Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Furman University received a $639,771 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Office of Multidisciplinary Activities under the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences program (CFDA 47.075) awarded August 15, 2026, with completion targeted for July 31, 2029. The project delivers neuroscience research investigating how offline wakefulness and sleep jointly consolidate memory through a coordinated 24-hour neurobiological process. Using electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring across multiple brain states, the research tests the hypothesis that new memories are temporarily stabilized during resting wakefulness periods but become permanently encoded only through subsequent sleep cycles. The project comprises three primary studies examining optimal wakefulness states for initial memory consolidation immediately post-learning, the timing windows during which resting wakefulness enhances sleep-dependent consolidation, and the role of salience cues in memory evolution across wake-sleep cycles.

Beyond its core scientific research deliverables, the project produces high-impact neuroscience research training for approximately 12 undergraduate students, reflecting Furman University's institutional commitment to undergraduate research experiences as a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (RUI) institution. The findings are intended to advance fundamental understanding of long-term memory formation by examining integrated brain processes across multiple states and timepoints, addressing gaps in existing memory research that isolates single brain states or memory processes in isolation.