American Council of Learned Societies
Program: ACLS Leading Edge Fellowships
Synopsis: Supports recent humanities PhDs by placing them with nonprofit organizations promoting social justice in their communities. Fellows take on substantive roles that draw on the skills and capacities honed in the course of earning the humanities PhD, including advanced communication, research, project management, and creative problem solving. The fellowships are designed to foster mutually beneficial partnerships between fellows and their hosting organizations. Each applicant may apply for up to two of the available Leading Edge Fellowship opportunities listed below. There is a separate selection process for each fellowship opportunity. Doctorate must have been received between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2025.
Award details: Stipends for the first year are $70K to $72 and $74K for the second year.
Announcement on website: https://www.acls.org/competitions/acls-leading-edge-fellowships/
Application due date: March 12, 2025.
-----
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Program: Raymond Frankel Nuclear Security Policy Fellow
Synopsis: Supports an early-career professional with training in security studies or nuclear policy to learn about a career in public policy and administration. The Fellow will assume primary responsibility for one or more work streams within the Academy’s nuclear and global security portfolio. They will work in close coordination with Academy staff, the Academy’s Committee on International Security Studies (CISS), and project chairs to steward and advance the work of this program area. Must have a Ph.D. in an area of social science, science, or engineering with an emphasis on nuclear policy or security studies and should have experience or a demonstrated interest in policy-oriented research and outreach, must be eligible to work in the United States without Academy sponsorship.
Award details: $76K, plus a full benefits package including time off, medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 403(b) plan, parental leave, and more. The position is a hybrid role with a presence near Academy Headquarters in Cambridge, MA. Occasional travel (typically less than 10%) and some nights and weekends are required to support project activities.
Announcement on website: https://www.amacad.org/career/raymond-frankel-nuclear-security-policy-fellow-1
Application due date: Interested applicants are encouraged to submit a brief cover letter and CV. Priority consideration will be given to applications received by February 15th, 2025. Prefer program to start summer 2025.
-----
Ploughshares
Program: Grants
Synopsis: Supports individuals and institutions working to build a safe, secure, nuclear-weapons-free world. Funding priorities are as follows
- Near-Term Steps: Drive policies and activities that help eliminate nuclear threats or address regional conflicts;
- Strengthened Communities: Create a stronger, more resilient nuclear field;
- Shared Purpose: Build new partnerships with intersecting issues; and
- Bold Futures: Support transformational thinking and activities.
Ploughshares has updated its application to include a new set of questions related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) based on the values that underpin its work. Information is voluntary and is strictly confidential.
Award details: Amount not stated for its 3X a year funding cycles, however discretionary grants outside of the regular funding cycles can be made up to $50K. Potential proposers are urged to contact Ploughshares to discuss the project to make the grant application process easier.
Announcement on website: https://ploughshares.org/grants/apply/
Application window: Reviews applications 3 times a year. Next submission period for non-discretionary grants is March 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025.
-----
Center for the Study of Federalism
Program: Research Grants
Synopsis: Supports original research and / or writing that advances thinking about federalism as a principle of American government, law, or politics. Areas of focus may include but are not limited to: political philosophy and theory, political history and development, public policy, law (including constitutional law), political institutions, political behavior, and political culture. Research should focus solely on U.S. federalism but consideration will be given to comparative research in which U.S. federalism is a significant component and from which can be drawn a better understanding of U.S. federalism. Applicants are expected to have earned a doctoral degree and to have a record of published research. CSF seeks to support the work of scholars who will further the study of American federalism. Scholars and faculty members from colleges, universities, and independent research institutions are welcome to apply.
Award details: $15K
Announcement on website: https://federalism.org/teaching/grants-and-awards/research-grants/
Application due date: September 15, 2025.
