Featured Opportunities

February 4, 2026

• The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) has partnered with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the Pork Checkoff to fund a $4 million research program to enhance prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response capabilities for H5N1 influenza in the U.S. swine herd. As part of SHIC’s strategic mission to respond to emerging disease threats, SHIC monitors disease outbreaks nationally and internationally for their potential risks to the U.S. swine herd. H5N1 influenza is an emerging disease identified as a priority for U.S. pork industry prevention and preparedness due to the growing number of diverse mammalian species susceptible to infection and the unprecedented 2024 H5N1 outbreak impacting U.S. dairy herds. As such, the priority research areas for this funding opportunity are: 1) Diagnostic Surveillance, 2) Introduction and Transmission Risks, 3) Caretakers of Pigs, 4) Biosecurity Practices, 5) Safety of Pork, 6) Mitigating Production Impact, and 7) Business Continuity.
• Through the Enhancing the Flavor of Plant-based & Fermentation-derived Proteins RFA, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the Good Food Institute (GFI) have joined forces to support plant-based and fermentation-enabled protein ingredient optimization. As global demand for protein continues to rise, this funding opportunity can help diversify protein sources, strengthen the sustainability of food and agriculture supply chains and contribute to a safer, more resilient global food system. Improving the functionality and flavor of plant-based and fermentation-derived proteins can increase consumer acceptance, open new markets for crops, create value-added opportunities for farmers and processors, enhance farmland health and support economic growth. The long-term success of plant-based and fermentation-enabled protein foods depends not only on sustainability and cost but also on their ability to deliver a compelling eating experience. By advancing research in ingredient design, enrichment methods and formulation strategies, FFAR and GFI can accelerate progress toward high-protein foods that meet or exceed consumer sensory expectations.
• The long-term goal of the Department of Agriculture. NIFA’s Strengthening Agricultural Systems (SAS) program is to help transform the U.S. food and agricultural system to increase agricultural production while enhancing farmer prosperity. Achieving this goal will require transdisciplinary approaches to address current and future food and agricultural challenges within the context of the economic viability of farm operations, quality of life for farmers and society as a whole, and the most efficient use of resources. The SAS program is seeking projects that support at least one of the following sub-priorities: 1) New Uses and Expanding Markets for Agriculture and Forestry Products; 2) Solutions to Pests and Diseases of Plants or Animals; and 3) Combating Food and Diet-Related Chronic Diseases. Applicants to this program area must address one or more sub-priorities aligned with USDA priorities in putting American farmers, ranchers, producers, and foresters first. Projects responding to these areas, as well as developing and implementing advanced solutions in Artificial Intelligence (AI), mechanization, or automation for use in food and agriculture systems are encouraged. This RFA also includes the opportunity for developing a program of Artificial Intelligence for K-12 Food and Agricultural Sciences which is separate for the SAS program area. It also has a later due date (April 23^rd versus March 26).
• The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Research Grants in the Arts (RGA) program is a funding opportunity under the NEA’s Research Awards portfolio. The program supports research studies that investigate the value and/or impact of the arts in American life. Funded projects should have national, regional, or field-wide significance. Projects supported through this program include: 1) Arts and Health, 2) Arts and the Economy, and 3) Arts and Education. We welcome applications from a wide range of research fields (e.g., economics; psychology; education; medicine, health, and therapy; business administration; urban and regional planning). We expect the funded projects will be varied in terms of geographical distribution, the artistic and research fields or disciplines involved, and the research topics proposed. They anticipate that funded projects will reflect an array of study designs. In recent years, the NEA has supported studies that hypothesize a cause-effect relationship between the arts and key outcomes of interest (e.g., in health, education, or the economy). For research studies or program evaluations seeking to explore causal claims about the arts, experimental approaches are generally preferred. In some cases, different study designs will be preferable. These designs may include, but are not limited to meta-analyses, quasi-experimental studies, complex surveys, case studies, replication studies, and studies using mixed methods. Where appropriate, community-based participatory research approaches may be used.
• The Swan Historical Foundation, Inc. in Titusville, NJ and the David Center for the American Revolution at the Library & Museum of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia invite applications for a short-term Residential Research Fellowship in Revolutionary-Era Material Culture(defined as 1750-1820). This funding opportunity provides one month of support for researchers to work in the artifact collections of the Swan Historical Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and other repositories in the Greater Philadelphia Region. The fellowship is open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project. Applicants will be judged on the strength of the project and the demonstrated need to use collections. For those who need materials at institutions other than the APS or Swan, a letter of support from a curator or other relevant person at the proposed repository is highly encouraged.
• The Russell Sage Foundation, in collaboration with the Hewlett, Spencer, and William T. Grant foundations, seeks to support innovative research on the effects of the Supreme Court decision on a diversity of outcomes—from who attends college and where and the extent to which alternatives to race-conscious policies contribute to educational attainment and economic mobility among different groups in the population. Their interests extend beyond the effects on applications, admissions, enrollment, and degree completion and include the downstream effects, including whether and how the decision alters the college-to-career pipeline that many employers rely on to diversify their workforce, and the factors associated with public opposition to and support for race-conscious policies. They are particularly interested in analyses that make use of newly available data or demonstrate novel uses of existing data. They also support original data collection and encourage methodological variety and inter-disciplinary collaboration.
