Accelerating Research Translation (ART)

Overview:

Per Sponsor: Due to a lapse in appropriations, NSF is closed. NSF will continue to accept proposals in accordance with published guidelines. Please continue to watch this site for changes to NSF's operating status, reopening guidance for employees, and if necessary, general instructions for recipients.

Per ASU LS Team: ASU Limited Submissions will run this opportunity with a rapid review system to better accommodate the sponsor's immediate timeline. Notice: The limitations for this program are very project specific. Due to the nature of the Tracks, we will accept applications for Tracks 1-5 and determine eligibility after the internal deadline has passed.  

The U.S. innovation economy is primarily driven by research outcomes that are successfully translated into practice across various economic, technology, and public policy sectors. Over the last several decades, a large proportion of such transformational research outcomes has emerged from federally funded research at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). Despite this, at many IHEs, there is still significant room to create, support and build capacity to enable and grow a vibrant research translation ecosystem. Advancing U.S. scientific and economic leadership requires an increase in the number and capacity of robust research translation ecosystems in IHEs in our nation. The ART program seeks to achieve this goal by building, growing, and sustaining the institutional capacity needed to increase the scale and pace of translation of innovative ideas and knowledge, especially stemming from federal investments, into tangible products, services, tools, and methods that will ultimately create lasting economic impacts. Specifically, the primary goals of this program are to create, build, and sustain the capacity and infrastructure for research translation at IHEs located in all different geographies across the United States and to enhance their role in regional innovation ecosystems. In addition, this program seeks to effectively train undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty in research translation, entrepreneurship, technology transfer-related areas, and community-engaged scholarship, benefiting individuals by providing the skills, networks and resources to engage with opportunities across a much wider range of career options. 

Track 1: Accelerating Technology Transfer (ACT): This Track seeks to increase the capacity of only IHEs with low to medium RTRL. IHEs that are a good fit for this Track are those that have a low to moderate level of research activity and are in a position to identify high-promise discoveries/innovations, solicit disclosures of such discoveries/innovations, evaluate those discoveries/innovations and their product or service markets for protectability and product-market-fit potential, and protect  IP thereby incentivizing and initiating a pipeline for subsequent translation activity to de-risk technologies, conduct proof-of-concept work, and advance technologies through partnership or new venture creation. …read more>

Track 2: Growing Capacity for Research Translation (GROW): This Track is aimed at IHEs that have a relatively high level of research with a modest research translation infrastructure in place but relatively low research translation readiness level (RTRL) and the potential to elevate it substantially. This Track is aimed at IHEs that: (a) recognize and are ready to unleash the existing innovation potential to create sustained economic and collective impacts, and (b) build, strengthen and sustain the overall institutional capacity to accelerate the pace and level of research translation.  This Track is not intended to support IHEs that already have high RTRL. …read more>

Track 3: Technology Transfer Resource Centers (RESOURCE): The goal for this Track is for an IHE or a non-profit (referred as lead organization hereafter) with considerable expertise in technology transfer and entrepreneurship to launch a regional Technology Transfer Resource Center (RESOURCE). The proposal to this Track should be led by a single IHE that has a high RTRL or a non-profit organization with relevant technology translational experience. As the financial, regulatory, and administrative requirements of generating, protecting, and capitalizing on intellectual property become more robust and complex, many institutions with limited resources need this capacity to become effective in supporting faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and students who would benefit from being (or are) engaged in entrepreneurship and technology transfer-related activities. The lead organization should propose the establishment of a RESOURCE that will provide technology transfer-related services to multiple other low-RTRL IHEs in the RESOURCE region who would be the members and primary beneficiaries/users of the RESOURCE. The RESOURCE would provide them with access to resources, knowledge, processes, tools, templates, and established programs that may be leveraged to serve, support, and create efficiencies by creating easy access. The lead organization may recruit, as consultants or experts, experienced regional technology transfer program managers that currently provide centralized technology transfer services to multiple IHEs in their region. …read more>

