded, a more detailed budget will be required and must be approved before the disbursement of funds.
• Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, and Key Personnel % Effort: All % Efforts listed on the application should reflect research effort rather than effort as a percentage of salary or % effort to this specific project. It is not required that Co-PI’s and Key Personnel accept salary from an award, but should have some effort listed.
• The Principal Investigator must commit at least 50% of full-time effort to research during the funding period. This may be on research efforts beyond this project.

Direct costs allowed

It is required that most of the funds awarded under this program be used for direct research support. No more than 10% of the total direct costs may be included as indirect costs; this is inclusive of indirect costs for the implementing institution as well as any to subcontracts. Allowable costs include:

• Purchase and care of laboratory animals
• Small pieces of laboratory equipment and laboratory supplies
• Purchases over $10,000 require prior approval, even if included in the project proposal budget.
• Computer software if used strictly for data collection (requires prior approval)
• Salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians and administrative support directly related to the funded grant); there is no salary cap.
• Membership to scientific association
• Professional development / communication training
• Support for travel to scientific and professional meetings and additional support for travel expenses necessary to carry out research planned – this may include site visits. A total of $12,500 over a three year period may be requested for travel purposes and is not to exceed $7,000 in any given year. If you request the full $12,500 towards just two years of travel and are requesting a three year award you will not be able to request travel funds for one of those years.
• Training costs to visit and perform research related to the awarded project on another laboratory/facility (this is not to be included in the travel costs)
• Participant travel expenses for projects involving human participants is not included in the travel and is allowable expenses that can be captured under other expenses (itemized) in the budget.
• As part of Alzheimer’s Association ongoing efforts to develop programs that support family-friendly research environments, Alzheimer’s Association awardees can request up to $2,500 per budget period for childcare costs provided by a licensed childcare provider.

Direct costs not allowed

• Computer hardware or standard software (e.g. Microsoft Office, mouse monitor, computer parts, AppleCare)
• Laboratory equipment such as freezers, ultracentrifuges, RT-PCR, Microscopy/imaging equipment
• Service contract fees of equipment
• Construction or renovation costs
• Tuition
• Rent for laboratory/office space
• Visa costs and fees
• Expenses such as Data Network Recharges and Computing and communication device support services. However, data sharing and/or data storage for imaging, sequencing and other study data is allowed
• General liability insurances, such as GAEL
• Wire and currency exchange fees; it is important to note that the Association does not adjust total funded amount related to fluctuations in exchange rates. All grants are paid in US dollars
• Institutional overheads associated with staff time
• The Alzheimer’s Association Medical and Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG), the International Research Grant Program (IRGP) Council members and current employees of the Alzheimer’s Association are allowed to be key personnel or collaborators on projects, however they are NOT ALLOWED to receive any salary or compensation. A complete list of MSAG and IRGP Council members can be found on our website alz.org/grants
• We reserve the right to decline any charge that is an institutional feed and / or service charge.

Application review criteria and process

• All applications are subject to a multiple stage peer-review process carried out with an online system. This multi-stage process is central to our award decisions and is designed to ensure both scientific rigor and fairness in the review of all submitted applications.
• In the first stage, applications are reviewed and rated by peer scientists with expertise in the proposed area of research. Applicants may include recommended reviewers and also have the option to exclude specific reviewers from evaluating their application if a conflict of interest exists. Conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to):
  • The Applicant trained with / by the reviewer.
  • The reviewer published with the applicant in the last four (4) years. This excludes workshop or large consortia (i.e., ADNI, IGAP, etc.)
  • The reviewer has been a co-investigator on a grant application or award with the applicant in the last four (4) years.
  • The reviewer has a conceptual difference of opinion with the applicant that will prevent a fair review.
  • The reviewer will receive financial benefit from the applicant receiving an award.
• In stage one of review, each application will be evaluated with the following criteria:
  • Applicant’s ability and promise as a scientist based on prior record of achievement and career plan, letters of support, and CV (20%); reviewers should consider the environmental context provided as part of the training plan in this evaluation
  • Strength, specificity, and feasibility of the mentoring and training plan, including how it supports the applicant’s trajectory toward research independence (20%)
  • Quality and emphasis of applicant and originality of the research plan (40%), with context of the environmental context provided as part of the training plan
  • Significance of the question being studied, quality of the work plan and the impact-risk of the proposal, impact on advancement of the AD/ADRD science ecosystem (20%)
  • Resubmissions will have the opportunity to provide a response to prior reviews
• The second stage includes further review and discussion of the scores and comments resulting from the initial review process to normalize across reviews and programs. The second review is carried out by the International Research Grant Program (IRGP) Council members and invited review committee members to ensure fairness and balance in the initial review procedures and to make funding recommendations to the Association.
• Final recommendations from the IRGP Council are shared with the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) and with the Alzheimer’s Association for final approval. Members of the IRGP Council and MSAG are internationally recognized experts with distinguished careers in Alzheimer's and related dementia.

Financial responsibility

Funding is awarded to the institution and/or organization, not to the individual principal
investigator. The principal investigator or a first-degree relative cannot be listed as the signing
official or financial officer or have checks sent to their attention if awarded.

Appeals of scientific peer review

To maintain a fair and rigorous review system, the Alzheimer’s Association has a process for
appeal of funding decisions. Appeals will not be considered for the letter of intent stage.
Regarding applications, an appeal is intended to address extraordinary circumstances.

