External Funding

OPPORTUNITY: Clinical and Translational Science Award (UM1 Clinical Trial Optional)

FUNDING AGENCY: NIH

AWARD AMOUNT: $3,600,000

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: May 28, 2026

DESCRIPTION: This Notice of Funding Opportunity announcement (NOFO) invites applications for the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program hubs that will be part of a national, collaborative consortium focused on bringing more treatments to all people more quickly through advancing clinical and translational science (CTS) by (1) developing, demonstrating, and disseminating scientific and operational innovations that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical translation from identification to first-in-human studies to medical practice implementation to community health dissemination; (2) promoting partnerships and collaborations to facilitate and accelerate translational research projects locally, regionally, and nationally; (3) creating, providing, and disseminating innovative research programs and partnerships across institutions and communities to address health needs of their populations and deliver the benefits of translational science to all; (4) creating and implementing scientific and operational innovations that increase the quality, safety, efficiency, effectiveness, and informativeness of clinical research; (5) providing a national resource for the rapid response to urgent public health needs; and (6) creating, providing, and disseminating CTS training for clinical research professionals of all disciplines on the research team.

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OPPORTUNITY: Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development

FUNDING AGENCY: NIST

AWARD AMOUNT: $200,000

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: May 28, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The NIST NICE program is seeking applications from eligible applicants for activities to establish community-based partnerships to develop cybersecurity career pathways that address local workforce needs. Effective multistakeholder workforce partnerships will organize multiple employers with skill shortages in specific occupations to focus on developing the skilled workforce to meet industry needs within the local or regional economy.

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OPPORTUNITY: Antarctic Research Not Requiring U.S. Antarctic Program Field Support

FUNDING AGENCY: NSF

AWARD AMOUNT: Amounts vary

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 1, 2026

DESCRIPTION: Through this solicitation, the Antarctic Sciences Section (ANT) of the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) funds cutting-edge research that: Improves understanding of interactions among the Antarctic region and global systems. Improves understanding of the dynamic linkages among processes operating in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean and linkages to global Earth systems, which helps inform decision making regarding environmental change. Advances fundamental understanding of Earth systems and the biological, geochemical, and physical processes in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean as drivers and responders to changes on a global scale. Expands fundamental knowledge of Antarctic systems, biota, and processes. Utilizes the unique characteristics of the Antarctic region as a science observing platform. Builds capacity and enhances diversity in the US workforce for polar-related science. ANT encourages and supports research that combines disciplinary perspectives and approaches from other fields, research that uses existing data and samples, and other research not requiring a physical presence in Antarctica. This may include projects conducted at locations outside Antarctica that serve as analogues of Antarctic sites or systems.

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OPPORTUNITY: Exemplary Pathways to STEM Graduate Education

FUNDING AGENCY:

AWARD AMOUNT: $500,000

LETTER OF INTENT DEADLINE: June 1, 2026

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: October 5, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The Higher Education Program at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is seeking to invest in new and established partnerships between STEM undergraduate and graduate programs nationwide that seek to identify and remove longstanding, systemic barriers to STEM master’s and doctoral degrees.

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OPPORTUNITY: Housing Policy Research Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity

FUNDING AGENCY: Housing and Urban Development

AWARD AMOUNT: $100,000–$1,500,000

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 1, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The Housing Policy Research Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity provides competitive awards to eligible applicants, including institutions of higher education, nonprofit, and for-profit institutions. Awards made through this NOFO will fund quality research projects that: (1) contribute to knowledge about housing policy in the United States; and (2) generate actionable insights and evidence that can applied by policymakers and communities in the short-term.

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OPPORTUNITY: ACCEL Program

FUNDING AGENCY: Delaware CTR

AWARD AMOUNT: $125,000

LETTER OF INTENT DEADLINE: June 1, 2026

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: July 20, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The mission of the Delaware CTR ACCEL Program is to accelerate clinical and translational research that addresses health outcomes of Delawareans. The Interdisciplinary New Collaborative (INC) Awards are a new mechanism aimed at fostering new and innovative collaborations among investigators from different disciplines whose work spans different regions of the translation spectrum (see https://ncats.nih.gov/translation/spectrum for NIH’s definition). For example, a proposal might pair testing the efficacy of a rehabilitation intervention in children with autism along with examination of blood and brain biomarkers that may be predictive of autism severity or responsiveness to the intervention. This would involve both basic and clinical research and might engage investigators with expertise in neurology, physiology, endocrinology, psychology, and/or physical rehabilitation all working together. Another example might be an engineer working on an innovative smartphone application to track distances walked in the community collaborating with a behavioral psychologist and an exercise physiologist focused on identifying and reducing barriers to increasing walking exercise among community dwelling older adults. INC Awards are $125,000 (in direct costs) over 18-months.