Track 4: Education and Training (ET): The goal for this Track is the development of resources for formal or informal education and training related to the broad areas related to research translation, entrepreneurship, technology transfer, startup formation, commercialization, industry collaboration, product development, as well as engaged scholarship, all aimed ultimately at creating sustained economic impacts. This Track invites proposals from IHEs or non-profits (referred as lead organization hereafter) with any combination of either a strong, vibrant and established research translation ecosystem, and/or demonstrated experience to develop, evaluate, and deploy educational and training resources related to entrepreneurship, product development, technology transfer, industry partnership, and related activities. The primary beneficiaries for the education and training resources to be developed will be IHEs that have a low RTRL, focused on researchers, entrepreneurs, as well as licensing professionals in industry. It is expected that these resources developed from projects supported under this Track will be useful and catalytic for the ART awardee institutions currently in the cohort and those that will become part of future cohorts. …read more>

Track 5: Coordination for Accelerating Research Translation (CART): The goal for this Track is to support creation of a central hub that will nationally facilitate and coordinate: (a) the development of education and training resources covered in Track 4, (b) development of a  community of practice focused on research translation; (c) the creation of an integrated platform for coordinating, evaluating, and monitoring the progress being made by teams that are supported under Tracks 1, 2, and 3; and (d) the creation of an ART Ambassadors Network for the Track 2 program participants.  The lead organization for this Track should be an IHE or a non-profit with a demonstrated record for entrepreneurship and technology transfer related activities and the ability to coordinate and facilitate complex, interdisciplinary projects and activities at multiple organizations including IHEs, non-profits, foundations, and private sectors. The lead organization can work/partner with other IHE or non-profits as it sees appropriate. …read more>

Solicitation limitations:

• An eligible IHE can submit a maximum of one proposal for Track 1 or 2 (but not both).
• For Tracks 3, 4, and 5, an eligible organization can submit a maximum of one proposal per Track. 
• Applicants eligible for Tracks 1 and 2 cannot submit proposals for Tracks 3, 4 and 5 and vice versa.

Please note additional eligibility requirements stated for submission of proposals to different Tracks noted in this solicitation.

Other information:

Per ASU LS Team: After the posted internal deadline, this opportunity will be first come, first served.

Internal Deadline: December 3, 2025 (for Tracks 1-5)
Sponsor Deadline: January 15, 2026 (for Tracks 2 and 5); March 12, 2026 (for Tracks 1, 3, and 4)

Estimated Number of Awards: 40
NSF anticipates making up to: 20 Track 1 awards, 10 Track 2 awards, 5 Track 3 awards, 4 Track 4 awards, and 2 Track 5 awards, depending on the quality of submissions and the availability of funds.
Anticipated Funding Amount: $178,000,000

Award amounts:
Track 1: Accelerating Technology Transfer (ACT) -- A Track 1 award is expected to be up to a total of $3 million for a duration of 3 years. ACT awardees demonstrating strong performance, as demonstrated by successfully meeting evaluation criteria during the award may have an opportunity to receive renewal support for up to 2 more years and total funding up to $1 million, subject to the availability of funds.
Track 2: Growing Capacity for Research Translation (GROW) -- A Track 2 award may be budgeted for up to a total of $6 million for a duration of 4 years.
Track 3: Technology Transfer Resource Centers (RESOURCE) --  A Track 3 award is expected to be up to a total of $8 million for a duration of 4 years. Some awardees demonstrating strong performance, as demonstrated by successfully meeting evaluation criteria during the award, including progress toward self-sustainability, may have an opportunity to receive renewal support for up to 4 more years and additional funding of up to $2 million, subject to the availability of funds. 
Track 4: Education and Training (ET) -- Track 4 awards may be budgeted up to a total of $3 million for a duration of 3 years. Some awardees demonstrating strong performance, as demonstrated by successfully meeting evaluation criteria during the award, including progress toward self-sustainability, may have an opportunity to receive renewal support for up to 2 more years and additional funding up to $2 million (subject to the availability of funds), to scale up the deployment and adoption of the developed resources and training materials nationally.
Track 5: Coordinating Accelerating Research Translation (CART) -- The Track 5 CART cooperative agreement award may be budgeted up to a total of $3 million for a duration of 5 years. Some awardees demonstrating strong performance, as demonstrated by successfully meeting evaluation criteria during the award, including progress toward self-sustainability, may have an opportunity to receive renewal for up to 5 more years and additional funding up to $3 million, subject to the availability of funds. 

