Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA)

Overview:

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program is to support educational activities that increase understanding of biomedical research among pre-college (pre-kindergarten to grade12) individuals, and to encourage awareness of and continued interest in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this NOFO will support educational activities with a primary focus on:

• Courses for Skills Development
• Research Experiences
• Mentoring Activities
• Curriculum or Methods Development
• Outreach

Funding Opportunity Announcement Goal(s)
To ensure the vitality and continued productivity of the research enterprise, NIGMS provides leadership in supporting the training of future scientists and developing research capacity throughout the country.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers. 

The overarching goal of this NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program is to support educational activities that increase understanding of biomedical research among pre-college (pre-kindergarten to grade 12) individuals, and to encourage awareness of and continued interest in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). 

SEPA supports education projects across two types of settings: 

1. Classroom-based education projects for pre-kindergarten to grade 12 (pre-college) students and teachers
2. Informal science education (ISE) projects conducted outside traditional classroom settings.  

Applications focused on quantitative and computational skills development are strongly encouraged. Applications from resource-limited institutions are also highly encouraged.

A SEPA application may focus on one or more of the following activities related to any area of biomedical research within NIH’s mission: 

• Courses for Skills Development: Courses in a specific discipline or research area that extend the STEM content normally taught in schools. 
• Research Experiences: Hands-on exposure to research for pre-college students and teachers. 
• Mentoring Activities: Providing participants with a perspective on biomedical research pathways and tools for overcoming challenges, navigating career transition points, and successfully transitioning into careers in the biomedical research workforce.
• Curriculum or Methods Development: STEM education resources to improve biomedical science education or develop novel instructional approaches or computer-based educational tools.
• Outreach: Dissemination of STEM education resources or biomedical research findings to students and teachers. 

Research education programs may complement ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, but the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those training and education programs currently receiving Federal support. 

Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with the appropriate Scientific/Research Contact listed in Section VII. Agency Contacts to determine appropriate mission fit with participating institutes and centers. 

Solicitation limitations:

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

Other information:

Multiple Deadlines: January 25, 2027; May 25, 2027; September 25, 2027; January 25, 2028; May 25, 2028; September 25, 2028; January 25, 2029; May 25, 2029.

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the number of meritorious applications.

Award Budget: Direct costs are limited to $250,000, excluding consortium F&A costs, annually.

Indirect Costs: Indirect Costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative [F&A] Costs) are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs (exclusive of tuition and fees, expenditures for equipment and consortium costs in excess of $25,000), rather than on the basis of a negotiated rate agreement.

Award Project Period: The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 5 years.

Margaret Olivia Sage (MOS) Grants

Overview:

The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) is launching a new competition, the Margaret Olivia Sage (MOS) Grants, to support research by multi- or inter-disciplinary teams on social, economic, and political challenges with generational consequences for social and living conditions in the United States. Such challenges are typically national in scope, involve both systemic and individual factors, and the questions they raise are as urgent for policymakers and communities as they are for researchers. Exemplifying the scope and ambition of MOS projects, we have identified four current priority areas for support: (1) democracy, (2) the societal impacts of artificial intelligence, (3) inequality and affordability, and (4) data infrastructure for social science research.

The priority areas highlight major challenges to American society that are aligned with RSF’s core research priorities. MOS grant projects should have the potential to catalyze new fields of inquiry and policy innovation. Projects must include plans for disseminating research to the public and should inform the work of community organizations or policymakers. RSF is particularly interested in projects that offer concrete strategies for community engagement, either through partnership or dissemination.

1. Democracy
   The scope of American democracy and the vitality of civic life have shown great historical variability. Recent research has examined threats to civil liberties, and the erosion of norms that underpin democratic institutions. Researchers also observe that struggles for inclusion and transformation by marginalized communities are longstanding and foundational to American political development. In short, research highlights the fragility of American democracy, while also examining the central role of historically marginalized groups in reimagining and shaping its trajectory.

The MOS initiative welcomes proposals on the health of American democracy and the conditions under which it succeeds or falters. We are particularly interested in work examining “democracy from the margins” – that is, research on how marginalized communities experience, contest, and shape democratic institutions. We also welcome research on threats to electoral participation and civic engagement, as well as the influence of concentrated wealth and power on elections and policy. 

Some questions that this research may address include:

• How do marginalized communities – defined, for example, in terms of race, ethnicity, class, immigration status and/or geography – experience, contest, and shape American democratic institutions?
• How are institutions structured in ways that have disproportionate (positive or negative) effects on marginalized communities?
• How are changes in election administration, voting access, and information environments affecting individuals’ political participation and civic engagement?
• How does the concentration of wealth affect electoral competition, the formation of policy agendas, and/or the responsiveness of public officials to different constituencies?
• How do local or state public actors, civil society, and/or ordinary citizens shape norms, civil liberties, and institutional checks that underpin democratic functioning?

