AI Efficiency Challenge
Sponsor: Administered by Start2 Group, Inc. (which launched the NSF-funded STRIDE Ventures initiative) as the OT Contractor under an Other Transaction Agreement with the National Science Foundation.
Discipline(s): Computer Science
Description: The initiative aims to strengthen the effective capacity and competitiveness of U.S.-based AI companies by reducing the cost of training and inference, addressing near-term limitations on data center capacity, and accelerating the time to market of new models. The program will create a structured environment for collaboration among researchers, technology developers, and organizations running large-scale AI/ML workloads, with the goal of awarded teams achieving preliminary deployments at scale within one year of receiving funding.
Institutional Limit: None
PI Eligibility: Multiple Principal Investigators (PIs) from the same university can apply to this Challenge, and a given PI can be a team member or the lead on multiple applications. However, a given PI will be awarded as the lead for only one (1) funded project.
Award: Between $1,750,000 and $3,500,000 per project, over two years. Applicants will select their desired schedule track: Fast Track or Regular Track. Payments are made retrospectively, and are tranched based upon milestone achievement/accomplishment.
Cost Share: Not required, however, in addition to the funding requested through this Challenge, teams may also benefit from in-kind resources (such as staff and/or cloud services, etc.) provided by their commercial team members or partners.
Deadline(s): Application due July 13, 2026. The first of four informational webinars will be May 28, 2026. Invited teams will attend a Pitch Day August 13-14, 2026.
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
Sponsor: Russell Sage Foundation (RSF)
Discipline(s): Social Science, Humanities, Policy, Economics, Psychology, Housing, Immigration, Race/Ethnicity
Description: The Russell Sage Foundation’s program on Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration supports innovative investigator-initiated research that examines the roles of race, ethnicity, nativity, legal status —and their interactions with each other and other social categories—in the social, economic, and political outcomes for immigrants, U.S.-born racial and ethnic minorities, and native-born whites. \
Institutional Limit: No limit
PI Eligibility: All applicants (both PIs and Co-PIs) must have a doctorate. In rare circumstances, RSF may consider applications from scholars who do not hold a doctorate but can demonstrate a strong career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research. Students may not be applicants.
Award: The maximum grant amount for a Trustee grant is $200,000, including 15% indirect costs. Grants up to $75,000 are considered Presidential-Authority grants. Projects are limited to no more than two years.
Cost Share: Co-funding and/or cost-sharing by the grantee university or organization is encouraged and should be reported in the budget narrative. This includes approved or pending funding. Requested RSF funds must be allocated to budget items that are not covered by other funders. OR&I cannot guarantee a contribution to cost share. Researchers must discuss cost share contribution needs with their School Dean or Department Chair to secure cost share before submitting a proposal.
Deadline(s): LOI due July 15, 2026; Invited Proposals due October 26, 2026
Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context
Sponsor: Russell Sage Foundation (RSF)
Discipline(s): Social Science, Humanities, Policy, Economics, Psychology, Housing, Immigration, Race/Ethnicity
Description: This program encourages perspectives from multiple disciplines, including economics, psychology, political science, sociology, law, public policy, and other social sciences, to further our understanding of economic, social, political, and psychological decision-making processes, attitudes, behaviors, and institutional practices in public and private contexts such as policing/criminal legal systems, employment, housing, politics, racial/ethnic relations, and immigration.
Institutional Limit: No limit
PI Eligibility: All applicants (both PIs and Co-PIs) must have a doctorate. In rare circumstances, RSF may consider applications from scholars who do not hold a doctorate but can demonstrate a strong career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research. Students may not be applicants.
Award: The maximum grant amount for a Trustee grant is $200,000, including 15% indirect costs. Grants up to $75,000 are considered Presidential-Authority grants. Projects are limited to no more than two years.
Cost Share: Co-funding and/or cost-sharing by the grantee university or organization is encouraged and should be reported in the budget narrative. This includes approved or pending funding. Requested RSF funds must be allocated to budget items that are not covered by other funders. OR&I cannot guarantee a contribution to cost share. Researchers must discuss cost share contribution needs with their School Dean or Department Chair to secure cost share before submitting a proposal.
Deadline(s): LOI due July 15, 2026; Invited Proposals due October 26, 2026
Immigration and Immigrant Integration (III)
Sponsor: Russell Sage Foundation (RSF)
Discipline(s): Immigration, Race/Ethnicity, Culture, Politics, Policy
Description: This program seeks to support innovative research on the effects of race, citizenship, legal status and politics, political culture, and public policy on outcomes for immigrants to the U.S. and for the U.S.-born of different racial and ethnic groups and generations.