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OPPORTUNITY: NIDCD Clinical Research Center Grant (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)

FUNDING AGENCY: NIH

AWARD AMOUNT: $1,500,000–$7,500,000

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 2, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites new, resubmission, revision or renewal applications for Clinical Research Center Grants (P50) in the mission areas of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, or language. The P50 Clinical Research Center provides a vehicle for integrated, multidisciplinary approaches to critical clinical research questions that advance the study of prevention, pathogenesis, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, management or epidemiology of a disease or disorder of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, or language. The P50 provides an avenue for forming a multi-disciplinary team that is intended to bring innovative ideas and distinct perspectives to the generation and evaluation of high impact solutions to complex clinical problems. Responsive applications must include a multi-disciplinary team collaborating on a synergistic set of 3-4 research projects addressing a unifying theme. The synergistic and substantial integration of research projects is intended to generate breakthrough solutions to the unifying problem. The research efforts are further supported by an administrative core and 1-2 optional scientific cores to ensure rigorous and efficient progress towards the center’s unifying theme. Overall, the clinical research center provides a whole that will have impact beyond the sum of its parts.

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OPPORTUNITY: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program External Research Support Announcement

FUNDING AGENCY: Geological Survey

AWARD AMOUNT: $30,000–$120,000

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 4, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) issues this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for assistance to support research in earthquake hazards, the physics of earthquakes, earthquake occurrence, and earthquake safety policy. This activity is authorized by the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-124, 42 U.S.C. 7701 et. seq.), and as amended by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-307).

It is estimated that a total of $4 million will be awarded in support of competitive research grants in FY2027, with a maximum total of $7 million. Based on awards in recent years, approximately 50 to 70 new awards are funded each fiscal year. There is no maximum award amount (i.e., any amount may be proposed if it can be justified appropriately), however, the majority of grants range between $30,000 and $120,000. This estimate does not bind the USGS to a specified number of awards or to the amount of any award unless that amount is specified by statute or regulation.

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) competitive grants solicitation supports external research partnerships that are essential to the Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) mission. The goal is to generate scientific information and situational awareness products that help the program reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses from earthquakes, and improve public safety and resilience nationwide. External grants with university, state, regional and local government agencies, and private industry partners support science that cannot be conducted within the USGS because of a lack of sufficient in-house expertise.

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OPPORTUNITY: Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Office-Wide Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

FUNDING AGENCY: DOD

AWARD AMOUNT: TBD

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 22, 2026

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: Rolling Deadline

DESCRIPTION: The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) is interested in receiving white papers for research and development projects, which offer potential for advancement and improvement of NAWCAD operations. NAWCAD has identified the research needed to address the challenges, problems, and future technology needs of the Warfighter. Research Opportunity Areas of Interest: Advanced Manufacturing (Priority) Aeromechanics Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) (Priority) Autonomy (Priority) Avionics, Sensors & Electronic Warfare Cyber (Priority) Data Science & Visualization Digital Engineering (Priority) Human Systems Hypersonic Systems Materials and Aircraft Structures Mechanical Systems Power and Propulsion Systems Quantum (Priority) Secure Communications & Networks (Priority) Support Equipment Test and Evaluation Engineering Warfare Analysis

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OPPORTUNITY: Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Office-Wide Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

FUNDING AGENCY: DOD

AWARD AMOUNT: TBD

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 22, 2026

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: Rolling Deadline

DESCRIPTION: The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) is interested in receiving white papers for research and development projects, which offer potential for advancement and improvement of NAWCAD operations. NAWCAD has identified the research needed to address the challenges, problems, and future technology needs of the Warfighter. Research Opportunity Areas of Interest: Advanced Manufacturing (Priority) Aeromechanics Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) (Priority) Autonomy (Priority) Avionics, Sensors & Electronic Warfare Cyber (Priority) Data Science & Visualization Digital Engineering (Priority) Human Systems Hypersonic Systems Materials and Aircraft Structures Mechanical Systems Power and Propulsion Systems Quantum (Priority) Secure Communications & Networks (Priority) Support Equipment Test and Evaluation Engineering Warfare Analysis

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OPPORTUNITY: Consortium for Nuclear Forensics

FUNDING AGENCY: DOE

AWARD AMOUNT: $25,000,000

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 10, 2026

DESCRIPTION: Direct-fund basic research at universities that complement applied research in nuclear forensics at the DOE National Laboratories to include foundational disciplines of radiochemistry; geochemistry; shock physics; nuclear physics, science and engineering; radiation detector science; nuclear material science engineering; nuclear chemical engineering; modeling, simulation and optimization methods for nuclear applications; and seismology and infrasound methods supporting yield determination. A secondary benefit to this research is the development of a diverse and highly talented cadre of technical professionals, including scientists, engineers, technicians, and operational personnel, who will become the next generation of technical leaders in nuclear missions, such as nuclear forensics, nonproliferation, incident response, intelligence, and energy. These professionals are expected to primarily benefit the DOE National Laboratories as future research staff but will also benefit academia, private industry, and U.S. government agencies, including Energy, State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and the Intelligence Community.

