Table of Contents
- Convergent Research Funding Opportunities
- Limited Submission Opportunities
- Federal
- Foundation
- Industry
- State & International
- Nominations
- Resources
This monthly newsletter is compiled by the Research Development team in the Office of Research. Questions or feedback? Email research@bu.edu.
Convergent Research Funding Opportunities
The Office of Research is pleased to offer funding opportunities designed to accelerate convergent research at Boston University, supporting teams at different stages of research development.
Planning Grants
- Intended for teams exploring new research directions, piloting collaborative approaches, and developing innovative ideas before defining a full research program.
- Award: $25,000 – $50,000
- Deadline: October 1, 2026
- Themes: All convergent research themes not currently under consideration for Seed Grants, including: Global Sustainability; Arts, Humanities & the Human Condition; Infection, Inflammatory & Immune Disorders; Childhood & Adolescent Well-Being & K-12 Education; Social & Economic Opportunity; AI, Data Science & Computing
Seed Grants
Applicants invited to submit a full proposal will be notified by early October 2026.
Please review the convergent research website for more information.
Limited Submissions
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 Weekly Limited Submission Digest sent every Tuesday. Faculty, staff, and postdoctoral associates are encouraged to subscribe using the sign-up form.
Federal
October
- IES Education Research Applications
- Topic Area: Education, Policy, Social Sciences
- Award: $500,000 – $1.2 million
- Deadline: October 1, 2026
- More Information
- NSF EDU Core Research
- Topic Area: STEM, Education
- Award: Subject to funding availability
- Deadline: October 1, 2026
- More Information
- 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: Based on project need
- 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
- NIH Community Engagement Evaluation and Data Coordination Hub to Advance Data and Practice Transformation for Optimizing Oral Health for All (U01)
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: $1 million
- Deadline: October 19, 2026
- More Information
November
- NSF Unlocking Dataset Value for AI-Enabled Scientific Discovery (AI Datasets)
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: Up to $2 million
- Deadline: November 4, 2026
- More Information
- Office of Naval Research Defense University Research Instrumentation Program
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: $50,000 – $3 million
- Deadline: November 6, 2026
- More Information
- NINDS Efficacy and Exploratory Clinical Trials (UG3/UH3)
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: Based on project need
- Deadline: November 9, 2026
- More Information
December
- NEH Collections Stewardship
- Topic Area: Humanities
- Award: $50,000 – $500,000
- Deadline: December 15, 2026
- More Information
Rolling
- NSF Notices of Funding Opportunities for Foundational Research
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: $1.5 billion across a broad portfolio
- Deadline: Rolling
- More Information
Forecasted
- NIH Digital Health Technology and Reciprocal Innovation to Improve Clinical and Public Health Outcomes
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: TBD
- Anticipated Deadline: February 11, 2027
- More Information
- NIH Transformative Technologies for Experimental and Computational RNome Characterization and Functional Analysis
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: Up to $500,000
- Anticipated Deadline: February 15, 2027
- More Information
Foundation
October
- National Humanities Center Residential Fellowships
- Topic Area: Humanities, Early Career
- Award: Up to half salary
- Deadline: October 1, 2026
- More Information
- Schmidt Sciences Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute Urban Mobility/Buildings
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: $4 million
- Deadline: October 3, 2026 (expression of interest)
- More Information
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: $1.35 million
- Deadline: October 8, 2026 (pre-application)
- More Information
- Parkinson’s Foundation Impact Awards
- Topic Area: Medicine, STEM
- Award: $200,000
- Deadline: October 15, 2026 (letter of intent)
- More Information
- Metropolitan Museum of Art Leonard A. Lauder Fellowships in Modern Art
- Topic Area: Fine Arts, Early Career (and beyond)
- Award: $60,000 – $70,000
- Deadline: October 15, 2026
- More Information
November
- McKnight Foundation Scholar Awards
- Topic Area: Neuroscience, Early Career
- Award: $225,000
- Deadline: November 3, 2026
- More Information
- Melanoma Research Alliance Pilot Award
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: $100,000
- Deadline: November 5, 2026
- More Information
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement Team Science Accelerator
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: Up to $1 million