Domestic Public Policy Program

Overview:

The Domestic Public Policy Program supports projects that will help the public and policy makers understand and address critical challenges facing the United States. To that end, the Foundation supports research on and evaluation of existing public policies and programs, as well as projects that inject new ideas into public debates. 

The Foundation believes that policy makers face a series of challenges that need to be met if the United States is going to continue to prosper and provide opportunity to all of its citizens. Even as public finances begin to recover in the wake of the financial crisis and recession, officials are confronting difficult choices that will have to be made in order to restore long-term fiscal balances while maintaining essential public services. These choices will include decisions regarding how best to raise revenues while also creating an environment conducive to economic growth. Policy makers are also looking for strategies that can deliver key public services, such as education and criminal justice, in an effective and efficient manner. There is also a need to develop strategies to improve the long-term growth rate of the U.S. economy and strengthen economic opportunity. Doing so will require a combination of more effective strategies to develop human capital and establishing an economic climate hospitable to entrepreneurship and growth.

To meet these broad objectives, the Foundation has developed a number of grant making portfolios. A group of grants is focused on the challenges of identifying mechanisms that can inform thinking on fiscal practices at the national, state, and municipal levels. In terms of human capital development, the Foundation has been supporting work to identify how schools can become more productive by, for example, increasing the quality of the teacher workforce or adopting more effective curricula. Because success in the contemporary economy requires individuals to acquire education and training beyond high school, the Foundation is building a portfolio of projects on post-secondary education.  Finally, the Foundation is supporting work on the criminal justice system that will examine whether costs can be lowered while still protecting public safety.

Other information:

Award(s): Requests for grants greater than $50,000 and for multi-year grant support are made at one of our regular board meetings. Requests for grants of $50,000 or less are reviewed on an ongoing basis and are handled as promptly as possible.

The Smith Richardson Foundation has a rigorous proposal review process. The first step in the process is the submission of a concept paper. Concept papers should not exceed six pages. A link to the concept paper template can be found here.

Grant Applications Guidelines

Grow Up Great Grant

Overview:

The PNC Foundation supports a variety of nonprofit organizations with a special emphasis on those that work to achieve sustainability and touch a diverse population, in particular, those that support early childhood education and/or economic development.

Education --The PNC Foundation supports educational programs for children and youth, particularly early childhood education initiatives that meet the criteria established through PNC Grow Up Great. Specifically, PNC Grow Up Great grants must:

• Support early education initiatives that benefit children from birth to age five; and
• Serve a majority of children (>51%) from low- to moderate-income families; and
• Include one or a combination of the following:
  • direct services/programs for children in their classroom or community;
  • professional development/workforce development for early childhood educators;
  • family and/or community engagement in children’s early learning

Additional considerations:

• The grant focus should include math, science, reading, vocabulary development, the arts, financial education, or social/emotional development.  
• The grant recipient, or collaborative partner, should have early childhood education as an area of focus. If the organization’s focus is beyond birth to age five, the specific grant must be earmarked for birth to age five.
• Incorporate opportunities for PNC volunteers in classroom or non-classroom-based activities.

(PDF)Download the full reference document for PNC Grow Up Great grants.