Appropriate reasons for initiating an appeal might include:

• Evidence that a reviewer has an undeclared conflict of interest
• An egregious error or misunderstanding in the review process
• Active malfeasance or demonstrable lack of due diligence

The appeal process is not intended to provide a mechanism for routine protest of failure to receive a grant. It is anticipated that funding through the AARFA Grant Program will be extremely competitive and is limited by availability of funds.

If an applicant believes an extraordinary circumstance has contributed to failure to receive
funding, the principal investigator may send a two-page, double-spaced formal letter of appeal (Word document) to grantsappeals@alz.org. Any supporting documents included must be submitted as a PDF. Appeals must be submitted within two weeks from the date your application outcome notification is sent. Notification of action on the appeal will be made via email, usually within 90 days of the appeal deadline.

Reporting requirements, if funded

For funded awards through this program, there will be required annual scientific and financial reporting. Interim scientific and financial reports must be submitted at the end of each reporting period as long as the grant remains active. Annual mentor evaluation, including tracking progress toward the fellowship benchmarks (described below) and a final mentor evaluation are also required. Final scientific and financial reports must be filed within 90 days of the grant’s end date. All reports must be submitted electronically via ProposalCentral. The financial report must be approved and signed by someone with financial authority in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs or Grants and Contracts Office at the recipient’s institution. Unobligated funds remaining at the end of the award must be returned to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Note: The continuation of the grant over the awarded duration is contingent upon the timely receipt of all required reports.

Mentoring plans, fellowship reporting and benchmark requirements

The primary mentor must agree to provide annual evaluations of the applicant’s progress for the duration of the award, as required for the yearly progress report.

Additionally, successful mentorship plans should include the following fellowship benchmarks, which are required to receive the research stipends, but should not be limited to only these.

Annual mentor report requires measurement to required fellowship benchmarks, including:

• Attend at least one Association-sponsored networking event at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference. (AAIC)
• Acceptance of an abstract at AAIC.
• Mandatory documentation of hours spent on face-to-face mentoring.
• Citation of specific exercises of mentorship such as supervision of manuscript writing and submission or grant writing and submission.
• Reviewing grant applications. This is not limited to the Alzheimer’s Association review process, as reviewing for other funding organizations, but supervised reviews are encouraged for those with little to no review experience. The Alzheimer’s Association staff will provide additional resources for those new to reviewing for the Association.
• Documentation of specific instances of the facilitation of networking, including introductions to colleagues, inclusion in discussions at scientific meetings, etc.
• Submission of funding proposal(s) to other funding agencies, including Alzheimer’s Association, National Institutes of Health or National Science Foundation, Medical Research Council (UK), Canadian Institutes of Health Research, etc.

In addition, while animal welfare and human participant ethical assurances are not required at the time of application, investigators have until their chosen start date (within six months or less of award notification) to submit these approved documents. The Alzheimer’s Association encourages investigators to initiate their certification applications on a schedule that recognizes that rDNA certification, IRB/IACUC approval at many institutions can take more than 90 days. The Association accepts only certifications that apply specifically to the funded project and must include the name of the awardee. For fellowship programs, if the Ethical certification is on the mentor’s name, the Fellow must include the Ethical approval and a signed letter stating that the ethical approval (rDNA certification, IRB/IACUC approval) covers the awarded project with the Fellows name and Award number included.

Projects involving human participants must address the appropriate inclusion or exclusion of individuals in the proposed research project and describe recruitment efforts to represent the community in which the study is planned or being conducted. Prior to distribution of funding, the researcher must provide a description of their recruitment plan, including an outline describing how their recruitment efforts will ensure representative diversity in their participants. Recruitment efforts should focus on diversity within key target groups, including a diverse representation of (but not limited to): sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity. This will be tracked throughout the duration of the grant. The Alzheimer’s Association will withhold payments on awards that do achieve diverse recruitment during any period of the award.

Electronic copies of publications, presentations and abstracts that report research supported by funds from the Alzheimer’s Association must be submitted electronically at the time of publication. These copies will become part of the official file of the grant and will be provided to the Communications Division of the Alzheimer’s Association to assist in the efforts to further inform the public about the International Research Grant Program of the Association. Any intellectual property disclosures resulting from the award must be submitted electronically at the time of publication. The Alzheimer’s Association may request any of the research outputs listed here from any awardee up to seven years following the end of the award.

U.S. sanctions

Alzheimer’s Association grants are generally open to scientists and researchers across the globe; however, as a U.S.-based charity, the Alzheimer’s Association is subject to, and complies with, U.S. law. As a result, the Alzheimer’s Association cannot award, and will not award, grants in violation of applicable U.S. statutes and regulations. This means, among other things, that the Alzheimer’s Association cannot, and will not, fund any individual or entity (i) that is subject to U.S. comprehensive or targeted sanctions or if awarding funding would result in a violation of such sanctions, (ii) that is on the U.S. List of Specially Designated Nationals or entities owned or controlled by such persons, or (iii) when doing so is otherwise prohibited by U.S. laws related to combating terrorism.

Nondiscrimination and harassment statement

The Alzheimer’s Association is committed to providing an environment free from harassment
and discrimination. The Alzheimer’s Association strictly prohibits harassment and discrimination based on race; creed; color; religion; sex; sexual orientation; national origin; ancestry; age; Veteran status; citizenship status; marital status; physical or mental disabilities; pregnancy, gender identity or expression (including transgender status); genetic information; and any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Contact information

For any inquiries or additional information, please contact a member of the Alzheimer’s Association Grants staff at grantsapp@alz.org.