Open Call Grant and Award Opportunities
This list includes general funding opportunities that are of broad interest to the UT Austin research community.
The list below can be sorted by column heading. You may also search the list by entering keywords (e.g., “NIH”) in the Search box.
If you would like to see funding opportunities from a specific agency posted here, or if you or someone you know has been awarded any of these grants, let us know.
Note: For the opportunities listed here, there are no limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted by UT Austin investigators. In contrast, a “limited submission opportunity” is a funding opportunity in which the funding agency limits the number of proposals that UT Austin may submit. To select UT Austin nominees for these opportunities, the University holds internal competitions in advance of the sponsor’s deadline. To view active limited submission opportunities and apply for internal competitions, visit our Limited Submission Programs webpage.
| Sponsor | Grant/Program | Field/Areas | Who can apply | Sponsor Deadline | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund | Brazil-U.S. Competition for Innovation and Technological Development | Supports projects from teams in Brazil and the U.S. that will increase student exchange and training in the following academic themes with an emphasis on their focus areas: Info. Communications and Tech., focus on smart tech. and the Internet of Things; Civ. Engr., focus on structures and/or mining; Chem. Engr., focus on advanced materials and/or metallurgy; Elec. Engr., focus on computers a | Open to all qualified applicants. | 2/15/19: Application deadline | 2019-02-15 |
| Urban Institute & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) | Visualizing Healthy Lives & Powering Healthy Lives | Visualizing Healthy Lives is a $1 million grant initiative that will select 3-5 projects committed to narrowing the gaps in life expectancy by effectively and powerfully visualizing USALEEP data for a wider audience. Powering Health Lives is a $1 million grant initiative that will select 6-10 projects interested in narrowing the gaps in life expectancy by putting local data to work for healthier, more equitable communities. | Qualified applicants can apply to either Visualizing Healthy Lives or Powering Healthy Lives, but not both. Universities cannot apply as leads, but can serve as a partner to other eligible applicants. | 11/16/18: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 2/22/19: Application deadline | 2019-02-22 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Macrosystems Biology and NEON-Enabled Science (MSB-NES): Research on Biological Systems at Regional to Continental Scales | Supports quantitative, interdisciplinary, systems-oriented research on biosphere processes and their complex interactions with climate, land use, and invasive species at regional to continental scales as well as training activities to enable groups to conduct Macrosystems Biology and NEON-Enabled Science research. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 2/25/19: Application deadline | 2019-02-25 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Integrative Strategies for Understanding Neural and Cognitive Systems (NCS) | Supports projects that focus on aspects of neural and cognitive systems that are current targets of converging interdisciplinary interests. NCS projects must advance the foundations of one or more of these focus areas: Neuroengineering and Brain-Inspired Concepts and Designs; Individuality and Variation; Cognitive and Neural Processes in Realistic, Complex Environments; and Data-Intensive Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 12/7/18: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 2/26/19: Application deadline | 2019-02-26 |
| Dept. of Energy (DOE) - Basic Energy Sciences (BES) | Computational Materials Sciences | Supports research with the aim of producing widely applicable, validated community codes and the associated databases for the design of functional materials. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 2/28/19: Application deadline | 2019-02-28 |
| Ono Pharma Foundation | Ono Pharma Foundation Initiative | Supports research that exhibits the potential to transform human health. Applications comprising laboratory investigation will be considered. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 2/28/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 5/23/19: Application deadline | 2019-02-28 |
| Cancer Research Institute | Lloyd J. Old STAR Program—Scientists TAking Risks | Supports outstanding researchers based on the quality and promise of their overall work. A successful candidate will demonstrate confidence and curiosity to ask difficult immunological questions. Candidates selected for this award are expected to be future “stars” in the field of cancer immunology. | Applicants must hold a tenure-track faculty appointment as an assistant professor (minimum 3 years) or as an associate professor (maximum of 3 years). | 3/1/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-01 |
| Research Corporation for Science Advancement | Cottrell Frontiers in Research Excellence and Discovery (FRED) Award | Cottrell FRED awards have a dual purpose; while they reward creative Cottrell Scholars with vibrant programs of research, they point to the future by providing funds to initiate high-risk/high-reward projects that will potentially transform a research area. | Nominees must be tenured Cottrell Scholars who received their initial Cottrell Scholar Award (CSA) within the past five to ten years. For the 2019 competition, eligibility will be limited to Cottrell Scholars who received their awards during the 2009-2014 time period. Eligibility is limited to one FRED nomination per Cottrell Scholar per year. | 3/1/19: Nomination deadline | 2019-03-01 |