2. Societal Impacts of Artificial Intelligence
   A growing body of research examines the effects of artificial intelligence technologies on work, workers, and workplaces. Current research finds only modest aggregate labor market effects of AI, thus far, but studies also find displacement and wage effects in specific industries, for certain occupations and worker experience levels. Research also suggests that the manner of AI deployment (substituting for or complementing workers) will likely influence the workplace.

Rapid technological change is also influencing politics, culture, and social interaction. Whether through misinformation and disinformation, finely personalized political messaging, biased decision-making in consequential domains (employment, lending, health care, incarceration, etc.), or embedding cultural bias in content generation, AI may be changing the balance of who benefits from the resources, opportunities, and rewards that American society has to offer.

The MOS initiative welcomes proposals that address how AI is being adopted across or within sectors and communities, the consequences for societal inequality, and/or the policy and social responses that could sustain democracy, advance economic fairness, and protect the public interest.

Some questions that this research may address include:

• How do AI technologies affect job security, mobility, and bargaining power among workers in clerical, administrative, and customer service roles?
• Under what conditions do AI tools enhance or diminish the productivity, autonomy, and job satisfaction of workers across blue- and white-collar occupations?
• What public policies or organizational practices could promote a positive use of AI technologies that augment workers rather than replace them?
• How does AI affect people’s interactions with political and social institutions and how do those interactions impact the provision of goods and/or trust in government, corporations, or other institutions?
• What is the impact of disparate access to AI and to what extent does it exacerbate group inequalities?
• How do AI infrastructure needs such as data centers positively or negatively impact the economic and/or social wellbeing of communities?

3. Inequality and Affordability
   The causes and consequences of economic inequality have been a longstanding interest of the Russell Sage Foundation, and these issues take on special significance today. Changes in inequality may reflect changes in social structure, and the shifting roles of market and non-market institutions in economic life. Additionally, high levels of income and wealth inequality may be closely connected, for example, to inertia and capture of political decision-making, diminished civic engagement across the population, and distrust and isolation among young people.

Related to high levels of inequality, the “affordability crisis” refers to the difficulty many low- and middle-income households face in meeting the costs of everyday necessities, including housing, food, healthcare, childcare, and education. Research has also explored alternative measures of material wellbeing and economic security that aim to capture the everyday experience of economic life that may be overlooked by standard economic indicators.

The MOS initiative welcomes proposals that examine the expansive impact and conceptual understanding of inequality and affordability. We are particularly interested in variation over time, across groups, and across regions of the country, as well as innovative measurement, data designs and strategies for analysis. Successful research projects will be a resource for communities and policymakers in responding to the economic challenges facing American households.

Some questions that this research may address include:

• How is the gap between household incomes and the cost of everyday necessities changing across groups, regions, and over time?
• What is driving the rising costs of housing, healthcare, and childcare?
• How do households absorb and adapt to affordability pressures, and with what consequences for economic security and mobility?
• How can new measures of material wellbeing and economic security better capture the everyday experience of economic life?
• How different is the experience of and adaptation to the affordability challenges across demographic groups, including age, gender, race, or citizenship?
• How do individuals and communities adapt to increasing challenges of food and water insecurity and with what consequences for resources and other dimensions of inequality?

4. Data Infrastructure for Social Science Research
   Over the last few years, federally-funded data collections and statistical series that monitor social and living conditions in the U.S. population have become less accessible, delayed in release, and in some cases discontinued. At the same time, researchers have explored new kinds of data based on digital traces, data linkage, online platforms, proprietary databases, and administrative records. Efforts have also proliferated to disseminate, visualize, and analyze data for audiences beyond the academic research community.

The MOS initiative welcomes proposals for the building and sharing of data collections that illuminate patterns of social and living conditions across groups, over time, and across geographic regions. MOS grants will support efforts to maintain and extend critical public data resources that have been under threat. It also will support projects that develop innovative approaches to data collection and dissemination. We are especially interested in projects that help create informational public goods for researchers, the general public, organizers, advocates and policymakers. We also particularly welcome data projects focused on the substantive priority areas of democracy, AI, and inequality and affordability. Maintaining large-scale data collections remains crucial for tracking social and living conditions and sustaining scientific integrity in policy development. These challenges also provide an opportunity to rethink and improve what data are being collected, and how and why they are collected.

Some questions that this research may address include:

• How can data resources better track patterns of social and living conditions across groups, regions, and over time?
• How can novel data sources (e.g., administrative records, digital traces, or platform data) be used to measure and track social and living conditions?
• How do limitations in current public data infrastructure shape what can be known about inequality?
• How can data infrastructure best serve researchers, policymakers, and the public?

RSF’s research priorities are designated by our four core program areas: social, political, and economic inequality; race, ethnicity, and immigration; the future of work; behavioral science and decision-making in context.