Examples of What Meets PNC Grow Up Great Grant Eligibility Standards 

• Classroom educational lesson(s) followed by a visit to a museum, science center, etc. 
• Early childhood education outreach, program development and implementation (includes reasonable administrative expenses related to a program) 
• Professional development for existing early childhood education teachers, assistants, etc.   
• Parent/community engagement activity including the Grow Up Great primary focuses referenced above 
• Development of outdoor early learning environment (e.g., classroom, play space) with educational or arts-based component     

Other information:

Eligible Counties in Arizona: Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai

Award amounts: In 2024, along with smaller awards, multiple grants totaling over $500,000 were awarded; some large-scale grants awarded ranging from $1.4M-$10.2M.

“Oops!…AI Did It Again” Challenge

Overview:

Notice: Due to the close sponsor deadline, this is available as a first-come, first-served opportunity. Limited Submissions will administratively review submitted applications.
The challenge addresses the urgent need to equip young people with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to navigate AI, which is rapidly reshaping their learning, creativity, relationships, and mental health.

The initiative comes at a critical juncture when over half of young people (51%) report using generative AI, primarily for information gathering and brainstorming. Research from Young Futures’ Youth Listening Tour and from partners in the digital wellness space reveals that teens often use these powerful tools alone, in secret, and without clear guidance, leading to anxiety, uncertainty, and missed opportunities for support.

The “Oops!…AI Did It Again” Challenge is seeking applications for solutions across four key themes:

• Youth-Powered AI: Projects where teens build, challenge, or creatively remix AI tools.
• AI in Learning, Work, and Creativity: Resources that help youth use AI to learn and create without sacrificing critical thinking or originality.
• AI in Relationships and Mental Health: Programs that help youth navigate AI companionship and mental health tools safely and critically.
• Intergenerational Guidance: Projects that equip adults to have supportive, informed conversations about AI with the young people in their lives.

Solicitation limitations:

Organizations may only submit one proposal for each Young Futures funding challenge. Young Futures will run multiple challenges centered on empowering pre-teens and teens to thrive in a tech-driven world, including a new $1 million challenge in April 2026. If you feel you may be eligible for multiple challenge themes, we welcome you to apply to each challenge.

Other information:

Award: Young Futures anticipates awarding up to ten organizations, one-year grants ranging in size from $25,000 to $100,00; a total of up to $1M. Award amounts will vary based on scope. The grant term will be April 2026–March 2027.

Access and download the full Request for Proposals (RFP) here. 

2026 Hearst Foundations Grants

Overview:

The Hearst Foundations are national philanthropic resources for organizations working in the fields of culture, education, health and social services. In addition, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation operates two programs, the United States Senate Youth Program and the Journalism Awards Program.

Funding Priorities in Education -- The Hearst Foundations fund educational institutions demonstrating uncommon success in preparing students to thrive in a global society. The Foundations’ focus is largely on higher education, but they also fund innovative models of early childhood and K-12 education, as well as professional development.

The Hearst Foundations are only able to fund approximately 25% of all grant requests, of which about 80% is directed to prior grantees and about 20% is targeted for new grantees.

In the recent past, 30% of total funding has been allocated to Education. Organizations with budgets over $10 million have received 80% of the funding in Education.

Types of Support: Program, scholarship, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Preference will be given to:

• Higher education programs and scholarships and, on a limited basis, scholarships for post-graduate education

• College access and college success programming

• Professional development for educators

• Science education programs that focus on developing career pathways in science, technology, engineering, environment and math

• Programs educating the next generation of health professionals, such as nursing and mental health

Funding Priorities in Culture -- The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those that enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent. Supported organizations include arts schools, ballets, museums, operas, performing arts centers, symphonies and theaters.

Funding Priorities in Health -- The Hearst Foundations assist leading regional hospitals, medical centers and specialized medical institutions providing access to healthcare for high-need populations. In response to the shortage of healthcare professionals necessary to meet the country’s evolving healthcare demands, the Foundations also fund programs designed to enhance skills and increase the number of practitioners and educators across roles in healthcare. The Foundations also support public health, medical research and the development of young investigators to help create a broad and enduring impact on the nation’s health.