| Research Corporation for Science Advancement | Cottrell Singular Exceptional Endeavors of Discovery (SEED) Award | Supports the very first instances of exceptionally creative new research or educational activities with potential high impact. SEED awards offer the opportunity to start new promising activities and test new out-of-the-box ideas. Risky, interdisciplinary and exploratory projects are strongly encouraged. | Applicants must be at least six years beyond the year of their Cottrell Scholar award. For the 2019 competition, eligibility is limited to Cottrell Scholars from Physics and Astronomy Departments who received their award in 2012 or earlier. No Chemistry proposals will be accepted in 2019. | 3/1/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-01 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) | Track 1 - supports far-reaching, creative proposals for fundamental research that tackles convergent scientific/engineering challenges related to the rapidly changing Arctic. Track 2 - supports planning activities leading to convergence research team formation and capacity-building to address the important challenges of the changing Arctic and advancing Arctic science/engineering through education. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/4/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-04 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | NSF/CASIS Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology on the International Space Station (ISS) to Benefit Life on Earth | Supports research projects in the general fields of tissue engineering and mechanobiology that can utilize the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab to conduct research that will benefit life on Earth. U.S. entities including academic investigators, non-profit independent research laboratories and academic-commercial teams are eligible to apply. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/4/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-04 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: Core Research (FW-HTF) | Supports convergent research to understand and develop the human-technology partnership, design new technologies to augment human performance, illuminate the emerging socio-technological landscape, understand the risks and benefits of new technologies, understand and influence the impact of artificial intelligence on workers and work, and foster lifelong and pervasive learning. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/6/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-06 |
| Autism Speaks | Understanding ASD - Genetics to Behavior - Dataset Analysis | Supports efforts to increase our basic understanding of autism – from genetics to behavior – by analyzing important datasets generated by Autism Speaks through its many programs and partnerships. Applications that co-analyze both Autism Speaks and non-Autism Speaks datasets in combination are encouraged. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/6/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 4/10/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-06 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 (Mid-scale RI-2) | Supports implementation of projects that comprise any combination of equipment, instrumentation, computational hardware and software, and the necessary commissioning and human capital in support of implementation of the same. Will directly enable advances in any of the research domains supported by NSF, including STEM education. Projects may also include upgrades to existing research infrastructure. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 2/14/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 3/11/19: Pre-proposal deadline 8/2/19: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2019-03-11 |
| The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) | Advancing Gene Editing Technologies and Tools for Cystic Fibrosis - Collaborative Research Program | Supports an integrated, multi-investigator collaborative research program project with a well-defined, central focus related to technology development for gene editing. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/12/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-12 |
| Autism Speaks | Adult Transition Research Grants | Supports projects with the aim of establishing evidence-based scalable practices leading to improved postsecondary employment, education, community living and other key outcomes relevant to adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/13/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 5/23/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-13 |
| American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS) | New Directions Grants | Supports scientists/engineers with limited/no preliminary results for research they wish to pursue, and who intend to use the PRF-driven preliminary results to seek continuation funding from other agencies. ND grants are to be viewed as seed money for new research ventures. Research areas supported include chemistry, the earth sciences, chemical and petroleum engineering, and related fields such as polymers and materials science. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/15/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-15 |
