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This monthly newsletter is compiled by the Research Development team in the Office of Research. Questions or feedback? Email research@bu.edu.

Limited Submission Opportunities

Limited submission opportunities have moved to a new weekly Digest!

As of May 5, 2026, the best way to learn about internal Limited Submission Opportunities (LSOs) is to subscribe to the new weekly LSO Digest, sent every Tuesday. Faculty, staff and postdoctoral associates are encouraged to subscribe using the sign-up form.

Federal

July

  • NOAA Ocean Technology Transition Program
  • NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program Award
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: Minimum $400,000
    • Deadline: July 22, 2026
    • More Information
  • FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities 
  • Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs with DoD – Multiple Solicitations
    • Topic Area: Medicine
    • Award: Varies from $1 million – $2.5 million
    • Deadline: July – September (pre-applications)
    • More Information

August

  • NSF Mathematical Sciences Infrastructure Program
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: $50,000 – $500,000
    • Deadline: August 4, 2026; February 2, 2027
    • More Information
  • NSF Chemical Oceanography
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: $200,000 – $2 million
    • Deadline: August 17, 2026
    • More Information
  • NASA NSPIRES Research Initiation Awards

September

  • NSF Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems 
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: $300,000 – $1.5 million
    • Deadline: September 1, 2026
    • More Information
  • NSF Science of Science Approach to Analyzing and Innovating the Biomedical Research Enterprise
    • Topic Area: STEM – Life Sciences
    • Award: $100,000 – $250,000
    • Deadline: September 9, 2026
    • More Information
  • NIAID Investigator Initiated Program Project Applications (P01)
    • Topic Area: Medicine
    • Award: Based on project need
    • Deadline: September 25, 2026; January 25, 2027
    • More Information

October

  • NIH Chemical Countermeasures Research Program: Promoting a Basic Understanding of Chemical Threats to Skin (R01)
    • Topic Area: Medicine
    • Award: Up to $1.5 million
    • Deadline: October 5, 2026; October 5, 2027
    • More Information
  • NIMH Advancing Research on Empirically-Supported Interventions for Older Adults Living with Serious Mental Illness (R01)
    • Topic Area: Medicine
    • Award: Up to $1.5 million
    • Deadline: October 15, 2026
    • More Information
  • NIH Early-Stage Development of Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management (U01)
    • Topic Area: Medicine
    • Award: Up to $900,000
    • Deadline: October 19, 2026; June 11, 2027
    • More Information

Rolling

  • NSF Engineering Biological and Biomedical Systems 
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: Dependent upon request (more on the new NSF solicitation structure in the Resources section below)
    • Deadline: Rolling
    • More Information
  • NSF Engineering Environmental Resiliency
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: Dependent upon request
    • Deadline: Rolling
    • More Information
  • NSF Electronic, Photonic, Magnetic, and Quantum Devices
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: Dependent upon request
    • Deadline: Rolling
    • More Information
  • NSF STEM K-12
    • Topic Area: STEM, Education
    • Award: $25,000 – $750,000
    • Deadline: Rolling
    • More Information

Foundation

July

  • Gates Foundation Global Grand Challenges India: Innovations in Cost-Disruptive Novel Tools for Screening and Diagnosis
    • Topic Area: Medicine
    • Award: Based on project need
    • Deadline: July 1, 2026
    • More Information
  • Russell Sage Foundation Core Research Grants in Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context, and Race, Ethnicity and Immigration
    • Topic Area: Humanities, Social Sciences
    • Award: $200,000
    • Deadline: July 15 (letter of inquiry)
    • More Information
  • John Templeton Foundation Grants 
    • Topic Area: Humanities, STEM, Social Sciences
    • Award: Varies by project from $99,000 – $9 million
    • Deadline: July 15, 2026 (letter of inquiry)
    • More Information
  • Simons Foundation Life Sciences Grants Synthetic Plant Biology
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: Up to $1.08 million
    • Deadline: July 30, 2026
    • More Information
  • Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigators Award
    • Topic Area: STEM, Early Career
    • Award: $600,000
    • Deadline: July 31, 2026 (letter of intent)
    • More Information
  • Social Science Research Council LEGO Foundation Fellowship
    • Topic Area: Social Sciences, Early Career
    • Award: $300,000
    • Deadline: July 31, 2026
    • More Information
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Symbiosis in Aquatic Systems Initiative
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: Unspecified – often $375,000 – $429,000
    • Deadline: July 31, 2026
    • More Information

September

  • The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Research Fellowship
    • Topic Area: Arts, Humanities
    • Award: $50,000
    • Deadline: September 1, 2026
    • More Information

Rolling

  • Alzheimer’s Association Worldwide FINGERS Network Funding Program
    • Topic Areas: Medicine, STEM – startup funding
    • Award: $200,000 – $500,000
    • Deadline: Rolling (pre-submission inquiries)
    • More Information
  • Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Pathmaker Program for Training Organizations
    • Topic Areas: STEM, Education
    • Award: Based on project need
    • Deadline: Rolling (submit request for validation)
    • More Information

Reach out to the Foundation Relations team member for your academic unit for support with foundation opportunities.

Industry

July

  • STRIDE Ventures AI Efficiency Challenge
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: $1.75 million – $3.5 million
    • Deadline: July 13, 2026
    • More Information

August

  • Samsung Global Research Outreach
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: $150,000 per year
    • Deadline: August 12, 2026 (internal)
    • More Information

Anticipated Opportunities

  • Sony Research Awards Program – Faculty Innovation & Focused Research Awards
    • Topic Area: STEM
    • Award: $150,000
    • Likely Deadline: July – August 2026
    • More Information

Reach out to Corporate Research & Contracting for support finding industry partners or other related questions.

Nominations

June

  • BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards
    • Topic Area: STEM, Humanities, Social Sciences, Arts
    • Award: €400,000
    • Deadline: June 30, 2026
    • More Information

Events

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Lunch and Learn Webinar (7/8)

The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) will host webinars about upcoming FY26 program funding areas of opportunity, which include Alzheimer’s, autism, breast cancer, lupus, military burn, tickborne diseases, toxic exposures, traumatic brain injuries and psychological health, and vision, among others. Each webinar will cover a different set of funding opportunities. The next webinar will be held on July 8. Review the CDMRP website for more information and to register.

Resources

All proposals for external funding must be submitted to Sponsored Programs at least five business days before the sponsor deadline. 

Foundation Funding

BU Foundation Relations provides compilations of foundation grants by category, including:

  • Neuroscience
  • Education
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Environment and Sustainability
  • Biomedical and Life Sciences

Review their page of Tips for Grantseeking Success and recording of a recent webinar on Building Authentic Relationships with Foundations for more information.

Curated Primers & Updates from Federal Relations

BU Federal Relations has curated primers of federal grant opportunities on their website (Kerberos login required), including:

On the new NSF solicitation structure: This article in Science details the context behind the NSF’s shift to broader solicitations and approach to award amounts. You can also view the NSF application instructions for more information. Reach out to Jourdan Ewoldt (jewoldt@bu.edu) in Federal Relations for additional information.

Pivor-RP Database

All faculty and staff have a free subscription to Pivot-RP, a database updated daily with a wide variety of federal, non-federal, foundation, and private funding opportunities in every discipline. With the BU subscription, members can save search criteria and receive weekly updates on new and upcoming funding opportunities.

Learn how to set up your account to get started on the Office of Research website.

More Funding & Grants

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