Access a list of curated funding opportunities beyond BU.
External Funding Opportunities
Overview and Goals
The Shipley Center, part of the Office of Digital Learning & Innovation, funds and co-manages pilot projects that have the potential to positively change the way in which one or more of Boston University’s Schools and Colleges deliver value to students, both inside and outside the classroom. Our aspiration is to incubate projects that have lasting impact on how we do things at BU and position our university in the forefront of educational innovation.
Our current focus areas are: project-based and work-integrated learning, mentoring and advising, technology-enabled inclusive pedagogy initiatives, and emerging educational technologies. Both the funding and timing of project implementation depends on the scale and requirements of the proposed idea. Funding for our previous projects has ranged from $5K for a single small-scale project to $200K for a multi-year, large-scale implementation effort. An overview of ongoing and past projects is available here.
The Shipley Center team is always interested in discussing ideas for potential pilot and pre-pilot projects that seek to align Boston University with emergent trends in educational innovation to improve the student experience. Please contact shipdli@bu.edu with any questions about our Call for Proposals.
The Shipley Center also encourages initial consideration of additional funding sources beyond BU. A curated list is available below. External Funding Opportunities are in alignment with the goals outlined below:
- Increase the likelihood of project continuation post-pilot, in particular when significant resources are required and/or it is not possible to confirm commitment from the participating academic unit.
- Encourage a diverse range of funding options for the sustainability of pilot projects.
- Explore matching funding, if permitted under the policies of the funding organization, in particular when significant resources are required and/or it is not possible to confirm commitment from the participating academic unit.
- Suggest alternative funding sources for projects that require resources exceeding the available funding.
- Foster university research efforts focused on the impact of novel educational technologies on teaching and learning.
In support of those goals, the Shipley Center team collaborates with Research Support and Foundation Relations.
Repositories of Funding Opportunities
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- RFPs from Philanthropy News Digest by Candid.org (formerly Foundation Center)
- Funding Opportunities from Science Education Partnership Award (supported by NIH)
- Grants.gov
- Inside Philanthropy
- HP Grants Support Program Technology Grants
Selected Funding Opportunities
| Organization & Funding Opportunity | Scope | Deadlines & Funding Information | Previously Funded Projects |
| NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant (DHAG) Program | Proposals that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers. Projects aimed at piloting, testing, and validating innovative and potentially transformative approaches to graduate education (i.e., educational developments for this group such as curricula development, training or retention). | Full Proposal Deadline:
March 25, 2023 March 25, Annually thereafter IGE Awards (6 to 10 anticipated in FY 2021) are expected to be up to 3 years in duration with a total budget between $300,000 and $500,000. The number of awards and funding level in FY 2022 and FY 2023 are anticipated to be similar to FY 2021. Funding amounts depend on availability of funds. Limit on number of proposals per organization: 2 |
List of recent awards made through this program. |
| NEH Digital Projects for the Public |
The Digital Projects for the Public program supports projects that interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments. All Digital Projects for the Public projects should present analysis that deepens public understanding of significant humanities ideas; incorporate sound humanities scholarship; involve humanities scholars in all phases of development and production; include appropriate digital media professionals; reach a broad public through a realistic plan for development, marketing, and distribution; create appealing digital formats for the general public; and demonstrate the capacity to sustain themselves. |
Deadlines
Application available (anticipated) March 14, 2023 Next deadline (anticipated) June 14, 2023 Grant Snapshot Maximum award amount $30,000 (Discovery grants) $100,000 (Prototyping grants) $400,000 (Production grants) Open to Organizations Expected output: Game/Simulation; Mobile App; Virtual/Augmented Reality; Website Period of performance: One to three years |
List of recent Discovery grants
List of recent Prototyping grants
List of recent Production grants |
| NSF Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Program |
Proposals that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers. Projects aimed at piloting, testing, and validating innovative and potentially transformative approaches to graduate education (i.e., educational developments for this group such as curricula development, training or retention) |
Full Proposal Deadline:
March 27, 2023 March 25, Annually Thereafter IGE Awards (6 to 10 anticipated in FY 2021) are expected to be up to 3 years in duration with a total budget between $300,000 and $500,000. The number of awards and funding level in FY 2022 and FY 2023 are anticipated to be similar to FY 2021. Funding amounts depend on availability of funds. Limit on number of proposals per organization: 2 |
List of recent awards made through this program. |
| NIH Small Research Grant Program | Small research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources, including pilot and feasibility studies; secondary analysis of existing data; small, self-contained research projects; development of research methodology; and development of new research technology. | Standard R03 application due dates apply:
Cycle I - Feb 16 Cycle II - Jun 16 Cycle III - Oct 16 Application budgets are limited to $50,000 in direct costs per year. The total project period may not exceed two years. |
To see the types of projects that have been funded, go to NIH RePORTER and select R03 in the Activity Code field. |
| NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) | Educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs.