| American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS) | Doctoral New Investigator Grants | Provide start-up funding for early-career scientists/engineers. Applicants may have limited/no preliminary results for research they wish to pursue, with the intention of using the preliminary results obtained to seek continuation funding from other agencies. DNI grants are to be used to illustrate proof of principle or concept, to test a hypothesis, or to demonstrate feasibility of an approach. Research areas supported include chemistry, the earth sciences, chemical and petroleum engineering | Faculty from Ph.D.-granting departments within the first 3 years of their first academic appointment | 3/15/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-15 |
| Science & PINS | Prize for Neuromodulation | Awarded for innovative research that modulates neural activity through physical (electrical, magnetic, optical) stimulation of targeted sites in the nervous system with implications for translational medicine. | Entrants must be a Junior Investigator with an advanced degree received in the last 10 years and must be 45 years or younger as of January 1, 2018. The research must have been performed during the previous three years. | 3/15/19: Application deadline | 2019-03-15 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Dear Colleague Letter: STEM Education for the Future (NSF 18-084) | Supports STEM educational research and development projects whose results can enable our country to: better prepare its scientific and technical workforce for the future; use technological innovations effectively for education; advance the frontiers of science; and adapt to both new work environments and new education pathways needed to prepare students at all levels for those environments. | Open to all qualified musti-disciplinary investigator teams. | 3/19/19: Submission deadline | 2019-03-19 |
| Organization for Autism Research (OAR) | Applied Research Competition | Supports research that expands the body of knowledge related to autism intervention and treatment, produces practical and clearly objective results, has the potential to impact public policy, and provides outcomes that offer to enhance quality of life for persons with autism and their families. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 3/25/19: Pre-proposal deadline 8/5/19: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2019-03-25 |
| RAND Corporation | National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research Program | Research on gun policy or gun violence. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 2/4/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 4/1/19: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2019-04-01 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI): Elements and Framework Implementations | Elements: target small groups that will create and deploy robust services for which there is a demonstrated need, and that will advance one or more significant areas of science and engineering. Framework Implementations: target larger, interdisciplinary teams organized around the development and application of common services aimed at solving common research problems faced by NSF researchers in one or more areas of science and engineering. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 4/8/19: 1st Cycle application deadline 11/1/19: 2nd Cycle application deadline | 2019-04-08 |
| The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience | Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards | Supports innovative research designed to bring science closer to the day when diseases of the brain can be accurately diagnosed, prevented, and treated. These awards encourage and support scientists working on the development of novel and creative approaches to understanding brain function. The Endowment Fund is interested in how a new technology may be used to monitor, manipulate, analyze, or model brain function at any level, from the molecular to the entire organism. | Open to all qualified tenure-track investigators. A goal of the Technological Innovations awards is to foster collaboration between the neurosciences and other disciplines; therefore, collaborative and cross-disciplinary applications are explicitly invited. | 12/10/18: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 4/22/19: Application deadline | 2019-04-22 |
| Spencer Foundation | Small Research Grants | Supports smaller scale or pilot research projects that have budgets of $50,000 or less. Proposals are encouraged from scholars across a variety of disciplines in an effort to fund field-initiated education research. | Small Research Grant budgets may not include indirect cost charges. PIs and Co-PIs may only hold one active research grant from the Spencer Foundation at a time. Simultaneous submissions to the Foundation from PIs and Co-PIs are discouraged due to this policy. | 5/1/19: Current cycle application deadline. 8/1/19, 11/1/19, 2/1/20: Future cycle deadlines. | 2019-05-01 |
| Dept. of Energy (DOE) | Materials and Chemical Sciences Research for Quantum Information Science | Supports fundamental research for public benefit in materials and chemical sciences to advance our understanding of quantum phenomena in systems that could be used for QIS, and the use of quantum computing in chemical and materials sciences research. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 2/13/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 5/3/19: Application deadline | 2019-05-03 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR): Institutes for Data-Intensive Research in Science and Engineering - Frameworks (I-DIRSE-FW) | Supports convergent approaches to data-driven research in science and engineering. Frameworks will consist of interdisciplinary teams to conceptualize and pilot new modalities for collaboration and convergence that go beyond institutional walls and traditional disciplinary boundaries, to build innovative connections between scientific groups and data scientists and engineers, to integrate research infrastructure and education infrastructure. