This article gives a synthesis and overview of the history, methodological principles and scientific and media reception of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project launched in 2009 by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). It is shown how the RDoC project opposes on several points the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders (DSM), but most particularly by focusing on the normal functioning of the brain with data from genetics, cognitive neuroscience and behavioral sciences. It is argued that this project is a bet on the future and that its success largely depends on the adhesion of the American researchers to the new framework it offers. However, paradoxically, this framework is still to be built.