Funding Priorities in Social Service -- The Hearst Foundations fund direct-service organizations that tackle the roots of chronic poverty by applying effective solutions to the most challenging social and economic problems. The Foundations prioritize supporting programs that have proven successful in facilitating economic independence and in strengthening families. Preference is also given to programs with the potential to scale productive practices in order to reach more people in need.

Solicitation limitations:

ASU may submit only one (1) application to the sponsoring organization.

Notice: The Hearst Foundations have a year-round, rolling application; there are no deadlines. However, ASU received funding in June 2023 and organizations must wait a minimum of three years from their grant award date before the Foundations will consider another request.

Other information:

ASU Internal Deadline: After the posted internal deadline of June 3, 2026, this opportunity will be first come, first served.

Awards: Minimum grant size is $100,000. If a grant request is unsuccessful, an organization must wait a minimum of one year from the date of declination before reapplying. Grantees must wait a minimum of three years from their grant award date before the Foundations will consider another request. For more information on our process, please visit the Funding Limitations, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and the Grant Request Evaluation Process pages

Frequently Asked Questions (Sponsor FAQs)

AI for Economic Opportunity

Overview:

The AI for Economic Opportunity Demonstration and Scaling Fund is the third annual round of a groundbreaking philanthropic initiative to harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to improve economic mobility for millions.

In just two years, the Fund has reviewed more than 650 applications and awarded 27 grants to organizations using AI to unlock benefits, deliver personalized career guidance, modernize workforce systems, improve benefits access, and expand access to education and employment. [See highlights of recent progress from past grantees here]

In this round, we’re inviting bold proposals that show how AI can meaningfully transform the systems that shape economic opportunity. Examples include reimagining service delivery, unlocking new forms of personalized education and training, improving efficiency at scale, or creating entirely new ways to connect people with income, skills, benefits, and opportunity. We welcome both transformative approaches and incremental applications, so long as they hold the potential to drive lasting, meaningful change.

Selected grantees will receive $250,000 in catalytic funding to prototype solutions and demonstrate progress, six months of cohort-based technical support from OpenAI engineers and other experts, API credits, and access to a network of leading practitioners and funders advancing AI for economic mobility. All awardees will also be eligible for a potential larger infusion of scaling grant capital through a number of philanthropic partners (more to be announced soon).

We're seeking projects that improve economic opportunity for people with low incomes—whether by streamlining access to services and benefits, enhancing labor market matching, deploying personalized career guidance, implementing adaptive learning systems, improving public program efficiency, or overcoming language and accessibility barriers.

We're especially interested in helping people who face the biggest barriers to economic mobility: those from low-income households, people without college degrees, and workers in low-wage jobs.

We're eager to see transformative applications we haven't yet envisioned—but here are some high-potential areas we're particularly focused on:

• Unlock and Harness Data for Impact
• Expand Agent Interoperability and Integration
• Make Services More Effective and Affordable
• Empower Navigation Across Opportunity Pathways
• Advance Skills Validation and Mobility
• Personalize Learning and Support Persistence
• Strengthen Actionable Labor Market Intelligence
• Build Employer Infrastructure for Skills-Based Hiring & Mobility
• Create Breakthrough Innovation Opportunities

We encourage applicants to think creatively about partnerships that can strengthen their proposal. This is not mandatory, but these kinds of partnerships might include:

• Technology Collaborations: If your organization lacks internal AI expertise, consider partnering with AI-focused technology companies, consultants or startups.
• Nonprofit-For-Profit Alliances: Nonprofits may benefit from partnering with mission-aligned for-profits, particularly for product development and scaling.
• Academic Partnerships: Universities and research institutions may provide rigorous evaluation frameworks, early technological innovation, data analysis, or AI expertise.
• Local Governments and Public Agencies: Collaborating with government bodies can help scale services and ensure your technology solutions are aligned with public needs.
• Funders and Investors: Explore co-investment opportunities with other funders to expand your project’s impact beyond our grant.