To be eligible, PIs and Co-PIs must have a doctorate, and teams must be multi- or inter-disciplinary. The foundation also encourages collaborations across research institutions and/or with community partners. A research team that partners with a community organization will be considered as multidisciplinary. MOS grants provide up to $750,000 (plus 15% indirect costs) over three years. For particularly promising projects, RSF may consider one renewal grant of up to $500,000 for an additional two years.

Solicitation limitations:

To be eligible, PIs and Co-PIs must have a doctorate, and teams must be multi- or inter-disciplinary. The foundation also encourages collaborations across research institutions and/or with community partners.

Other information:

Letter of Inquiry Deadline: Dec. 1, 2026, 2pm ET  
Invited Proposal Deadline: Feb. 22, 2027, 2pm ET            
Funding Decision: June 2027

Award: Up to $750,000 direct costs over 3 years + 15% IDC
Renewal: Up to $500,000 / 2 additional years for particularly promising projects
Awards anticipated: 1–2 per annual cycle

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program

Overview:

The HSI Education Grants Program, under assistance listing number 10.223, will promote and strengthen the ability HSIs to carry out education, applied research, and related community development programs. This program encourages innovative teaching, education, or related community development proposals with the potential to impact and become models for other institutions at the regional or national level. Applications may propose, as part of a formal education and teaching program, that students gain experience with an applied research and community outreach activity. While HSIs are the only eligible entities to apply for this NOFO, funded projects should benefit the entire population at the institution, not solely the Hispanic population.

Priority Need Areas. Projects supported by this program must address one or more of the following priority need areas: 

1. Attract and support the domestic pipeline of undergraduate and graduate students to prepare them for careers related to the FANH sciences [Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences] in the United States. 
2. Enhance the quality of postsecondary instruction within the above disciplines. 
3. Provide opportunities and access to FANH careers in the public, non-profit and private sectors. 
4. Align the efforts of HSIs and other non-profit organizations to support academic development and career attainment of students. 

Disciplines. The HSI Education Grants Program will support applications from any number of disciplines in FANH. More specific information on what is considered FANH can be found at 7 U.S.C. 3103. Other disciplines will be considered provided there is strong justification for their relationship with agricultural enterprises. 

Social and Behavioral Science Disciplines. Projects that integrate social and behavioral sciences with FANH sciences to provide experiential learning opportunities for students are encouraged. Incorporation of social and behavioral sciences is important for addressing many of the challenges facing agriculture and rural communities. USDA Partnerships. Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to partner with a USDA agency to leverage resources and expertise for the proposed project and to introduce students to federal careers. Partnerships with USDA agencies can be established after the grant has been awarded. Including letters of collaboration from USDA agencies is not a requirement. 

Leadership Skills Development. The development of leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities are necessary to prepare students for agricultural and related careers in the private sector, government, and academia. The HSI Education Grants Program education/teaching applications must demonstrably incorporate a leadership development component to equip students with technical and leadership abilities upon graduation.

Projects submitted under this NOFO should align with USDA Secretary’s Memorandum 1078- 020 Directive on Departmental Research and Development Priorities: 

1. Increasing Profitability of Farmers and Ranchers
2. Expanding Markets and Creating New Uses of U.S. Agricultural Products 
3. Protecting the Integrity of American Agriculture from Invasive Species 
4. Promoting Soil Health to Regenerate Long-Term Productivity of Land 
5. Improving Human Health through Precision Nutrition and Food Quality

Solicitation limitations:

Notice: ASU Limited Submissions will run this opportunity with a rapid review system to better accommodate the sponsor's immediate timeline. 

Limitation: ASU may submit only five (5) applications to the sponsoring organization.

• For FY 2026, there is a five application limit on the number of Regular or Collaboration applications that can be submitted by an institution. 
• For FY 2026, a PD may not apply for a Collaboration Grant as the lead PD if they currently have an active USDA NIFA HSI Education Grants Program Collaboration Grant awarded in FY 2024.

Other information:

Cost Sharing or Matching: No Match Required.
Percent of Applications Funded: 21%

Communities Leading on AI

Overview:

There is widespread concern about AI’s impact on people’s lives, jobs, and communities. This public anxiety is rooted in the question of who gets a say in how AI is built, governed, and used to ensure that it works for the common good.

We are looking for efforts where communities — from workers to artists to students and educators — are setting the agenda, not just informing it. Through this call, we are open to, and actively seeking, applicants who have not typically seen themselves as playing a role in shaping the impact of AI, whether for themselves or others. 

This call is focused on community-led efforts in three issue areas central to Humanity AI’s work. By community-led, we mean those most affected by the technological changes are defining the goals, shaping the approach, and driving the work. Issue areas include:

• Education
  Shaping AI around the best interests of students, educators, and communities to develop and expand knowledge, strengthen how people learn, and safeguard against risks to humans. We are particularly interested in work led by students, educators, and the organizations who represent them.
• Labor and economy
  Ensuring AI is used to enhance, rather than replace, workers and to help create an economy that enables all of us to have what we need to thrive. We are particularly interested in work led by workers and worker-focused organizations.
• Humanities, arts, and culture
  Enhancing human creativity and understanding of the human experience while protecting the work of artists and creators. We are particularly interested in work led by artists, writers, scholars, cultural heritage workers, and others working in culture and humanities, including organizations that represent them.

