Introduction
The Tiny Blue Dot Foundation (TBD) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that funds scientific research into perception, consciousness, neuroscience, mental health and human well-being. Its work centers on a framework called the Perception Box™, developed by founder Elizabeth R. Koch, which describes how beliefs, biases, experiences, physiology, values, identity and unconscious patterns can shape the way people perceive themselves, other people and the world.
The Foundation’s mission is to develop and scientifically evaluate techniques that may help people expand the boundaries of their Perception Box in ways that can reduce suffering, increase self-acceptance and acceptance of others, and help people respond more constructively to trauma and other life challenges.
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation primarily supports:
- Neuroscience research.
- Consciousness research.
- Mental health research.
- Psychology and perception studies.
- Brain imaging and neurophysiology.
- Interoception research.
- Emotional regulation.
- Identity and self-narrative.
- Psychedelic research.
- Mindfulness and meditation research.
- Virtual reality interventions.
- Breathwork research.
- Adolescent mental health.
- Brain stimulation.
- Trauma and psychological flexibility.
The Foundation operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States.
For current programs and research opportunities, visit the official Tiny Blue Dot Foundation website.
History and Background
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation was established to support rigorous scientific investigation into how human perception is created and whether it can be changed in reliable, measurable and beneficial ways.
The Foundation’s work grew around the concept of the Perception Box, a framework developed by Elizabeth R. Koch. The concept proposes that people do not experience reality in a completely neutral way. Instead, perception is filtered through internal mental models shaped by factors including:
- Beliefs.
- Biases.
- Education.
- Values.
- Genetics.
- Physiology.
- Unconscious patterns.
- Life experiences.
- Trauma.
- Personal narratives.
- Interpretations of past experiences.
The Foundation describes these influences as forming a type of perceptual framework that shapes what people notice, ignore, feel and believe about themselves and others.
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation began major competitive research funding in 2023.
Since then, it has rapidly expanded its support for empirical research exploring perception and consciousness.
By September 2025, the Foundation reported investing more than $40 million across 34 research projects worldwide. Its supported research included studies involving psychedelics, virtual reality, mindfulness, anorexia, autonomous play, trauma and other areas connected with perception and mental well-being.
By 2026, the Foundation reported that it had supported 45 projects since 2023, reflecting continued expansion of its neuroscience and perception research portfolio.
Mission and Purpose
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation seeks to help people understand that their subjective experience of reality is shaped by a personal Perception Box and that aspects of this perceptual framework may be capable of change.
Its mission is to develop Perception Box modification techniques that are:
- Safe.
- Effective.
- Reliable.
- Measurable.
- Widely accessible.
- Easy to use.
The Foundation aims to build a scientific evidence base around methods that may help people develop greater perceptual flexibility.
Its research mission combines three broad objectives:
Educate: Help people understand that perception is influenced by internal beliefs, experiences and psychological structures.
Experience: Explore interventions that may allow people to experience expanded or contracted perceptual states.
Measure: Scientifically evaluate what happens in the brain and behavior when these perceptual states change.
Science of the Perception Box
The Foundation refers to its research initiative as the Science of Perception Box™.
This research seeks to investigate the neural, psychological and experiential mechanisms underlying human perception.
Questions explored through Foundation-supported research include:
- How does the brain construct a sense of self?
- How do beliefs affect perception?
- How does trauma shape interpretation of experiences?
- Can emotional regulation change perception?
- Can mindfulness increase psychological flexibility?
- Can breathwork affect trauma processing?
- How does interoception influence anxiety?
- How do psychedelics alter perception and self-experience?
- Can virtual reality help people experience different mental perspectives?
- How do personal narratives influence identity?
- What creates feelings of meaning and belonging?
The Foundation seeks research that combines theoretical insight with measurable scientific outcomes.
Governance and Structure
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation operates through a scientific and program-management structure led by its founder, scientific leadership and advisory board.
The organization’s leadership includes specialists in:
- Neuroscience.
- Psychiatry.
- Consciousness research.
- Psychology.
- Artificial intelligence.
- Quantum computing.
- Research management.
Elizabeth R. Koch – Founder
Elizabeth R. Koch is the founder of Tiny Blue Dot Foundation.