Creative educational activities with a primary focus on:
Examples of projects within the scope of activity of SEPA include, among others: - Innovative and inquiry-based P-12 curricula that will increase student interest in STEM topics. |
Application due dates:
July 13, 2022, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Earliest start date: April 2023 Expiration date: July 14, 2022 |
Information on current and past projects can be found on the SEPA website. |
| Spencer Foundation: Small Research Grants Program | Education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education. The goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. |
Applications Open
February 5, 2023 Full Proposal Deadline: April 5, 2023 Applications are accepted three times per year. Budgets up to $50,000 for projects ranging from one to five years. |
See the “Recent Awardees” section of the grants program description. |
| Spencer Foundation: Large Research Grants on Education Program | Education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education. The goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. |
Intent to Apply forms are accepted twice per year.
Next Intent to Apply date: January 12, 2023, 12:00PM (Noon) CT Full Proposal Deadline February 22, 2023, 12:00PM (Noon) CT Budgets range: $125,000 - $500,000 for projects ranging from one to five years. Funding tiers -- $125,000 - 250,000; $250,001 - $375,000; $375,001 - $500,000. |
See the “Recent Awardees” section on the grants program page. |
| Spencer Foundation: Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) Grants Program | Education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships.
The foundation views partnerships as an important approach to knowledge generation and the improvement of education, broadly construed. Over the long term, they anticipate that research conducted by RPPs will result in new insights into the processes, practices, and policies that improve education for learners, educators, schools, universities, families, and communities. |
Applications Open:
Mid-September 2023 Intent to Apply: Early-November, 2023 Intent to Apply forms are accepted once per year. Budgets up to $400,000 for project duration of up to three years. |
See the “Recent Awardees” section of the grants program description. |
| DoD’s Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL): Future Scholars for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Workforce Development Programs | Programs or projects that improve the capacity of education systems and communities to create impactful STEM educational experiences for students and teachers, and prepare the 21st century STEM workforce. These include, but are not limited to:
- Internships (High School through Doctoral) - Fellowship Apprentice/ Residency Programs - College or University project-based learning programs - Formal or informal workforce development programs or projects that align with the Federal STEM Strategy and DoD STEM Mission |
Current Closing Date for Applications: Jun 17, 2025
Estimated Total Program Funding: $50,000,000 Award range: $25,000 - $25,000,000 Before submitting an application, Recipients are highly encouraged to read the Federal STEM Education Strategy and the DoD STEM’s Mission. |
N/A
Related: Past awardees of the National Defense Education Program for STEM Education |
| Davis Educational Foundation | The foundation’s objectives in making grants are to assist institutions in supporting more effective teaching and learning and/or controlling costs. Implementation Grants represent the original grantmaking program and are available for any of the foundation's objectives - teaching and learning and/or cost and affordability.