Eligible Approaches

Within the three issue areas above, we’re funding community-led work to shape AI that adopts one of the three approaches below. We provide examples for each approach to spark ideas, but are eager to learn from other ways to advance these approaches:

• Shaping how AI is governed and used
• Building AI on community terms
• Challenging AI that doesn’t serve communities

Priority Consideration: Open-Weight & Open-Source AI: Efforts are eligible whether or not they incorporate AI. Where AI models are part of the proposed work’s core methodology or deliverables, priority will be given to open-weight and/or open-source models over closed models. See our FAQ for more information.

Areas Out of Scope

• AI Literacy: Efforts that are primarily about providing the knowledge and skills to use AI tools
• AI Adoption: Efforts that are primarily about promoting the spread of specific AI tools and systems
• Research-only: Efforts that are primarily about research without advancing community leadership and action

Solicitation limitations:

Eligibility: We welcome applications from U.S.-based organizations, collaborations, and individuals with proposals focused on U.S.-based communities. Lead organizations must have 501(c)(3) status. Individuals are eligible to apply with a fiscal sponsor or other 501(c)(3) intermediary.

Organizations that received a direct Humanity AI grant in 2026 are not eligible to apply as sole applicants but are welcome to apply as part of a collaboration. Priority will be given to collaborations with lead applicants that are not 2026 grantees.

Can multiple centers, departments, or programs housed within the same parent organization each apply separately? Yes. Centers, departments, and programs housed within the same parent organization, including schools, departments, and centers within a college or university, may submit separate applications as long as the proposals are distinct.

Can we submit more than one application? To ensure we can closely review all applications, applicants are limited to one individual application and one application as part of a collaboration.

Regranting or Subgranting: In order to score highly for this Open Call, you will need to demonstrate that the main purpose of your proposed work is to support community-led efforts to shape AI. Eligible applicants, including collaborations, whose work includes regranting or subgranting to other organizations as part of this work are welcome to apply. Funding cannot, however, be sought for the sole purpose of regranting. Please note that the grants made in this Open Call are for charitable purposes only. Organizations seeking seed funding, or seeking to pool funds to invest in or distribute to for-profit organizations, will not be considered.

Other information:

The application process has two phases:

• Phase 1: Initial  --  Applicants may submit an application by 4:59 p.m. PT / 7:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Reviewers at Lever for Change, who are supporting this Open Call, will complete an initial screen to ensure that submitted applications meet the requirements and rules of the Open Call. Reviewers will then evaluate eligible applications using the five evaluation criteria outlined below.
• Phase 2: Finalist Round -- Top-rated applicants will be invited to submit additional application materials, which may include a budget and measurement plan. Select applicants may also be invited to participate in an interview with Humanity AI staff and funders.

Award: Grants range from $75,000 to $1,000,000, and applicants may apply under one of the following funding tiers. Tiers are intended to provide guidance to help applicants identify the right fit for their work, and we encourage applicants to apply at the funding level their proposal requires:

• tier one: $75,000 – $150,000
• tier two: $150,000–$500,000
• tier three: $500,000–$1,000,000

We are not pre-allocating funding across tiers. The final mix of awards across tiers will be shaped by the strength and range of the applications we receive. We would prefer to have the funding support the best opportunities, so we encourage you to apply at the tier your proposal requires. 

Indirect Rates: There is no preset cap on indirect rates. We do ask, however, that applicants exercise reasonable judgment in determining which of their budgeted indirect costs can be allocated to their proposed work.

Grant Duration: Applicants may propose a grant duration of up to three years. Where feasible, grants will be disbursed at the beginning of the grant period to support early resourcing.

Brabson Family Foundation Grant

Overview:

The Brabson Family Foundation (formerly Brabson Library and Education Foundation) is a philanthropic family foundation that honors the grantors and reflects the family’s passion for bold, innovative ideas that may have a significant and long-term impact especially in education, sciences, and the arts.

Our Vision
The work of the Brabson Family Foundation improves peoples lives through education, science, and the arts. The Brabson Family Foundation provides:

• New opportunities at all levels to excel, to lead, and to propagate excellence, sciences, and arts
• Opportunities to participate in education, sciences, and arts to individuals who otherwise would not have them
• Expanded access to education, sciences, and arts for individuals enabling them to contribute to:
  • More sustainable use of the world’s resources
  • Reduced tension and the promotion of peace
  • Increased human dignity

Successful Brabson Family Foundation grant applications:

• Demonstrate a novel or unique idea; something that hasn’t been done before
• Clearly and concisely describe a specific challenge the organization is trying to address and the proposed solution
• Often request seed funding for a pilot program or project
• Often demonstrate scalability or broader application beyond the organization

Other information:

Project Period: Ideally, your project should begin no earlier than June and conclude by the following June. This aligns best with our funding disbursement and reporting schedule.