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 5/7/19: Application deadline | 2019-05-07 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) / National Institutes of Health (NIH) | A Science of Science Policy Approach to Analyzing and Innovating the Biomedical Research Enterprise (SCISIPBIO) | Supports research to provide scientific analysis of important aspects of the biomedical research enterprise and efforts to foster a diverse, innovative, productive and efficient scientific workforce, from which future scientific leaders will emerge. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 5/6/19: 1st Cycle application deadline 9/9/19: 2nd Cycle application deadline | 2019-05-08 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Computing in Undergraduate Education (IUSE: CUE) | Supports teams of Institutions of Higher Education in re-envisioning the role of computing in interdisciplinary collaboration within their institutions. NSF will encourage partnering IHEs to use this opportunity to integrate the study of ethics into their curricula, both within core CS courses and across the relevant interdisciplinary application areas. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 5/9/19: Application deadline | 2019-05-09 |
| Spencer Foundation | Lyle Spencer Research Awards | Supports intellectually ambitious research oriented to improving the practice of education, independent of any particular reform agendas or methodological strictures. | Open to all qualified applicants. | Late May: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline Summer: Expected application deadline | 2019-05-24 |
| Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) | Dissemination of CPRIT-Funded Cancer Control Interventions | Funds projects that will facilitate the dissemination and implementation of successful CPRIT-funded, evidence-based cancer prevention and control interventions across Texas. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 6/4/19: Application deadline. Rolling reviews. | 2019-06-04 |
| Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) | Individual Investigator Research Award | Supports innovative research addressing critically important questions that will significantly advance knowledge of the causes, prevention, and/or treatment of cancer. Areas of interest include laboratory research, translational studies, and/or clinical investigations. Competitive renewal applications accepted. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 6/5/19: Application deadline | 2019-06-05 |
| Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) | Individual Investigator Research Awards for Cancer in Children and Adolescents | Supports innovative research projects addressing questions that will advance knowledge of the causes, prevention, progression, detection, or treatment of cancer in children and adolescents. Laboratory, clinical, or population-based studies are all acceptable. Outcomes should reduce the incidence, morbidity, or mortality from cancer in children and/or adolescents in the near or long term. Competitive renewal applications accepted. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 6/5/19: Application deadline | 2019-06-05 |
| Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) | Individual Investigator Research Awards for Clinical Translation | Supports innovative clinical studies that are hypothesis driven and involve patients enrolled prospectively on a clinical trial or involve analyses of biospecimens from patients enrolled on a completed trial for which the outcomes are known. Areas of interest include clinical studies of new or repurposed drugs, hormonal therapies, immune therapies, surgery, radiation therapy, stem cell transplantation, combinations of interventions, or therapeutic devices. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 6/5/19: Application deadline | 2019-06-05 |
| Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) | Individual Investigator Research Awards for Prevention and Early Detection | Supports innovative research addressing questions that will advance knowledge of the causes, prevention, early-stage progression, and/or early detection of cancer. Research may be laboratory-, clinical-, or population- based, and may include behavioral/intervention, dissemination or health services/outcomes research to reduce cancer incidence or promote early detection. Competitive renewal applications accepted. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 6/5/19: Application deadline | 2019-06-05 |
| Crohn's & Colitis Foundation | IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) Ventures Initiative | Supports research that advances the discovery or development of a specific product candidate with potential for positive impact in the IBD field. Projects should be approximately 12 months in duration. Funds up to $500,000 per project per year. | Open to all qualified applicants. Must demonstrate commitment to, and experience with, commercialization-oriented activities, and access to appropriate resources for commercialization. | 7/15/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) Fall deadline *Application deadline falls 4 weeks from invitation | 2019-07-15 |
| The Merck Family Fund | Conserving Ecologically Valuable Land | Supports research that: advocates for and secure public financial resources and commitments to land protection; demonstrates community engagement and certified sustainable management of land particularly concerning forestry/farming; and provides leadership to existing/emerging stakeholder coalitions. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 1/15/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 7/16/19: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2019-07-16 |