Solicitation limitations:

Limit of three submissions per applying organization. For large universities or institutions with a wide range of schools or departments we will consider more applications (i.e. treat each department or school independently) [MLFC faculty/staff: If planning to apply, reach out to Ashley O’Brion at ASUF in advance]. The intent of this limitation is not to limit the total number of inbound applications, but merely to encourage prioritization from applicants.

Other information:

Deadlines: The first round of “concept note” applications are due on Oct 31, 2025, 5pm PST.

Once these are screened, we will invite a full application from a select group on or before November 14, 2025. Full applications for finalists will be due on December 12, 2025.

Funding: The fund has two phases: 

1. Demonstration Phase (Feb - August 2026): GitLab Foundation will grant at least $4 million in $250,000 grants to up to 16 demonstration projects. These project teams will also participate in a 6 months cohort based capacity development process and receive technical, financial and advisory support by OpenAI and other partners. These Demonstration grants are designed to support the critical early stages of development and proof-of-concept for promising AI applications that drive economic opportunity outcomes.
2. Scaling Phase (September 2026 and beyond): In the fund’s second phase, partner philanthropies will provide funding to scale the highest potential projects. More details to come. Scaling grants will focus on implementation of proven or well-tested technologies, scaling services that have demonstrated the potential to significantly increase outcomes and reach.

Register for one of our upcoming ask me anything (AMA) sessions:
**October 10 - 10am PT / 1pm ET**
**October 14 - 10am PT / 1pm ET**

Research-Practice Partnerships: Collaborative Research for Educational Change

Overview:

The Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) Grants Program is intended to support education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships with project budgets of up to $400,000 and durations of up to three years. We accept preproposals once a year in this program.

We view partnerships as an important approach to knowledge generation and the improvement of education, broadly construed. Rigorous partnership work is intentionally organized to engage diverse forms of expertise and perspectives, across practitioners, scholars, policymakers, and organizations, as well as disciplines and methods, in knowledge generation around pressing problems of practice and/or policy. Further, RPPs can facilitate the long-term accumulation of knowledge in new ways as researchers and practitioners work together to ask practitioner- and policy-relevant questions on key topics in specific settings over time. Many key problems of practice and policy are historically saturated and require multiple perspectives and long-term engagement if sustainable and systemic change is to occur. Over the long term, we anticipate that research conducted by RPPs will result in new insights into the processes, practices, routines, and policies that improve education for learners, educators, families, communities, and institutions where learning and teaching happen (e.g., schools, universities, community centers, parks, museums, other workplaces).

This grant program is open to existing partnerships between researchers and a broad array of practitioners and policymakers. For example, practice and/or policy partners might work in school districts, county offices of education, state educational organizations, universities, community-based organizations, and other social sectors that significantly impact learners’ lives. As such, we define practitioners broadly; they might be policymakers, out-of-school-time providers and other informal educators, K-12 teachers and leaders, or families and other community members. We are open to applications from design-based research teams, networked improvement communities, place-based research alliances, and a wealth of other partnership arrangements.

We expect the partners in the RPPs we fund to have engaged in fruitful long-term collaborations. How this history is evidenced can vary. For example, teams might have a record of accomplishment as demonstrated by in-process or completed research studies, solutions-in-progress, established trusting relationships, or data-sharing agreements, amongst other possibilities. This grant program is specifically intended to build the capacity of partnerships to make educational change. Effective governance is a key aspect of successful partnerships, and as such, all proposals should specify their governance structures and how the work is jointly developed, as well as how power is shared, across all partners. As noted, while this grant program is open to all partnership configurations across a range of learning contexts, in addition to PreK-12 school systems, we especially encourage applications from partnerships that include scholars and institutions of higher education, rural geographic locations, and in locations outside of the United States, as well as partnerships that deeply engage community-based organizations and families.