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OPPORTUNITY: Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage System Program

FUNDING AGENCY: USDA

AWARD AMOUNT: $150,000 – $300,000

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 12, 2026

DESCRIPTION: In FY 2026, under Assistance Listing 10.330, ASAFS will support the development of improved alfalfa seed and forage production systems, practices, and supporting technologies. NIFA is soliciting applications for FY 2026 under the following areas:

Increasing alfalfa forage and seed yields and forage quality through improved management practices, plant breeding, and other strategies to reduce biotic and abiotic stresses and costs of production.

Improving alfalfa forage and seed harvest and storage systems, including mechanization and automation that reduces labor costs, to optimize economic returns to alfalfa producers as well as end-users including milk producers.

Developing methods to estimate alfalfa forage yield and quality to support marketing as a livestock feed and instruments to reduce producer risks.

Exploring new uses for alfalfa such as fish feeds, nutritive supplements, alternative protein sources for human consumption, high-value chemical manufacturing, or other novel uses.

Developing improved insect, disease and weed management strategies, including spotted aphid, in alfalfa seed production and potential herbicide carry-over issues.

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OPPORTUNITY: Breast Cancer Research Program Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium Award

FUNDING AGENCY: USARMRAA

AWARD AMOUNT: $35,000,000

PRELIMINARY APP DEADLINE: June 12, 2026

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: September 30, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium Award supports collaborations and ideas that will transform the lives of individuals with, and/or at risk for, breast cancer and will significantly accelerate progress toward ending breast cancer. Applications must propose a synergistic, highly integrated, multidisciplinary and multi-institutional consortium of leading scientists, clinicians and breast cancer consumer advocates that will address a major problem in a way that a single investigator or group could not accomplish. The consortium’s collaborative efforts must make a transformative impact in breast cancer. All applications must address at least one of the FY26 BCRP overarching challenges or provide adequate justification for exception. If the application addresses a different fundamental issue, the application must couple it with at least one of the overarching challenges.

Distinctive Features: This funding mechanism allows for up to five Principal Investigators (PIs) which includes the Consortium Director and three or four Project Team PIs. Applications must include at least one breast cancer consumer advocate per project team. Only the Consortium Director will submit a pre-application, but all PIs will need to submit at the full application stage. Be advised, failure to submit all associated (Consortium Director and Project Team PIs) applications by the full application deadline may result in administrative withdrawal.

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OPPORTUNITY: Expeditions in Computing

FUNDING AGENCY: NSF

AWARD AMOUNT: up to $15,000,000 for a duration of seven years

PRELIMINARY APP DEADLINE: June 22, 2026

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: March 31, 2027

DESCRIPTION: The far-reaching impact and rate of innovation in the computer and information science and engineering fields has been remarkable, generating economic prosperity and enhancing the quality of life for people throughout the world.

More than a decade ago, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) established the Expeditions in Computing (Expeditions) program to build on past successes and provide the CISE research and education community with the opportunity to pursue ambitious, fundamental research agendas that promise to define the future of computing and information.

In planning Expeditions projects, investigators are strongly encouraged to come together within or across departments or institutions to combine their creative talents in the identification of compelling, transformative research agendas that look ahead by at least a decade and promise disruptive innovations in computer and information science and engineering for many years to come.

Additionally, CISE offers Innovation Transition (InTrans) awards for teams nearing the end of their Expeditions as well as Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Frontier projects. The goal of InTrans is to continue the long-term vision and objectives of CISE’s center-scale projects. Through InTrans awards, CISE will provide limited funds to match industry support.

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OPPORTUNITY: TACTICAL Awards (Therapy ACceleration To Intercept CAncer Lethality)

FUNDING AGENCY: Prostate Cancer Foundation

AWARD AMOUNT: $5,000,000–10,000,000

LETTER OF INTENT DEADLINE: March 16, 2026

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 15, 2026

DESCRIPTION: The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is pleased to announce a Request for LOIs for PCF TACTICAL Awards from qualified teams of investigators from academic and community institutions that will directly contribute to improved outcomes for patients with prostate cancer with lethal potential. These awards will be funded depending on the level of innovation and transformative potential in applications received. PCF seeks high-risk, currently unfunded projects from academic and community research institutions around the world. PCF seeks applications for currently unfunded, large-scale multi-disciplinary team science research projects that will directly contribute to reducing death and suffering from prostate cancer, and will deliver transformative and tangible outcomes in the 3-5- year funding period. This includes basic, translational, clinical, and community-based research projects focused on strategies to prevent prostate cancer metastasis, morbidity, or mortality, which addresses major unmet needs in a transformative way.

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