Award: While the number and size of our awards vary annually, most of our grants are under $10,000. [RD Note: In 2025, Brabson received 600+ applications and funded approximately 5%.]

[RD Note: This opportunity may be particularly well suited for faculty seeking seed funding to pilot a novel or innovative project with potential for broader application or scalability. Applicants have 14 days to complete the formal application after successfully completing the sponsor’s eligibility process.]

Recently Funded Projects
FAQs

STEM Alliance Grant Competition

Overview:

Partners of the Americas (POA), in coordination with the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State (WHA/DOS), invites higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United States and eligible countries in Central America and the Caribbean to work in teams to submit proposals for consideration for an award in the 100,000 Strong in the Americas (100K Strong) STEM Alliance Grant Competition. 

This 100K Strong STEM Alliance Grant Competition champions American educational excellence, spurs innovation, and creates long-term partnerships that ensure a stronger, safer, and more prosperous Hemisphere. 

HEIs in the United States are invited to partner with regional HEIs in eligible countries in Central America and/or the Caribbean to design innovative exchange and training programs that develop critical technical, linguistic, and leadership skills; expand domestic and regional partnerships; and, position the United States as the premier destination for educational exchange and workforce training opportunities. 

This regional 100K Strong competition will provide approximately ten (10) awards of up to $32,000 each to teams of HEIs in the United States with regional HEIs in Central America or the Caribbean. 

Teams of HEIs are encouraged to create partnerships and design targeted exchange programs in eligible thematic areas and according to the requirements outlined in this RFP. HEIs are strongly encouraged to join the informational webinars focused on best practices for 100K Strong grant proposals that POA will conduct in late August and early September. 

Please note: If selected, HEIs need to carry out proposed 100K Strong programming from December 2026 through December 2027. Awards are subject to the proposal evaluation, recommendations, and final selection processes.

Educational exchanges advance priorities throughout the United States and Latin America by expanding education opportunities and workforce development, building institutional capacity, strengthening economic ties, and building trusted alliances. 

The 100,000 Strong in the Americas (100K Strong) regional education initiative is coordinated by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA/DOS) and Partners of the Americas (POA), with support and engagement from U.S. embassies and regional public, private, and academic partners. 100K Strong champions American excellence, spurs innovation, and ensures a more safe, secure, and prosperous Hemisphere. 100K Strong’s cross-sector partnerships advance priorities in the Western Hemisphere by: 

• Strengthening Security: Fosters regional cooperation and builds networks of trusted cross-sector partners with shared values. 
• Increasing Prosperity: Develops technical skills and creates innovative partnerships that drive opportunity and economic growth. 
• Positioning America as Preferred Partner: Establishes long-term, multi-sector alliances that deepen connections between the United States and regional leaders. 
• Leveraging America's Leadership in Higher Education: Advances U.S. excellence and innovation in science, technology, and business, to prepare future leaders. 

Proven Track Record: Over thirteen years (2013-2026), the 100K Strong Initiative has: 

• Awarded 352 grants on competitive basis to 618 higher education institutions (HEIs) in 26 countries and 48 U.S. states 
• Engaged and benefitted 13,800+ students and faculty – and counting 
• Created education and business networks in the United States and Latin America 
• Showcased American excellence, innovation, technology leadership 

The digital 100K Strong Network of 4,200+ members, including 2,300 HEIs, provides a trusted online platform that provides opportunities to build partnerships that expand U.S. and regional education cooperation.

Solicitation limitations:

Institutions may submit multiple proposals.

Proposals must include at least one (1) HEI in the U.S. and at least one (1) HEI in an eligible country in Central America and/or the Caribbean. 

Teams of HEIs can build on current or create new partnerships for this regional 100K grant competition. HEIs with credit-bearing programs, including two-year and four-year degreeissuing universities/colleges (public and private), U.S. community colleges, and postsecondary institutions in the eligible countries listed above are invited to submit proposals. 

First-time applicants, or HEIs that have not previously received a grant, are encouraged to apply. The 100K Strong Review Committee, coordinated by POA, in collaboration with WHA/DOS, reserves the right to give preference to HEIs that have not previously received grants; however, all HEIs (including previous winners) are eligible to submit proposals for consideration.

Other information:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Grant Competitions.

[RD Note: This opportunity requires a partnership between at least one U.S. higher education institution and an institution in an eligible Central American or Caribbean country, with proposed activities centered on international exchange and/or training.]

2027 Tools Competition

Overview:

The 2027 Tools Competition launches at a time when education technology is moving from experimentation with AI toward a deeper focus on what it takes for tools to improve learning, teaching, and opportunity in real-world settings.