She is a writer and social entrepreneur whose work explores the intersection of:
- Storytelling.
- Scientific research.
- Human development.
- Identity.
- Belief systems.
- Perception.
She developed the Perception Box framework that forms the conceptual foundation for the organization’s research agenda.
Christof Koch – Chief Scientist
Christof Koch, Ph.D. serves as Chief Scientist of Tiny Blue Dot Foundation.
He is also a Meritorious Investigator at the Allen Institute and is internationally recognized for his research into:
- Consciousness.
- Neuroscience.
- Brain function.
- Neural mechanisms underlying behavior.
His role helps connect the Foundation’s conceptual interests with rigorous neuroscience research.
Scientific Advisory Board
The Foundation’s advisory structure includes prominent researchers and scientific leaders.
Members include:
- Giulio Tononi, M.D., Ph.D.
- Alexander Bystritsky, M.D., Ph.D.
- Hartmut Neven, Ph.D.
Giulio Tononi is a leading consciousness researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Alexander Bystritsky is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA and has extensive experience in psychiatry and consciousness-related research.
Hartmut Neven is a Vice President of Engineering at Google and founded its Quantum Artificial Intelligence laboratory.
Research and Program Management
The Foundation also maintains staff responsible for managing funded research.
Zeinab Barati, Ph.D., MBA serves as Program Manager and supports scientific and clinical projects examining the neuronal basis of consciousness.
Rebecca Scott, MBA serves as Scientific Project Manager and supports the Foundation’s research portfolio and project administration.
Funding and Grants
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation provides substantial multi-year research grants for rigorous empirical research related to perception, consciousness and mental well-being.
Its competitive Request for Proposals process supports scientific teams that can demonstrate:
- Strong research methodology.
- Statistical validity.
- Appropriate neuroscience measures.
- Clear hypotheses.
- Scientific rigor.
- Relevance to the Perception Box framework.
- Potential implications for human well-being.
For the current 2026 funding round, researchers can request up to $900,000 over three years, including overhead and indirect costs.
2026 Request for Proposals
The Foundation launched its fifth major research funding round on 1 September 2026.
The deadline for Letters of Intent is 5 October 2026.
The program seeks to fund up to 10 research projects.
Funding is available for rigorous research exploring several priority areas:
- Agency and independence.
- Interoception and emotional regulation.
- Identity and self-narrative.
- Values.
- Meaning.
- Belonging.
Researchers can apply for multi-year awards of up to $900,000 per project.
Application Process
The Tiny Blue Dot Foundation uses a two-stage competitive application process.
The first stage involves an anonymized Letter of Intent (LOI).
Eligible submissions are reviewed by:
- Foundation staff.
- Scientific experts.
- External reviewers.
The strongest applicants are then invited to submit a full proposal.
Full applications undergo internal and external scientific review before final funding decisions are made.
Key dates for the fifth funding round include:
- 1 September 2026: LOI opens.
- 14 September 2026: Application guidance webinar.
- 5 October 2026: LOI deadline.
- 17 December 2026: Selected LOIs announced.
- 13 January 2027: Full application guidance webinar.
- 25 February 2027: Full proposal deadline.
- July 2027: Funding decisions announced.
Who Can Apply?
The RFP is international.
Researchers and institutions from countries worldwide may apply, subject to relevant U.S. legal restrictions.
Applications may be considered from any country except jurisdictions subject to applicable U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions.
Applicants must satisfy the scientific qualifications and institutional requirements specified by the Foundation.
Research applications typically involve:
- A principal investigator.
- An applicant organization.
- Research team members.
- Collaborating organizations where appropriate.
- Consultants where required.
The applicant organization enters into the funding agreement with the Foundation if the proposal is successful.
Research Evaluation
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation emphasizes rigorous scientific review.
Research proposals are expected to be:
- Empirical.
- Statistically valid.
- Methodologically sound.
- Scientifically measurable.
- Relevant to neuroscience and perception.
The Foundation has also used blinded and anonymous review mechanisms to reduce bias.
It reports receiving hundreds of applications during previous funding rounds, with scientific proposals undergoing double-blinded evaluation.