Examples of funded projects include, among others, projects that improve the curriculum, the learning environment, assessment of undergraduate learning outcomes, faculty development, incentive systems, and administrative structures. Preference is given to projects aimed at strengthening the general education core of the undergraduate experience. |
Application Deadline:
2023 Spring Deadlines are March 10 and May 10. Please contact BU Foundation Relations if you are considering applying. |
See the Grant History page for a searchable list of previously funded projects. |
| Institute of Education Sciences
(Department of Education) |
Various funding opportunities for research and training.
14 programs of research (topics) under the Education Research Grants Program. Applicants across all topic areas should consider whether or not technology would be an effective way to address the education issue on which they are choosing to focus given that it is now pervasive in classrooms. If the goal is to develop or evaluate an education technology product, the application should focus on the topic area that is most closely aligned with the proposed research. |
The details vary for each type of research and training program.
For example, each of the topics under the Education Research Grants Program typically accepts applications once per year. Application deadlines are announced in the Federal Register and on the IES website. |
Information on past projects is available in the RFAs for each program (see the Types of Projects section).
For example, this is a list of Development and Innovation projects in the Postsecondary and Adult Education topic under the Education Research Grants Program. |
| Schmidt Futures Learning Tools Competition | This program seeks to spur the development and deployment of technologies that address pressing education issues from early childhood to secondary education while advancing the field of learning engineering. The following priority areas for early childhood to secondary education were named by the program:
-Strengthening teacher development and support. -Transforming assessments to collect new measures, drive quality, and reduce cost -Facilitating faster, better, and cheaper learning science research -Accelerating learning for all—supporting tools that accelerate outcomes in literacy and math to prepare students for college and career. |
Deadline for proposal concept: Closed
Other competition deadlines are listed here. Funding: Prizes are made at three levels: Transform Phase Prizes: $250,000 (designed for teams with an established platform with more than 10,000 users upon which the new idea will build) Growth Phase Prizes: $100,000 (designed for teams that have a minimum viable product upon which their new idea will build and some users) Catalyst Phase Prizes: $50,000 (designed for competitors including students, teachers, civic technologists, or those who need that initial spark of support).
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See the list of 2021 and 2020 tool competition winner details. |
| Leventhal Map & Education Center | The Leventhal Map & Education Center’s Small Grants Fund for Early Career Digital Publications supports scholars through the process of producing a publication for general audiences in a digital format.
Projects may be conducted by scholars working both inside and outside of the academy on all topics related to geography, maps, history, and the humanistic spatial social sciences, either individually or in a group (though the stipend amount is fixed regardless of the number of scholars involved in the project). |
The grant consists of a stipend of $1,200 to support research and development time, together with institutional research and technical support from LMEC staff through the stages of the digital publication process.
Applications for 2022–2023 have closed. Information about the 2023–2024 cycle will be posted in summer 2023. |
Examples of previous awards and more details about eligibility can be found here. |
| Minderoo Foundation’s eXtended Reality 2030 Policy Fund | eXtended Reality (XR) 2030 Policy Fund will award funding to researchers and civil society leaders who are advancing the next generation of digital media ecosystems to prioritize public interest values.
Focus Areas include Data Privacy & Security, Health & Physical Effects, Competition, Interoperability & Standards, and others (please see the full list here) |
Applications open on February 3, 2023 and will be accepted on a rolling basis, funds permitting.
Small Grants – up to $10,000. Medium Grants – up to $25,000 - $50,000 over 6 months. Large Research and Advocacy Grant – up to $100,000 over 6 – 12 months. |
Please connect with Joseph Loftus (joloftus@bu.edu) from BU Foundation Relations for further information. |
| NSF STEM Ed IPRF | The STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed IPRF) Program funds postdoctoral fellowship projects designed to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of STEM Education research by recent doctoral graduates in STEM, STEM Education, Education, and related disciplines.
STEM Ed IPRF awards support Fellows engaging in research that explores impact of STEM teaching & learning environments including innovative research on technology enabled learning |
Anticipated Funding Amount: $2,500,000
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time): April 11, 2023 March 29, 2024. Last Friday in March, Annually Thereafter |
Examples of previous awards
can be found here. |