Recent research found that 51% of Gen Z use generative AI at least weekly, signaling that AI is quickly becoming something learners will be expected to navigate in school, work, and everyday life. Learners are already using AI to enhance learning and efficiency: 44% report using AI to complete assignments more efficiently, while 38% use it to enhance learning and understanding. Yet access alone does not guarantee impact. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in learning environments, there is an opportunity to focus on solutions that translate its potential into meaningful learning experiences and outcomes. 

This is a critical moment to build tools steeped in evidence that people can trust. The next phase of education technology should not be defined by novelty alone, but by whether tools work in real learning environments.

Across its four tracks, the seventh cycle of the Tools Competition will support tools and public infrastructure that:

• Helps students understand where they are in learning and provide timely, actionable support.
• Strengthen educator practice and sustain effective instruction.
• Make learning more learner-driven, engaging, and connected to real-world contexts.
• Help learners navigate transition points with greater clarity, confidence, and connection.
• Build shared resources that make trustworthy innovation easier for the field.
• Embed safety, privacy, and responsibility into tool design and implementation.

The strongest proposals will show not only what AI can enable, but how it can be responsibly used, trusted, and sustained in real learning environments.

Competition Tracks and Eligibility -- Entrants will be required to select the relevant track in which their submission will be evaluated. Different tracks have varying objectives, target users, and competitive priorities.

The Competition tracks and associated eligibility requirements include:

• Strengthening Teaching: This track seeks tools that transform teaching in two connected ways: increasing instructional effectiveness and making the teaching profession more sustainable. Entrants worldwide are eligible.
• Reimagining Assessment: This track seeks tools that strengthen K-12 assessment by advancing more continuous, actionable, and inclusive insight into student learning. To be eligible in the Reimagining Assessment track, Entrants must have an assurance that their tool or technology will be made available to users for no more than “at cost.” Entrants worldwide are eligible.
• Navigating Postsecondary Learning and Work: This track seeks tools that help learners build the skills, connections, and support to successfully navigate learning and work in an increasingly AI-driven world. Entrants based in the United States and serving U.S. learners are eligible.
• Building Better Datasets: This track seeks high-quality, open-access education datasets that capture the diversity of learners, educational contexts, and learning environments. Entrants worldwide are eligible.

Other information:

Size of the Prize -- Different tracks may have different prize amounts depending on final funding allocation to each track. Entrants to a competition track are encouraged to seek prizes in the prize level that is best suited for their specific capabilities and needs. Entrants will be subject to different requirements depending on the prize level in which they are competing. Entrants seeking prizes in the highest prize level will be subject to the most rigorous requirements and aggressive deliverables.

Prize levels include:

• Catalyst Level ($50,000): These prizes are aimed at new Entrants with early stage ideas or products. This may also include Entrants with an existing tool with a non-existent or limited user base.
• Growth Level ($150,000): These prizes are designed for Entrants that have at least a minimum viable product with some users and scale.
• Transform Level ($300,000): These prizes are designed for established platforms with 10,000 or more users.

Entrants to the Building Better Datsets Track are eligible for a $100,000 prize.
Administrator may, at its sole discretion, increase or decrease the amount of any prizes.

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU)

Overview:

[This solicitation is for Institutional and Community Transformation (Capacity-Building and Level 1) proposals and Engaged Student Learning (Level 1) proposals only.]

The IUSE: EDU program supports projects designed to contribute to a future in which all undergraduate students are fully engaged in their STEM learning. The IUSE: EDU program promotes (1) Engaged Student Learning: the development, testing, and use of teaching practices and curricular innovations that will engage students and improve learning, persistence, and retention in STEM, and (2) Institutional and Community Transformation: the transformation of colleges and universities to implement and sustain highly effective STEM teaching and learning.

All projects supported by IUSE: EDU must:

• Demonstrate a strong rationale for project objectives or incorporate and build on educational practices that are demonstrably effective
• Contribute to the development of exemplary undergraduate STEM education
• Add to the body of knowledge about what works in undergraduate STEM education and the conditions that lead to improved STEM teaching and learning
• Measure project progress and achievement of project goals

To accomplish these goals, IUSE: EDU projects may focus their activities at any level, including the student, faculty, institutional or community⁴ levels. Development, propagation, adaptation, and transferability of evidence-based practices are also important considerations. Projects should consider designing materials and practices for use in a wide variety of institutions or institutional types. Topics of interest to the IUSE: EDU program include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Development and study of the efficacy of innovative teaching and learning practices and resources
• Development, testing, and dissemination of instruments for measuring student outcomes
• Faculty professional development to increase the use of evidence-based teaching practices
• Implementation of and research on sustained change processes involved in adopting evidence-based and effective instruction within or across departments, disciplines, or institutions
• Efforts to achieve STEM educational goals through innovative partnerships, for example with community organizations, local, regional, or national industries, centers for teaching and learning, professional societies, or libraries,
• Propagating and sustaining transformative and effective STEM teaching and learning through institutional practices or involvement of professional societies

IUSE: EDU also welcomes proposals to conduct workshops and conferences aimed at improving undergraduate STEM education, developing implementation practices, and/or assembling research partnerships and agendas.