Major Programs and Initiatives
The Foundation’s principal initiative is the Science of Perception Box research program.
Rather than operating many unrelated grant programs, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation concentrates substantial resources on building a coherent scientific field around perception and consciousness.
Its funded projects examine interventions and phenomena including:
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy.
- Meditation.
- Mindfulness.
- Breathwork.
- Virtual reality.
- Dreams.
- Brain stimulation.
- Trauma.
- Emotional regulation.
- Anxiety.
- Adolescent development.
- Interoception.
- Identity.
- Self-perception.
2026 Research Funding
In 2026, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation announced $9 million in funding for 11 new research projects exploring perception, consciousness and mental health.
Research institutions are located across countries including:
- United States.
- Australia.
- United Kingdom.
- Netherlands.
The studies examine topics including:
- Transformative dreams.
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy.
- Adolescent anxiety.
- Body perception.
- Mindfulness.
- Virtual reality.
- Brain stimulation.
- Scientific measurement of expanded and contracted perception.
This represented the Foundation’s fourth round of major research funding.
Breathwork and Trauma Research
One Foundation-supported project at the Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience examines circular breathwork as a potential tool for trauma processing.
The project explores whether circular breathwork and psychedelic-assisted therapy may share psychological or neural mechanisms among people with histories of childhood trauma.
This type of study illustrates the Foundation’s interest in interventions that may modify perception without relying exclusively on pharmaceutical approaches.
Emotion Perception and Brain Stimulation
Researchers at the Cognitive Intelligence and Precision Healthcare Research Center at National Central University are investigating neural mechanisms underlying emotional perception.
The project also examines whether non-invasive brain stimulation can influence emotional processing.
Research of this kind could help scientists better understand how brain activity relates to subjective emotional experience.
Psychedelic Research
Psychedelic-assisted interventions are another area represented in Tiny Blue Dot Foundation’s research portfolio.
Supported research has examined questions involving:
- Self-perception.
- Trauma.
- Psychological flexibility.
- Death anxiety.
- Consciousness.
- Emotional processing.
The Foundation is particularly interested in identifying measurable mechanisms rather than relying only on subjective reports.
Virtual Reality Research
Virtual reality provides another potential method for experimentally altering perception.
Foundation-supported studies have examined virtual reality interventions connected with areas such as:
- End-of-life distress.
- Mental health.
- Perspective taking.
- Self-perception.
Virtual environments allow researchers to systematically change sensory and experiential conditions while studying psychological and neurological responses.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness and meditation interventions also feature in the Foundation’s research portfolio.
Researchers investigate whether these practices can influence:
- Attention.
- Emotional regulation.
- Self-awareness.
- Psychological flexibility.
- Anxiety.
- Well-being.
Such research can help identify whether widely used contemplative practices produce measurable neurological or psychological changes.
Adolescent Mental Health
Children and adolescents represent an important area of research for Tiny Blue Dot Foundation.
Recent projects have examined:
- Anxiety prevention.
- Identity development.
- Emotional regulation.
- Self-perception.
- Play.
- Psychological flexibility.
The 2026 funding portfolio includes studies exploring how young people perceive their internal and external worlds and how those patterns may influence mental health.
Autonomous Play
The Foundation has supported research examining autonomous play and child development.
Play can influence:
- Independence.
- Confidence.
- Decision-making.
- Social development.
- Emotional regulation.
This research connects with the Foundation’s broader interest in understanding how a person’s perceptual framework develops during childhood.
Interoception
Interoception refers to the brain’s perception of signals originating inside the body.
Examples include awareness of:
- Heartbeat.
- Breathing.
- Hunger.
- Physical tension.
- Temperature.
- Internal discomfort.
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation identifies interoception and emotional regulation as key areas within its current research agenda.
Understanding this relationship could improve scientific knowledge of anxiety, emotional awareness and mental health.
Identity and Self-Narrative
The stories people tell about themselves can become deeply embedded in identity.
The Foundation seeks research investigating:
- Personal narratives.
- Identity formation.
- Beliefs about the self.
- Psychological rigidity.
- Cognitive schemas.
- Memory.
- Self-perception.