• The American Chemical Society’s Doctoral New Investigator (DNI) grants provide start-up funding for scientists and engineers in the United States who are within the first three years of their first academic appointment at the level of Assistant Professor or the equivalent. Applicants may have limited or no preliminary results for a research project they wish to pursue, with the intention of using the preliminary results obtained to seek continuation funding from other agencies. The DNI grants are to be used to illustrate proof of principle or concept, to test a hypothesis, or to demonstrate feasibility of an approach. The DNI grants program is seeking investigator-initiated, original research across the spectrum of our mission. Original research is defined as being different from that performed previously by the PI as part of their graduate or postdoctoral studies. Excluded from consideration are proposals in which the ideas being presented are a mere extension of research from the PI’s graduate or postdoctoral experience. Research projects must be unique.
• The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research on Research Security (RoRS) program seeks research that will foster a broad community that builds collaborations between the STEM research community, research security researchers, and research security practitioners. Interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged, and proposers should address how they will leverage the range of expertise, theories, and methods of the team to engage in evidence-based research on research security. Proposers are encouraged to identify collaborators across a wide range of sectors, and to consider projects in collaboration with international partners that share U.S. concerns with research security, when appropriate. RoRS encourages the following types of proposals to help build the emerging field of research on research security: 1) Conferences and Workshops; 2) Planning Grants, and 3) Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER).
• NSF’s Mind, Machine, and Motor Nexus (M3X) program supports fundamental research that enables intelligent engineered systems and humans to engage in bidirectional interaction in a physics-based environment, to enhance and ensure safety, productivity, and well-being. For the purpose of this program an intelligent engineered system is a human-designed system — physical, virtual, or a combination of both — that interacts with its environment to achieve specific goals. These systems collect data, analyze it to make informed decisions, and take actions that enhance safety, efficiency, and well-being. They may operate autonomously or collaboratively with humans, adapting their actions based on the data they collect. A key requirement for the M3X program is that these systems must function within a physics-based environment, whether physical or virtual, where interactions exhibit recognizable physical behaviors, such as those associated with gravity, friction, force, and inertia. Proposals submitted to the M3X program must clearly articulate how the proposed work advances knowledge of bidirectional interactions between humans and intelligent engineered systems. Examples include robots assisting in disaster response, smart environments that learn user preferences, and virtual reality-based rehabilitation technologies that simulate plausible physics.
• The Simons Foundation’s Mathematics & Physical Sciences (MPS) division invites applications for its Targeted Grants in MPS The program is intended to support high-risk theoretical mathematics, physics and computer science projects of exceptional promise and scientific importance on a case-by-case basis. The Targeted Grant in MPS program provides funding for up to five years. The funding level and duration is flexible and should be appropriate based on the type of support requested in the proposal. There is no recommended or assumed funding level for this program. Proposals are received on a rolling basis.
• Wildlife Acoustics is proud to offer a Quarterly Grant Program that supports the advancement of wildlife research, habitat monitoring, and environmental conservation. Scientists may apply for a product grant to advance the study of bats, birds, amphibians, and other terrestrial wildlife—or a travel grant to help them attend a conference with their peers.
• The Department of Health and Human Services, ARPA-H’s BIOmolecular Grammar for Protein Aggregation Modulation and Intervention (BIOGAMI) program aims to stop diseases like Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders by finding and fixing problems with proteins very early—before they clump together and damage cells. The program has two technical focus areas: (1) build next-generation artificial intelligence and experimental models for intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and aggregation; and (2) leverage novel tools to develop novel therapeutic modalities that interfere with or prevent IDP misfolding and aggregation while preserving critical functions, and create novel detection capabilities that respond to early-stage IDP aggregation.
• The Russell Sage Foundation’s Social, Political, and Economic Inequality program focuses on the causes and consequences of social, political, and economic inequalities in the U.S. The program examines the factors that contribute to social, political, and economic inequalities in the U.S., and the extent to which those inequalities affect social, political, psychological, and economic outcomes such as educational and labor market access and opportunities, social and economic mobility within and across generations, and civic participation and representation. Launched in 2001 as the Social Inequality program, it was renamed in November 2018 to better reflect the foundation’s research interests in a broad range of inequalities and their consequences.
• The Russell Sage Foundation’s Future of Work program examines the causes and consequences of the deteriorating quality of low-wage jobs in the United States. Projects sponsored by the program have examined a wide range of causal factors, from foreign outsourcing and immigration to the decline of unions and technological change, that may have depressed wages of low-education workers. Current research under this program includes a new investigation to re-assess how minimum wage increases affect employment and the broader labor market; a new study of the extent of offshoring of production by U.S. firms and its impact on the economy; and a project that examines the role of job search behaviors on the employment and wage outcomes of women and minorities in the post-recessionary U.S. labor market, among others.
• The Center for the Study of Federalism (CSF) awards Research Grants totaling up to $15,000 each for original research and/or writing that has federalism as its central focus and thereby advances thinking about federalism as a principle of American government, law, or politics. Areas of focus may include but are not limited to: political philosophy and theory, political history and development, public policy, law (including constitutional law), political institutions, political behavior, and political culture. Research should focus solely on U.S. federalism but consideration will be given to comparative research in which U.S. federalism is a significant component and from which can be drawn a better understanding of U.S. federalism. Applicants are expected to have earned a doctoral degree and to have a record of published research. CSF seeks to support the work of scholars who will further the study of American federalism. Scholars and faculty members from colleges, universities, and independent research institutions are welcome to apply.