-----
Hearing Health Foundation (HFF)
Program: Emerging Research Grant
Synopsis: Supports faculty, postdoctoral fellow, or clinical /research fellow for research on specified research topic areas of the auditory and vestibular systems. These grants are intended primarily for promising researchers who are in the early stages of their careers and focusing on hearing loss, hearing restoration and hearing and balance related conditions. Senior investigators are also eligible for grants in specific hearing and balance topics, as described in the solicitation. Specific 2025-2026 topic areas for Emerging Research investigators are Central Auditory Processing Disorder; Pain Hyperacusis; Meniere’s disease; and Tinnitus.
Award details: Up to $50K for one year, with the option of applying for a 2nd year or with a no cost extension (without additional funds added).
Announcement on website: https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/how-to-apply
Letter of Intent (to determine eligibility): February 27, 2025.
Application due date: March 3, 2025. Grant year begins October 1, 2025.
-----
American Chemical Society / Petroleum Research Fund (PRF)
Program: New Directions Grants
Synopsis: Supports scientists and engineers with limited—or even no—preliminary results for a research project they wish to pursue, and who intend to use the PRF-driven preliminary results to seek continuation funding from other agencies. ND grants are to be used to illustrate proof of concept / feasibility. Accordingly, they are to be viewed as seed money for new research ventures. The proposed research should not be in the same direction as—or overlap with—current projects in the lead PI’s research group (although for the Co-PI, the proposed research may be in line with the co-PI’s existing research). Regularly appointed faculty members are eligible to apply.
Excluded from consideration will be
- Lead PIs who have had previous support or current funding for the project, and
- Proposals presenting ideas that are a logical extension of ongoing research from the lead PI’s laboratory.
Award details: $125K over 2 years. Requires at least 60 percent of the total proposal budget be devoted to support the education and training of students (graduate students, undergraduates, graduate stipends and/or postdoctoral fellows). 75 grants expected to be awarded.
Announcement on website: https://www.acs.org/funding/grants/petroleum-research-fund/programs/new-directions-grants.html
Application due date: March 7, 2025.
-----
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (with Novo Nordisk Foundation and Wellcome)
Program: Grand Challenges: Innovations for Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery
Synopsis: Supports projects with a focus on the discovery of antibiotics with broad spectrum activity against Enterobacteriaceae, using Klebsiella spp. as the pathogen to initiate a discovery program. Applicant(s) must be able to demonstrate the experience needed to drive and lead a project and to deliver on the objectives.
Proposals must address at least one of the following themes:
- Development of genome-scale tools or other innovative technologies to identify
new chemical starting points linked to targets as well as assessment of potential
drug target vulnerability, singly or in combination.
- Development of innovative technologies to select targets and chemical leads
with a very high bar to resistance.
- Gaining a better understanding of the chemistry underlying penetration of
compounds to different compartments of the bacterial cell to build a platform to
rapidly test whether compounds reach and accumulate at their target.
- Development of novel and coordinated approaches to identifying new chemical
leads for clinically or in vivo validated drug targets, for which there is currently
no agent in Phase 3.
Award details: Maximum $5M for up to 3-year project period. Exploratory projects with shorter durations
or lower budgets that focus on high-risk, innovative areas are strongly encouraged
and will be given priority.
Announcement on website: https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenge/innovations-gram-negative-antibiotic-discovery
Application due date: March 25, 2025.
-----
University of California
Program: President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (PPFP)
Synopsis: Supports research opportunity and career development for scholars whose work will enhance the diversity of the academic community at the University of California. Approximately 75% of UC President's Postdoctoral Fellows have received tenure track faculty appointments. Since 2003, over 100 former fellows have received faculty appointments at University of California campuses. The program seeks applicants with the potential to bring to their academic and research careers the perspective that comes from their non-traditional educational background or understanding of the experiences of members of groups historically underrepresented in higher education, with the goal of providing research opportunity and career development for scholars whose work will enhance the diversity of the academic community at the University of California. The PPFP supports partner programs sponsored by the University of Michigan, University of Colorado, individual UC campuses and the UC-Affiliated National Laboratories. More information on these organizations is provided in the solicitation.
