Tiny Blue Dot Foundation Launches Fifth Global Research Funding Round
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 1, 2026 — Tiny Blue Dot Foundation has opened its fifth global research funding round, focusing on the complex interplay of internal beliefs, cognitive schemas, and lived experiences in shaping our perception of reality. The initiative, aimed at advancing scientific understanding, offers multi-year grants of up to $900,000 to researchers worldwide.
The new funding round follows a recent $9 million investment in 11 new research projects, bringing the total number of projects supported by the Foundation to 45 across four consecutive funding cycles since 2022. This ongoing commitment to rigorous, empirical research underscores the Foundation's dedication to exploring the subjective construction of reality and its impact on mental health and well-being.
The Foundation's focus remains on the Perception Box™ framework, developed by Elizabeth R. Koch, which posits that internal beliefs, cognitive schemas, and past experiences significantly influence how individuals interpret themselves, others, and the world around them. Funded research to date has delved into a range of topics, including psychedelics, mindfulness, virtual reality, adolescent mental health, and body perception.
For the fifth round, the Foundation is inviting applications across four key areas: - Agency and Independence: Interventions that enhance autonomy and independence in children, adolescents, and young adults, with a particular emphasis on caregiver practices that support these traits. - Interoception and Emotional Regulation: Research on the ability to perceive and interpret internal bodily signals, and how this awareness supports emotion regulation, social-emotional competence, and healthier decision-making. - Identity and Self-Narrative: Studies into the construction, stabilization, and modification of self-narratives. - Values, Meaning, and Belonging: Investigations into belongingness, purpose, and meaning in life, with a focus on the distinctiveness of belongingness from transient social connectedness.
Principal Investigators must hold a PhD, MD, or equivalent and propose original research using rigorous, empirical methods. Applications are due by October 5, 2026, with a review process leading to the selection of full proposals by February 25, 2027. Funding decisions will be announced in the third quarter of 2027.
Elizabeth R. Koch, Co-Founder of Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, stated, "We are particularly interested in understanding the forces that shape how people see themselves and their place in the world. Our sense of agency, the stories we tell ourselves, and the signals from our bodies all contribute to the Perception Box. By supporting this research, we hope to uncover ways to shift perspectives and broaden mental models for greater psychological flexibility and well-being."
Dr. Christof Koch, Chief Scientist of Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, added, "This next round represents another significant step in building a global, interdisciplinary scientific community. We are committed to supporting rigorous interventions that expand people's understanding of their experienced worlds, reduce anxieties, and foster curiosity and openness."
The Foundation's previous cohorts have explored a wide array of topics: - 2023 Cohort: Topics included the effects of psychedelics, breathwork, and mindfulness. - 2024 Cohort: Projects focused on virtual reality for coping with death anxiety and teaching narrative skills to minority adolescents. - 2025 Cohort: Research on independence-focused therapy for childhood anxiety, school-based depression prevention, and psilocybin-assisted grief therapy. - 2026 Cohort: Studies investigating how the Perception Box is formed, its expansion or contraction, and interventions like mindfulness, dreams, play, and virtual reality.