The IUSE: EDU program features two tracks: (1) Engaged Student Learning and (2) Institutional and Community Transformation. Several levels of scope, scale, and funding are available within each track. [See NOFO for details.]

Solicitation limitations:

Who May Serve as PI: There are no restrictions or limits.
Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: There are no restrictions or limits.
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or co-PI: 3
An individual may serve as PI or co-PI on no more than three IUSE: EDU proposals submitted during the period of October 1 through September 30. This eligibility constraint will be strictly enforced. In the event that an individual exceeds this limit, proposals will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission (i.e., the first three proposals will be accepted and the remainder will be returned without review). No exceptions will be made.

Letters of Intent: Not required
Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not required

Other information:

Cost Sharing Requirements: Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.
Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable
Other Budgetary Limitations: Other budgetary limitations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Due Dates:
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time):
Third Wednesday in January, Annually: Institutional and Community Transformation (Capacity-Building and Level 1) proposals and Engaged Student Learning (Level 1) proposals

Award:
Track 1: Engaged Student Learning
ESL Level 1 projects have a maximum award of $400,000 and a maximum duration of three years.

Track 2: Institutional and Community Transformation
ICT Capacity-Building proposals may be submitted as individual or collaborative projects. The maximum award size is $200,000 for a single institution proposal or $400,000 for a multi-institution proposal. The maximum duration of both single and multi-institutional proposals is two years.

ICT Level 1 proposals have a maximum award size of $400,000 and a maximum duration of three years. Awards at this level are intended for early-stage exploratory projects5 or small to mid-scale projects that build on prior work.

National Science Foundation Translation to Practice

Overview:

The U.S. NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) partners across sectors to advance three primary focus areas – accelerating technology translation and development, fostering regional innovation and economic growth, and preparing the American workforce for future high-wage jobs in STEM fields. The translation of research to practice ensures that the insights and innovations developed through scientific study and experimentation have tangible, positive impacts for the Nation. These impacts include improving the quality of life, promoting economic and job growth, ensuring national security, and maintaining global competitiveness. Indeed, scientific and engineering breakthroughs have the potential to address critical societal challenges in industries such as aerospace, agriculture, communications, education, energy, healthcare, national security, and transportation – but the translation of discoveries and innovations from the laboratory to society often takes many forms including non-linear pathways. 

The NSF TTP program was developed with several goals in mind:

• To identify and support use-inspired research and translational activities enabling a continuum from foundational research to practice;
• To develop partnerships and collaborations between institutions of higher education and other entities (e.g., industry, state/local/national government agencies, philanthropies, open-source ecosystems, for-benefit, for-profit and non-profit organizations, international organizations, etc.);
• To promote and advance the education and training of students and postdoctoral researchers, encouraging the participation of all Americans in STEM including innovation and entrepreneurship; and
• To identify future customer needs and opportunities and bring these to the forefront in the conduct of use-inspired research and translational activities.

The NSF TTP program offers three tracks that represent different starting points or stages in moving discoveries and innovations from the laboratory to practice:

• NSF TTP-Explore (NSF TTP-E) is a pilot track that is likely to be the first step for researchers seeking to translate their basic research to practice. To be eligible for the NSF TTP-E track, proposers must have an active, eligible, NSF research award (see Eligibility Information for further details). TTP-E is designed to encourage current, eligible NSF awardees to intentionally pursue applications of their research with the potential for societal impact. The NSF TTP-E track provides the opportunity to obtain an extension of the initial award period of a current NSF award for up to two years in order to offer investigators an opportunity to explore adventurous, high-risk, use-inspired research and initial translational activities as the starting point for translation that was not covered by the original research award.
• NSF TTP-Translate (NSF TTP-T) starts with use-inspired research and initial translational activities and further matures the idea(s), iterates and improves the solution(s), and lowers the barrier(s) to effective translation of research from lab to practice.
• NSF TTP-Partner (NSF TTP-P) supports translational efforts that demand one or more partnerships for technology development and deployment. Here, strategic partnerships with stakeholders beyond U.S. institutions of higher education are essential ingredients for success and may include industry partners, government entities at all levels, philanthropies, international organizations, or other groups associated with large scale productization and distribution. The NSF TTP-P track requires an NSF-Catalyzed Partnership with an organization that will assist in the translation to practice. In addition to the Principal Investigator (PI), NSF TTP-P proposals must include a co-PI or Senior/Key Personnel who is a member or employee of the NSF-Catalyzed Partner. Partnerships with U.S. institutions of higher education are valued, but NSF TTP strongly prioritizes NSF-Catalyzed Partnerships that are able to help bring the product, process, or service to the market, potentially through licensing agreements, startup or small business formation, incorporation into an existing open-source ecosystem, development into standards setting arrangements, etc.