Award details: The 2025 annual award provides a salary starting at approximately $66,737 depending on field and experience, and $5K for research and professional development. The award also includes benefits (health, vision and dental), paid sick leave, maternity leave, and 4 weeks of paid time off during the fellowship term. Each award is for a 12-month period, generally beginning on July 1st. A renewal of the fellowship for an additional term may be granted upon demonstration of academic productivity and participation in program events.
Announcement on website: https://ppfp.ucop.edu/info/
Application due date: November 1, 2025.
-----
Forecasted Opportunity
National Endowment of the Humanities
Program: Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collection
Synopsis: Supports cultural institutions, including libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations as they face a complex challenge: to preserve humanities collections for future generations through environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies to reduce energy consumption and costs as well as to strengthen institutional resilience in the face of a changing climate. Cultural institutions can accomplish this work by managing the collections’ environment, including aspects such as temperature, relative humidity, pollutants, and light; providing protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguarding collections from theft, fire, floods, and other disasters. By using environmentally sustainable methods, institutions reduce reliance on fossil fuels and ensure collections are better protected from current and future disasters. Planning grants provide funding for institutions to develop and assess environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies in collection spaces. Implementation grants provide funding for institutions to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care projects that address specific, discrete preservation challenges as well as projects that address large or multifaceted preservation challenges.
Award details: Planning: $50K for up to 2 years; Implementation Level I:$100K for up to 2 years; Implementation Level II: $350K for up to 3 years.
Announcement on website: https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections
Anticipated due date: January 9, 2026. Project start date October 2026 – January 1, 2027.
-----
Department of Defense (DoD) / Army
Program: Tech Ignite
Synopsis: Supports innovative technology solutions from U.S. small
businesses that address critical capability needs across participating Program
Executive Offices (PEOs). Topics of interest include
- Innovative Operations for Treatment and Processing of Wastewater
- Generative AI-enabled Tactical Network
- Bridge Health Monitoring (BHM) System
- Ruggedized Sensors to Increase Driving Visibility and Vehicle Safety
- Artificial Intelligence for Aided Driving of Ground Combat Vehicles
- AI – Enabled Source Selection
- AI – Enabled Portfolio Management
- Novel AI Techniques for Insights in Various Environments (NATIVE)
Award details: The competition is awarding up to $400K in cash prizes and the Army Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is awarding up to $27M in Army SBIR awards
Announcement on website: XTech Flyer and https://www.xtech.army.mil/
Application due date: March 12, 2025.
-----
Department of Defense (DoD) / Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
Program: CODAC
NOFO #: AFRLAFOSR20250003
Synopsis: Supports outstanding university or team of universities, comprising a University Center of Excellence (uCOE), that will perform high priority unclassified and collaborative basic / applied research which addresses the United States Air Force and United States Space Force (USSF) research needs in the Compositional Optimization, Dynamical Systems and Control (CODAC), with relevance to joint optimization and decision making. The uCOE is a joint project among multiple technical directorates of the Air force Research Laboratory, AFOSR, Information Directorate, Autonomy Capability Team, and Munitions Directorate.
Award details: AFOSR anticipates making at least one grant award of up to $1,150M per year per award, for a maximum of five years.
Announcement on website: CODAC
White paper due date: March 3, 2025.
Proposal submission due date: April 21, 2025.
-----
Department of Defense (DoD) / Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Program: INnovations in Qubit Science for Fault Tolerant Quantum Computing (INQS), FY 2025
NOFO #: NOFOAFRLAFOSR20250004
Synopsis: Supports projects for basic research into solid-state qubits for quantum computing at various stages of maturity. Qubits of interest may support one or more of the required functions in a FTQC system. These functions may include, but are not limited to, data processing, memory storage, communication, spectator roles, or measurement.
Award details: $150K to $750K per year, for a maximum of 5 years. The INQS program, a collaboration between AFOSR and LPS, seeks revolutionary qubit approaches to quantum computation that have the potential to significantly advance scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) beyond current state-of-the-art methods.
Announcement on website: INQS
White Paper due date: March 17, 2025, with a response by DoD by April 4, 2025.