Importantly, we expect that partnerships will foreground issues connected to inequality in education and articulate how their project aims to disrupt the reproduction and deepening of inequities.

Activities that May be Funded

• Research Activities
• Research Infrastructure
• Outreach, Communications, and Relationship Building
• Capacity Development

Proposals to the Research-Practice Partnership program must be for research and other activities aimed to support collaborative partnerships between academic researcher(s) and a broad array of practitioner(s) of education.

Solicitation limitations:

Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Research-Practice Partnership Grant are expected to have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or demonstrated professional experience appropriate for this program. Note: If the PI or Co-PI from the practice/policy side of the partnership does not have an earned doctorate, they are expected to have appropriate professional experience to serve in this role in the partnership. While graduate students may be part of the team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.

Other information:

The proposed duration of the grant may not be longer than 3 years.

Deadlines - The application process begins with the submission of a preproposal.

Pre-Proposal Deadline: November 14, 2025, 12:00 PM Noon (Central time/North America)
Full Proposal (by invitation) Deadline: March 31, 2026, 12:00 PM Noon (Central time/North America)

STEM Initiative (LOI)

Overview:

The Mission of the Glenn W. Bailey Foundation is to foster pathways to success in globally competitive STEM careers for students in the United States. We support educational opportunities ranging in age from children through post-doctoral candidates and beyond to promote STEM learning and initiatives that seek to increase awareness and success in STEM careers in the United States. 

The Letter of Inquiry should be used to share an idea for any project or program that 1) falls outside of the scopes of our programs and/or 2) requires funding above the $25,000 funding cap of our Foundation's named programs. Please visit our Programs page before submitting an LOI.

Our programs were designed with you, the grantee, in mind. We want to provide the simplest and most direct route to obtain seed and continuation funding for organizations seeking programmatic funding pertaining to STEM education at all levels. 

• STEM Sprouts: An Early Education STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program designed to introduce young children, typically between the ages of 3 and 10, to the foundational concepts and skills within these four fields. Our program aims to foster curiosity, critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and a love for learning in children from a very early age. 
• STEM Stars: Middle and High School Advanced STEM program funding. Programming can take place before, during, or after school. We want to encourage programs that are successfully preparing interested students who wish to be fully prepared for their intended college STEM major by exposing them to advanced topics in science, engineering, computer science, and more. 
• Teen Tech Competition: As a Foundation, we are interested in supporting large STEM-related organizations that are interested in creating or continuing a tech competition for local youth. Organizations would be required to operate under certain (but flexible) parameters and are encouraged to let the participating students lead the way in building out the actual competition’s layout. We believe in the power of collaboration and competition and want to empower our future doctors, developers, and scientists to forge their own paths.
• Glenn W. Bailey Research Fellowship: Research Fellowship Grants for Doctoral Candidates and Post-Doctoral Researchers
• The STEM Scholars Grants will be made to organizations supporting post-secondary students pursuing or interested in STEM degrees or working towards a degree in a STEM-related field. Colleges and Universities that have invested in careful planning and consideration of various elements of their STEM programs that are providing students with a comprehensive and engaging educational experience should apply. Various funding opportunities include options below but are not limited to them:

1. Review Sessions
2. Working Groups
3. Project Presentation Forums
4. In-House Competitions and Showcases
5. STEM Clubs
6. SIAM/AMS Reading Groups
7. Career Management Counseling Services
8. Lecture Series
9. Research Project Funding
10. Tech Talks
11. Student Clubs and Organizations
12. Summer Camps and Organizations

13. Conferences and Committees

    The program outline was created to give a wide range of funding options. Organizations can meet as little as one criteria if they are able to show a unique aptitude in the development and proven outcomes of the program for which they are requesting funding.

Solicitation limitations:

Potential Grantees can only submit one LOI and wait for a determination or one Grant Application (either program or general). Please don’t submit applications to multiple grant programs within the calendar year - they will be denied. Please do not submit an LOI and a Program Application in the same timeframe.