- Deadline: November 9, 2026 (letter of intent)
- More Information
- Gilead Sciences, Inc. Solid Tumors Research Scholars Program
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: $180,000
- Deadline: November 13, 2026 (specific aims)
- More Information
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Innovation Grants – Six Areas
- Topic Area: Medicine, Social Sciences
- Award: $50,000 – $450,000
- Deadline: November 15, 2026
- More Information
- Cancer Research Institute Technology Impact Award
- Topic Area: Medicine, Pilot Funding
- Award: $600,000
- Deadline: November 16, 2026 (letter of intent)
- More Information
December
- The Mellon Foundation Emerging Faculty Leaders Award
- Topic Area: Humanities, Social Sciences, Early Career
- Award: $20,000
- Deadline: December 1, 2026
- More Information
- Cancer Research Institute Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: Up to $300,000
- Deadline: December 1, 2026 (letter of intent)
- More Information
- Wenner-Gren Foundation Conference and Workshop Grant
- Topic Area: Social Sciences
- Award: $20,000
- Deadline: December 1, 2026
- More Information
- American Heart Association Career Development Award
- Topic Area: Medicine, Early Career
- Award: $231,000
- Deadline: December 1, 2026
- More Information
- American Lung Association Public Health and Public Policy Research Award
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: Up to $100,000
- Deadline: December 1, 2026
- More Information
- Dermatology Foundation Johnson & Johnson Early Career Innovator Award
- Topic Area: Medicine, Early Career
- Award: Up to $300,000
- Deadline: December 1, 2026
- More Information
- American Gastroenterological Association Research Scholar Award
- Topic Area: Medicine, Early Career
- Award: Up to $300,000
- Deadline: December 2, 2026
- More Information
- Klingenstein Philanthropies Transformation of Mental Health Care Program
- Topic Area: Medicine
- Award: Up to $200,000
- Deadline: December 15, 2026
- More Information
Rolling
- DIV Fund Request for Proposals – Improving Lives of People Living in Poverty in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
- Topic Area: Social Sciences, Medicine
- Award: $200,000 – $1.5 million, depending on stage
- Deadline: Unspecified – open call
- More Information
Reach out to the Foundation Relations team member for your academic unit for support with foundation opportunities.
Industry
November
- MathWorks Advancing Technological Research with MATLAB and Simulink
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: $20,000
- Deadline: November 2, 2026
- More Information
Rolling
- Arena Intelligence Academic Partnership Program: Independent Research in AI Evaluation
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: $50,000
- Deadline: Rolling
- More Information
Reach out to Corporate Research & Contracting for support finding industry partners or help with related questions.
State & International
September
- Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Catalyst Grant
- Topic Area: STEM, Research Translation
- Award: $75,000
- Deadline: September 30, 2026
- More Information
- Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) Olfactory Perception
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: Up to ￡500,000 (Stage 1)
- Deadline: September 30, 2026
- More Information
October
- ARIA Safeguarded AI
- Topic Area: STEM, UK Collaboration
- Award: Up to ￡3.5 million
- Deadline: October 31, 2026
- More Information
- ARIA Scaling Trust
- Topic Area: STEM, UK Collaboration
- Award: Up to ￡3 million
- Deadline: October 31, 2026
- More Information
Nominations
October
- National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture
- Topic Area: STEM
- Award: $100,000
- Deadline: October 5, 2026
- More Information
- National Academy of Sciences Arctowski Medal
- Topic Area: STEM – Solar Physics
- Award: $100,000
- Deadline: October 5, 2026
- More Information
- Dan David Prize
- Topic Area: Humanities – History
- Award: $300,000
- Deadline: October 13, 2026
- More Information
December
- Research to Prevent Blindness Stein Innovation Awards
- Topic Area: Ophthalmology
- Award: $300,000
- Deadline: December 15, 2026
- More Information
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 about 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:
- Large Federal Funding Opportunities
- Research Ramps: Pathways to Large Awards
- Department of Energy: Federal Agency Contributions to the Genesis Mission
- Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities
- Landscape of Federal Public Health Research Priorities
- NIH Advisory Council Meetings
- Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
Of Note
Agency Requests for Information
- NIH: Input on Potential NIH Funding Approaches to Support the Development of Future Clinical Trial Investigators (9/30)
- NIH: Proposed Changes to Reporting Outcomes from NIH Peer Review (10/13)
Pivot-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