| The Merck Family Fund | Reducing CO2 Emissions Through Energy Efficiency and Carbon Pricing | Supports research that: advocates for residential/commercial codes/standards resulting in measurable energy efficiencies; demonstrates financing models that create affordable capital for investments in efficiency; and engenders bi-partisan study, design and acceptance of carbon pricing alternatives. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 1/15/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 7/16/19: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2019-07-16 |
| U.S. Dept. of State - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs | Fulbright Scholar Program | Offers nearly 470 teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards in over 125 countries. Opportunities are available for college and university faculty and administrators as well as for professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars and many others. | Only U.S. citizens may apply. | 9/16/19: Application deadline | 2019-09-16 |
| Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) | Fundamental Research to Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (C-WMD) | Science, technology, engineering and mathematics. | Open to all qualified applicants. See BAA for suggested research focus areas. | Open: White paper pre-applications Phase II: By invitation
| 2019-09-30 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations (AccelNet) | Supports strategic linkages among U.S. research networks and complementary networks abroad that will leverage research and educational resources to tackle grand scientific challenges that require significant coordinated international efforts. The program seeks to foster high-impact science and engineering by providing opportunities to create new collaborations and new combinations of resources and ideas among linked global networks. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 10/30/19: Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline 01/31/20: Application deadline | 2019-10-30 |
| The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters | Kavli Prize | Astrophysics; Nanoscience; Neuroscience. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 12/1/19: Nomination deadline. | 2019-12-01 |
| Simons Foundation | Bridge to Independence Award | Invests in the next generation of top autism investigators by identifying talented early-career scientists interested in autism research and facilitating their transition to independent research careers. | Aimed at senior postdoctoral fellows who intend to seek tenure-track faculty positions during the 2018-2019 academic year. Successful applicants will receive a commitment of $495,000 over three years, activated upon assumption of a tenure-track professorship. | 8/6/18: Letter of Intent (LOI) and letters of recommendation deadline 12/1/19: Approval application deadline (rolling, beginning 12/1/18) | 2019-12-01 |
| Dept. of the Army | Space and Terrestrial Communications BAA 2018 | Funds research on command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) technologies that enable information dominance and decisive lethality for the networked Warfighters. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 5-year submission window 6/19/23: Application deadline | 2023-06-19 |
| Simons Foundation | Targeted Grants in Mathematics and Physical Sciences | High risk projects with a scientific importance in mathematics and physical sciences. | Established U.S. and foreign public and private educational institutions and stand-alone research centers. | The application deadline is rolling. Proposals can be submitted at any time. | 2027-02-27 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | NCEP Visiting Scientist Program | Environmental prediction, atmospheric research, weather forecasting, data analysis, and weather center operation | Short-term visiting scientists (one week to a few months) and graduate Students | The application deadline is rolling. Proposals can be submitted at any time. | 2027-06-01 |
| U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) | National Inventors Hall of Fame | Open to all qualified applicants. | Rolling | 2027-11-20 | |
| Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) | Directed Research and Development (ODRD) Program | Funds select innovative research-based approaches/solutions that fall within the intersection of core capabilities of ORAU and our member universities research interests. | Open to all qualified applicants. | Rolling applications | 2028-03-02 |
| United States - Israel Binational Science Foundation | Joint NSF-BSF Program in Cyber Security and Privacy | Supports projects that address cybersecurity from: a Trustworthy Computing Systems (TWC) perspective and/or a Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) perspective; the Secure, Trustworthy, Assured and Resilient Semiconductors and Systems (STARSS) perspective; or the Transition to Practice (TTP) perspective. | Open to all qualified applicants. Applications must be written jointly by an Israeli and a U.S. scientist from a U.S. research institution. | Rolling | 2028-07-11 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Dear Colleague Letter: STEM Workforce Development Utilizing Flexible Personal Learning Environments | Supports research on flexible personalized learning to prepare the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce of the future. NSF envisions projects that collectively apply to all learners, from young children to those already in the workforce. | Open to all qualified applicants. | Ongoing | 2029-01-22 |