While TTP-E and TTP-T tracks may include NSF-Catalyzed Partnerships, the TTP-P track requires an NSF-Catalyzed Partnership and strongly prioritizes a non-academic partner.

Solicitation limitations:

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or co-PI:

• A PI (or Co-PI) may submit only one NSF TTP proposal (NSF TTP-E, NSF TTP-T, or NSF TTP-P) at a time.
• PIs (or Co-PIs) must wait for a determination (award or decline recommendation) on their current TTP proposal before submitting another TTP proposal.

Other information:

Deadlines: 
NSF TTP-T and TTP-P Tracks: Nov. 17, 2026
NSF TTP-E Track Only : Proposals Accepted Anytime

Estimated Number of Awards: 29 awards

• NSF TTP-E projects will extend the current NSF award. Award size is estimated at approximately $600,000 per award for up to 24 months. Approximately $10,000,000 in awards are anticipated.
• NSF TTP-T projects up to $1,200,000 per award for up to 36 months. Approximately $10,000,000 in awards are anticipated.
• NSF TTP-P awards up to $2,000,000 per award for up to 48 months. Approximately $10,000,000 in awards are anticipated.

Cost Sharing Requirements: Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.
Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable

Effective Altruism Funds: Transformative AI Fund

Overview:

The Transformative AI Fund provides funding that is early-stage, fast, and tolerant of failure. We aim to be a go-to funder for new projects addressing transformative AI, whether from an individual, a new organization, or an existing organization starting something new. Grants are typically in the $10k-$150k range and rarely exceed $300k. We are always open to applications. The fund is run by a full-time team at EA Funds.

The fund has a broad remit to make grants that help the transition to transformative AI go well. The fund primarily supports early-stage work. Most of our grants aim to reduce global catastrophic risks from advanced artificial intelligence. We also welcome applications addressing other implications of transformative AI, such as flourishing futures and artificial sentience. We support:

• Individuals, new organizations, and existing organizations getting a new project off the ground, typically with grants in the $10k-$150k range, and rarely exceeding $300k
• Training for researchers or practitioners, and infrastructure, such as field-building, for people working on addressing transformative AI
• Projects that directly contribute to reducing catastrophic risks from transformative AI through technical research, policy analysis, forecasting, advocacy, and demonstration projects
• Projects addressing other neglected implications of transformative AI, such as flourishing futures and digital sentience (though we expect these to be a minority of grants given the lower number of applications we anticipate seeing in that area)

For now, we do not fund biosecurity or nuclear work beyond their intersections with AI.

Additional information about the Transformative AI Fund
The Transformative AI Fund makes grants to help the transition to transformative AI go well, primarily by reducing global catastrophic risks from advanced AI. The fund has an intentionally broad remit within that scope, but we are particularly interested in new organizations and individuals getting projects off the ground, or that need less money than existing grantmaking institutions are likely to give out.

Examples of what we expect to fund:

• Seed funding for new organizations
• Research in technical AI safety and AI governance, including post-AGI governance
• Practical projects and infrastructure that reduce risks from advanced AI
• Field-building, forecasting, and ecosystem support
• Up-skilling in a relevant field to prepare for future work

We expect the majority of projects we support to be focused on reducing catastrophic risks from AI. We also consider applications addressing other implications of transformative AI, such as flourishing futures and artificial sentience, though we expect these to be a minority of grants given the lower number of applications we anticipate seeing in that area. For now, we do not fund biosecurity or nuclear work beyond their intersections with AI.

If you're seeking funding for upskilling, a career transition/exploration period, graduate/postgraduate programs, unpaid internships, or any other kind of career-capital-building activity, you may also want to consider applying to Coefficient Giving's career development and transition funding program.

Solicitation limitations:

If I want to request funding for multiple projects, should I submit separate applications? In your application, you are welcome to include proposals for multiple projects and list a funding breakdown for each. The team will evaluate each project separately and may choose to fund only one.

Please aim to submit as few applications as possible. E.g., new projects should apply every 2–6 months, and established organizations once a year unless there is a significant reason for submitting multiple applications. Please think ahead about possible further expenses and consider including a contingency in your budget.

Other information:

Geographic location: We accept applications from any country.

Award: Grants range between $1,000–$500,000
Individuals, new organizations, and existing organizations getting a new project off the ground, typically with grants in the $10k-$150k range, and rarely exceeding $300k

What kinds of projects get funded? For a list of projects we’ve funded previously, refer to our grants database. You can also see summaries of categories of interventions each fund has supported in their payout reports. To view payout reports, select a fund and navigate to the “Payouts” tab on that fund’s page.

Deadline: Always open to applications

Application Instructions and Information here.

FAQs here.