Institutional Limit: No limit
PI Eligibility: All applicants (both PIs and Co-PIs) must have a doctorate. In rare circumstances, RSF may consider applications from scholars who do not hold a doctorate but can demonstrate a strong career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research. Students may not be applicants.
Award: The maximum grant amount for a Trustee grant is $200,000, including 15% indirect costs. Grants up to $75,000 are considered Presidential-Authority grants. Projects are limited to no more than two years.
Cost Share: Co-funding and/or cost-sharing by the grantee university or organization is encouraged and should be reported in the budget narrative. This includes approved or pending funding. Requested RSF funds must be allocated to budget items that are not covered by other funders. OR&I cannot guarantee a contribution to cost share. Researchers must discuss cost share contribution needs with their School Dean or Department Chair to secure cost share before submitting a proposal.
Deadline(s): LOI due July 15, 2026; Invited Proposals due October 26, 2026
Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility
Sponsor: Russell Sage Foundation (RSF)
Discipline(s): Education, Accessibility, Workforce, Race/Ethnicity
Description: The Russell Sage Foundation, in collaboration with the Hewlett, Spencer, and William T. Grant foundations, seeks to support innovative research on the effects of the Supreme Court decision on a diversity of outcomes—from who attends college and where and the extent to which alternatives to race-conscious policies contribute to educational attainment and economic mobility among different groups in the population.
Institutional Limit: No limit
PI Eligibility: All applicants (both PIs and Co-PIs) must have a doctorate. In rare circumstances, RSF may consider applications from scholars who do not hold a doctorate but can demonstrate a strong career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research. Students may not be applicants.
Award: The maximum grant amount for a Trustee grant is $200,000, including 15% indirect costs. Grants up to $75,000 are considered Presidential-Authority grants. Projects are limited to no more than two years.
Cost Share: Co-funding and/or cost-sharing by the grantee university or organization is encouraged and should be reported in the budget narrative. This includes approved or pending funding. Requested RSF funds must be allocated to budget items that are not covered by other funders. OR&I cannot guarantee a contribution to cost share. Researchers must discuss cost share contribution needs with their School Dean or Department Chair to secure cost share before submitting a proposal.
Deadline(s): LOI due July 15, 2026; Invited Proposals due October 26, 2026
Research Grants on Improving the Use of Research Evidence
Sponsor: William T Foundation
Discipline(s): Education, Economic, Social Sciences, Policy, Equity, Youth, Racial and Social Equity and Justice
Description: This program funds research studies that examine strategies to improve the use of research evidence in ways that benefit young people ages 5-25 in the United States.
Institutional Limit: No limit
PI Eligibility: Applicants may submit only one application per cycle as the Principal Investigator.
Award: Major research grants: $100,000–$1,000,000 over 2-4 years, including up to 15% indirect costs. Officers’ research grants: $25,000–$50,000 over 1-2 years, including up to 15% indirect costs.
Cost Share: Not required
Deadline(s): July 29, 2026
Sociological Initiatives Foundation
Sponsor: Sociological Initiatives Foundation
Discipline(s): Humanities, Social Science, Sociology, Policy, Advocacy, Language, Literacy, Social Change
Description: It funds research projects that investigate laws, policies, institutions, regulations, and normative practices that may limit equality in the U.S.
Institutional Limit: No limit
PI Eligibility: No restrictions
Award: $15,000 to $20,000 for 2 years
Cost Share: Not required
Deadline(s): Short concept applications due August 14, 2026
Energy, Power, Control, and Learning (EPCL)
Sponsor: NSF
Discipline(s): Energy, Power Grid, Transportation, Healthcare
Description: The Energy, Power, Control, and Learning (EPCL) program invests in fundamental research to advance the capabilities, performance, security and resilience of engineered systems. These advances can benefit the U.S. power grid, transportation, manufacturing, healthcare and other critical infrastructure systems that enable economic growth and prosperity. EPCL supports research on systems and control, learning, optimization, and networked multi-agent systems. The program addresses a wide variety of systems and decision-making issues.
Institutional Limit: No limit
PI Eligibility: No restrictions
Award: Not listed
Cost Share: Not required
Deadline(s): Full proposal accepted anytime