Proposal due date: May 12, 2025.
-----
NSF / Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences / Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
Program: Cultural Anthropology Program Senior Research Awards (CA-SR)
Solicitation #: NSF-25-502
Synopsis: Supports significant and innovative empirical and theoretical research on humans as cultural beings, wherever they may live. While the 21st century can be characterized by unprecedented interconnectedness among people and societies, the world today is still far from homogeneous. Research is needed, therefore, from multiple perspectives and at multiple levels of data collection and analysis to document, understand and explain social and cultural diversities, commonalities and patterns and their impacts on human lifeways and outcomes. Proposals are welcome in all areas of cultural anthropology. NSF particularly encourages proposals that are both ethnographically grounded and attuned to larger significance, including paying heed, theoretically and methodologically, to the meso-scale interface between local and global. NSF welcomes convergent research that integrates knowledge and techniques from across multiple scientific fields. All types of proposals accepted including Senior Research proposals, CAREER proposals and Scholars’ proposals.
Awards details: $4M program funds.
Announcement on website: https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/nsf25502.pdf?VersionId=R0ZgPFo6dS0C.hndiVpZzkfz46MBCLqn
Application due dates: Twice a year — August 15 and January 15. The next due date is August 15 2025.
-----
NSF / Directorate for STEM Education (Divisions of Equity for Excellence, Research in Formal and Informal Settings, Undergraduate Education, and Graduate Education
Program: Amplifying STEM Education Investments in and with Rural and Remote Areas and Communities via Dear Colleague Letter (DCL)
DCL #: 25-023
Synopsis: Supports STEM education, research, and workforce ecosystems with and for learners, formal and informal educators, researchers, and local industry in and with rural and remote communities. Rural community members should be at the center of proposals responding to this DCL, reflected in project leadership and research positions, proposal conceptualization, decision-making and implementation, interpreting and communicating findings, and budget allocation. This DCL strongly encourages proposals from institutions of higher education, including two-year and community colleges, community-based organizations, informal STEM institutions, and non-profits located in rural and remote communities, in accordance with eligibility statements in each program’s solicitation. All proposers are encouraged to explore a wide range of fundamental and applied research and development projects and partnerships that may address one or more of the following EDU goals. All proposers are encouraged to explore a wide range of fundamental and applied research and development projects and partnerships that may address one or more of the following EDU goals.
Announcement on website: https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/dcl-amplifying-stem-education-investments-rural-remote-areas
Application due date: Recommended that interested proposers in responding to this DCL visit the Division webpage linked in the DCL that aligns most closely with their work. Within each Division you will find several programs that could align more specifically with your area of interest. Each program lists Program Officers and direct program emails; therefore, it welcomes and encourages your inquiries to the relevant program before submission.
-----
NIH / Across Several Institutes
Program: Short Courses on Innovative Methodologies and Approaches in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (R-25 — Education Projects)
NOFO #: RFA-OD-003
Synopsis: Supports courses for skills development in cross-cutting methodologies and analytics that are needed to advance behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) but are not well-addressed by existing educational programs widely available to the BSSR community. Short courses supported by this RFA should develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate education and training focused on innovative methods for BSSR. Methodological domains of focus include, but are not limited to, innovative data collection methodologies and analytic techniques, analysis and linking of big data (“Big data” in this NOFO refers to large, complex, longitudinal, and / or distributed data sets generated from administrative data systems or health systems, instruments, sensors, devices, internet transactions, email, video, click streams, and / or all other digital sources available today and in the future), or needed but underutilized designs to advance research across the translational spectrum.
Award details: $200K direct costs per year for 4 years.
Announcement on website: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-25-003.html
Letter of Intent due date: March 8, 2025.
Application due date: April 9, 2025.