Other information:

Deadlines: There are no deadlines for submitting letters of inquiry or grant applications. The Foundation’s Board holds meetings at least monthly to review submitted information from the prior month. Take our Eligibility Quiz to get started.

Awards: An average grant from our Foundation typically ranges between $20,000 - $35,000. Grant awards for the STEM Scholars program are capped at $25,000 per grant. The Foundation Board will consider multi-year funding after successfully completing one grant cycle (LOI, Application, Grant Report). We do not grant multi-year awards to first-time grantees.

Sponsor FAQs

Post-PhD Research Grant

Overview:

This grant program funds individual research projects undertaken by doctorates in anthropology or a closely related field. Our goal is to support vibrant and significant work that furthers our understanding of what it means to be human. There is no preference for any methodology, research location, topic, or subfield. The Foundation particularly welcomes proposals that integrate two or more subfields and pioneer new approaches and ideas.

Solicitation limitations:

Qualified scholars of any nationality or institutional affiliation are eligible. Independent scholars and senior scholars are welcome to apply. Individuals who are within 5 months of receiving their doctorate or equivalent degree may apply, but they must complete their degree before the start date listed on their application form.

Other information:

Deadlines: Application deadlines are May 1 (for project start dates between January 1 and June 30 of the following year) and November 1 (for project start dates between July 1 and December 31 of the following year). The application portal opens 2 months before the deadline. It takes us 6 months to complete the review process and arrive at a final decision.

Awards: The maximum Post-PhD Research Grant is $25,000. Grants are nonrenewable. There is no limit to the duration of the grant, and applicants may request funding to cover distinct research phases (for example, two summers) if this is part of the research design. Wenner-Gren awards do not include funds to cover institutional overhead or any fees related to the administration of our grants and fellowships.

Cornerstone: Learning for Living

Overview:

The Cornerstone: Learning for Living initiative aims to reinvigorate the role of the humanities in general education, and in doing so, expose a broad array of students to the power of the humanities; help students of all backgrounds build a sense of belonging and community; strengthen the coherence and cohesiveness of general education; and increase teaching opportunities for humanities faculty.

Two curricular components of the Cornerstone program model are especially notable:  

1. Gateway courses aimed at incoming students that are anchored in a common set of transformative texts help build intellectual community among students as well as faculty through a common learning and teaching experience.
2. Thematically organized clusters of courses that bring humanistic inquiry to problems in business, health, engineering, and other technical fields help students appreciate that technical problems cannot be addressed exclusively through technical solutions. 

Criteria for Project Proposals: Institutions will be selected based on the design and scale of their proposed programs. Selection criteria for both planning and implementation requests are described in further detail below:

• A faculty-led and faculty-owned initiative
• A common intellectual experience anchored in transformative texts for incoming students
• Coherent pathways through general education
• Student reach, particularly for STEM and other pre-professional majors
• Sustainability
• Assessment
• Dissemination

Other information:

Timeline: Requests for grant support will be considered following a two-stage application process Concept papers for planning and implementation awards must be submitted by December 1, 2025 to [email protected]. Applicants will receive status notifications by February 2026. Applicants who are invited to submit proposals will be expected to finalize their applications by early April 2026. Work supported by the grant may begin as early as summer 2026.

All concept papers should list two co-PIs who are tenured or tenure-track faculty and include a provisional list of faculty members who are interested in teaching with transformative texts. 

Interested applicants may wish to refer to this toolkit that distills lessons learned in setting up a Cornerstone program. For additional details, please see this list of frequently asked questions.

Award Types: Implementation grants of varying amounts, up to $300,000 over 24 months, will be made to each funded project participating in this initiative. The size of the implementation grant award will be based on the scope of the project. Planning grants up to $25,000 over 6-12 months are strongly encouraged to lay the groundwork for successful curricular reform and faculty professional development.