Research may help scientists understand how self-narratives develop and whether they can become more flexible.
Meaning and Belonging
The Foundation’s fifth funding round also emphasizes values, meaning and belonging.
Researchers may investigate questions such as:
- How do people construct meaning?
- What creates a sense of belonging?
- How does social connection influence perception?
- How do values shape decision-making?
- Can interventions increase psychological openness?
These questions connect neuroscience with broader psychological and social dimensions of human experience.
Impact and Research Portfolio
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation has rapidly become a substantial funder of neuroscience and consciousness research.
Since 2023, the Foundation has supported 45 projects examining the science of perception and consciousness.
Its project portfolio includes research conducted at institutions such as:
- Allen Institute.
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
- Brown University.
- Duke University.
- Emory University.
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
- Massachusetts General Hospital.
- Maastricht University.
- Lund University.
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience.
- University-affiliated neuroscience and psychology centers worldwide.
More Than $40 Million in Research Funding
By September 2025, the Foundation reported investing more than $40 million across 34 projects.
Since then, its portfolio has continued to grow through subsequent funding rounds, including $9 million awarded to 11 projects in its fourth major research cohort.
This level of funding enables investigators to undertake:
- Multi-year clinical studies.
- Neuroimaging.
- Brain stimulation research.
- Behavioral experiments.
- Longitudinal studies.
- Psychological assessments.
- Intervention trials.
Building a New Research Field
One of Tiny Blue Dot Foundation’s broader ambitions is to create a scientific framework around the study of the Perception Box.
Rather than supporting isolated studies, the Foundation is developing a portfolio of research exploring overlapping questions about:
- Consciousness.
- Perception.
- Identity.
- Emotion.
- Trauma.
- Brain function.
- Mental health.
As more studies generate data, researchers may be able to compare interventions and identify common mechanisms.
This could help determine whether apparently different practices—such as meditation, psychedelics, breathwork or virtual reality—produce overlapping neurological or psychological effects.
Why Tiny Blue Dot Foundation Matters
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation occupies a distinctive position within neuroscience philanthropy because it focuses substantial funding on questions that sit at the intersection of:
- Neuroscience.
- Psychology.
- Consciousness.
- Mental health.
- Human development.
- Subjective experience.
Its funding model enables researchers to investigate ideas that may be difficult to support through more conventional government research programs.
The Foundation is particularly relevant to researchers interested in:
- Neuroscience grants.
- Consciousness research funding.
- Mental health research grants.
- Perception research.
- Psychedelic research.
- Mindfulness research.
- Interoception.
- Emotional regulation.
- Brain stimulation.
- Adolescent mental health.
Current Funding Opportunity
The Foundation’s fifth Request for Proposals is currently open.
Researchers can request up to $900,000 over three years.
The Letter of Intent deadline is 5 October 2026.
The Foundation expects to fund up to 10 projects, with final funding decisions scheduled for July 2027.
Researchers interested in applying should consult the official Tiny Blue Dot Foundation Request for Proposals page.
Conclusion
The Tiny Blue Dot Foundation is a nonprofit research funder supporting ambitious scientific investigation into perception, consciousness, mental health and human experience.
Founded by Elizabeth R. Koch, the Foundation centers its work around the Perception Box framework, which explores how beliefs, experiences, identity, physiology, trauma and unconscious patterns influence the way people interpret themselves and the world.
Its research strategy aims to identify techniques capable of modifying these perceptual frameworks in ways that are safe, effective, measurable and widely accessible.
Since 2023, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation has developed a rapidly expanding research portfolio covering areas such as psychedelics, mindfulness, breathwork, virtual reality, brain stimulation, trauma, adolescent anxiety, identity, interoception and emotional regulation.
The Foundation had supported 45 research projects by 2026, while its latest research cohorts have involved millions of dollars in funding for institutions across several countries.
Its current fifth funding round offers multi-year neuroscience grants of up to $900,000 for research addressing agency, independence, interoception, emotional regulation, identity, self-narrative, values, meaning and belonging.
Through large-scale competitive research funding and interdisciplinary scientific collaboration, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation is helping build a stronger empirical understanding of how human perception is formed and whether it can become more flexible.
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