-----
NIH / Across Several Institutes including National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and National Institute on Aging
Program: Unveiling Health and Healthcare Disparities in Non-Communicable and Chronic Diseases in Latin America: Setting the State for Better Health Outcomes Across the Hemisphere (R01)
Synopsis: Supports innovative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research focused on clinical epidemiology, evaluation of public and/or health care policies, and validation of measurements that address health and healthcare disparities related to non-communicable and chronic diseases (NCDs) with the highest disease burden and mortality in Latin America and among U.S. Hispanics/Latinos. Specific areas of research interests include (partial)
- Explore and describe access to and utilization of health services, quality of care and associated clinical and health outcomes related to NCDs, especially among underserved populations including Indigenous, Afro-Latino, and rural and suburban communities. Special focus on factors that mediate or facilitate clinical decision-making, factors that mediate, facilitate, or disrupt the patient-clinician communication/relationship, and the role and effectiveness of different health care system/model components on quality of care are of interest.
- Explore and describe clinical disease phenotypes (for example, unusual or newly recognized clinical manifestations) of NCDs (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, cancer, heart failure, long COVID-19, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, dementia, and other neurodegenerative disorders, and other chronic diseases), leading to more accurate and timely diagnosis, tailored and effective prevention and care and/or reducing health/health care disparities.
- Explore the risk profile and burden of interpersonal violence on health, which could lead to potential interventions.
Award details: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed 5-year project.
Announcement on website: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-25-377.html
Application due date: Due dates through 2026. Next due date is June 5, 2025.
-----
Future Program Announcement
This Special Notice is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or white papers
Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA)
Program: Reengineering Enabling Sleep Transitions in Operationally Restrictive Environments (RESTORE)
Special Notice (SN) #: DARPA-SN-25-43
Synopsis: The RESTORE program aims to demonstrate precision control of sleep macro- and micro-architectures to optimize cognitive performance following 3-hour sleep restriction commonly occurring in combat operations. Current civilian treatments are predicated on helping an individual with a sleep disorder achieve healthy, normative sleep by reducing time to sleep onset and awakenings during sleep and with a goal of achieving a fully restorative 7-to-8-hour night sleep. RESTORE will test the potential for recent advancements in non-invasive neuromodulation technologies and understanding of the importance of sleep micro-architectures to increase sleep efficiency for maintenance of cognitive performance under sleep-restricted conditions commonly faced by warfighters.
Announcement on website: RESTORE
-----
Dornsife Corporate and Foundation Relations
(contact Kerri Bennet kerriben@usc.edu for more info)
AMCOR
Program: Moisture barrier for sustainable packaging
Synopsis: Supports improved moisture barrier solutions for flexible substrates that meet requirements for performance, cost, and end-of-life. The aim of this effort is to develop new compostable materials to meet the desired level of moisture barrier required to meet the targeted shelf life for consumer products. The goal is to protect package contents from the outside environment while ensuring sustainability remains central to packaging solutions. Solutions of interest include
- Dispersion coating (applied via flexography or rotogravure printing);
- Extrudable resins or additives (cast or blown extrusion coating);
- Moisture barrier films; and
- Compostable polymers.
Award details: Amcor has a Corporate Venturing and Open Innovation team that can support promising start-ups with investment up to $500K.
Announcement on website: Moisture Barrier
Application due date: February 28, 2025.
-----
BASF
Program: Advancing Understanding of Plant cuticle-fungicide interactions
Synopsis: Supports projects from experts in plant physiology, plant biochemistry/ lipid biosynthesis to advance understanding of how plant cuticles interact with fungicides and influence their behavior. BASF’s primary interest lies in agricultural crops, particularly wheat and soybean, but they are open to incorporating findings from non-agricultural crops as well. Solutions of interest include
- Methods to assess lipophilic molecule transport in soybean & wheat cuticles;
- 3D-structural modeling of the cuticle;
- Experimental approaches to observe/analyze transport processes in the cuticle/epidermis of plants; and
- Predictive models to evaluate fungicide kinetics and cuticle behavior.
Award details: $100K to $150K (total award) for one year.
Announcement on website: Plant cuticle-fungicide interactions
Application due date: February 28, 2025.
-----
