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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | Director’s Early Independence Awards | Supports exceptional early career scientists with the intellect, scientific creativity, drive, and maturity to flourish independently by bypassing the traditional post-doctoral training period. | Open to Early Stage Investigators who wish to “skip the postdoc” and begin an independent research career; complete their terminal research degree or medical residency between June 1, 2016 and September 30, 2018; are in a non-independent position at time of application; and have not received an NIH R01 or similar grant. Single-PI applications only. | 9/22/17: Application deadline | 2017-09-22 |
| Dept. of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) | Alcohol and Substance Abuse Disorders Research Program Consortium Award | Establishment of a Consortium whose purpose is to identify promising compounds for translation from basic science knowledge to enhanced clinical pharmacological treatment protocols for ASUD, especially related to TBI and PTSD, to include building on research previously supported by the ASADRP. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 9/13/17: Pre-application deadline 9/27/17: Application deadline | 2017-09-27 |
| Dept. of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) | Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) - Idea Award with Special Focus | Supports innovative, untested, high-risk/ potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or methods in cancer research that are relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and the American public. The “Special Focus” of this award mechanism is on exposures, conditions, or circumstances that are unique to the military, disproportionately represented in a military beneficiary population, or may affect mission readiness. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 6/30/17: Pre-application deadline 9/28/17: Application deadline | 2017-09-28 |
| Dept. of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) | Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) - Career Development Award | Military relevant risk factors associated with cancer (e.g., ionizing radiation, chemicals, infectious agents, and environmental carcinogens). Gaps in cancer prevention, early detection/diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and/or survivorship that may affect the general population but have a particularly profound impact on the health and well-being of active duty Service members/Veterans. | The PI must be an independent, early-career researcher or physician-scientist within 10 years after completion of his/her terminal degree (excluding time spent in residency or on family medical leave). Time spent as a postdoctoral fellow is not excluded. | 9/12/17: Pre-application deadline 9/28/17: Application deadline | 2017-09-28 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | NSF-Simons Research Centers for Mathematics of Complex Biological Systems (MathBioSys) NSF 17-560 | Innovative collaborative research at the intersection of mathematics and molecular, cellular and organismal biology, to establish new connections between these two disciplines, and to promote interdisciplinary education and workforce training. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 8/10/17: LOI deadline 9/29/17: Application deadline | 2017-09-29 |
| Sartorius and Science | The Sartorius and Science Prize for Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy | Entries can be made in the fields of regenerative medicine, cell therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy as well as materials and tissue engineering. | Every individual scientist who received his or her PhD/MD within the past 10 years may apply. | 10/01/17: Application deadline | 2017-10-01 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Restricted-Access Research Data Centers (RDCs) | This solicitation invites proposals for the establishment of new Research Data Centers (RDCs). RDCs are secure Census Bureau facilities within which external researchers are given access to confidential micro data in accordance with specific statutory requirements. NSF will provide start-up costs for new RDC facilities. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 10/2/17: Application deadline. | 2017-10-02 |
| NIH / National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) | Maximizing Investigators' Research Award for Early Stage Investigators (R35) | Support for a program of research in an investigator's laboratory related to the mission of NIGMS. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 10/03/2017: Application deadline | 2017-10-03 |
| Burroughs Wellcome Fund | Career Awards for Medical Scientists | Proposals must be in the area of basic biomedical, disease-oriented, or translational research. Proposals in health services research or involving large-scale clinical trials are not eligible. | Physician-scientists, who are committed to an academic career, to bridge advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service. | 10/3/17: Application deadline | 2017-10-03 |
| Dept. of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) | Bone Marrow Failure Research Program Idea Development Award | Supports innovative ideas and high-impact approaches based on scientifically sound evidence to move toward the BMFRP vision of understanding and curing BMF diseases. | Established Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) and 10 years or more from a terminal degree are eligible to apply as EIs. Early Career Investigators at the level of Assistant Professor, Instructor, or Assistant Research Professor (or equivalent) and less than 10 years from their terminal degree. | 7/13/17: Pre-Application deadline 10/05/17: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2017-10-05 |
| Simons Foundation | Targeted Grants to Institutes | Supports established institutes or centers in the mathematics and physical sciences through funding to help strengthen contacts within the international scientific community. Our aim is to enable institutes to extend and enhance their missions; this program will not provide primary support for operating or establishing an institute. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 10/16/17: Application deadline | 2017-10-16 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Alan T. Waterman Award | Any field of science or engineering supported by the NSF. | A candidate must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. He or she must be 40 years of age or younger, or not more than 10 years beyond receipt of the Ph.D. degree, by December 31 of the year in which he or she is nominated. A candidate should have demonstrated exceptional individual achievement in scientific or engineering research of sufficient quality, originality, innovation, and significant impact on the field so as to situate him or her as a leader among peers. | 10/23/17: Nomination deadline. | 2017-10-23 |
| American Heart Association (AHA) | Established Investigator Award | Cardiovascular or cerebrovascular science. | Supports mid-career healthcare and academic investigators with unusual promise and in rapid growth phase, who have established records of accomplishments, and demonstrated commitment to questions related to cardiovascular or cerebrovascular science. | 8/1/17: Letter of Intent deadline 10/23/17: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2017-10-23 |
| National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) | NCWIT Academic Alliance Seed Fund | Develop and implement initiatives for recruiting or retaining women in computing and IT. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 10/30/17: Application deadline | 2017-10-30 |
| National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine | Jefferson Science Fellowship | Science, technology, engineering, and medical fields. | Open to tenured, or similarly ranked, academic scientists, engineers and physicians that hold U.S. citizenship. Awardees will be required to obtain a security clearance. | 10/31/17: Application deadline | 2017-10-31 |
| 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. | 11/1/17: Current cycle application deadline. 2/1/18, 5/1/18, 8/1/18: Future cycle deadlines. | 2017-11-01 |
| American Heart Association (AHA) | Merit Award | Novel approaches to major research challenges in the areas of CV and stroke that have the potential to produce unusually high impact. | Highly promising investigators with stellar track records of accomplishment, demonstrated by federal or equivalent funding [NIH, AHRQ, HRSA, etc.] from multiple sources and excellent publication records with accelerating impact, who have the potential to move a field of science forward with creative approaches that are aligned with the mission of the AHA. | 8/15/17: Letter of Intent deadline 11/6/17: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2017-11-06 |
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Grand Challenges Explorations - Innovations for Integrated Diagnostics Systems | Technical innovations that have a measurable improvement in an integrated laboratory network, starting from sample collection, transportation, laboratory testing (local or centralized) to return of the results.
| Open to all qualified applicants. | 11/8/17: Application deadline. | 2017-11-08 |
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Grand Challenges Explorations - Improving Timeliness of Routine Immunization Birthdose and Healthcare Worker Skill in Low-Resource Settings | Innovative ideas for improving timeliness of birth doses for routine immunization of all infants—including infants at risk for being left out of immunization programs from birth. Novel approaches to provide on-the-job training/mentorship to health care workers to improve quality of service delivery through enhancing or updating health care worker skills. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 11/8/17: Application deadline. | 2017-11-08 |
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Grand Challenges Explorations - Healthy Minds for Adolescent Mothers: Achieving Healthy Outcomes for the Family | Seeks bold ideas to meet the mental health needs of the poorest and most vulnerable adolescent and young mothers. Specifically seeking innovative approaches that leverage technology, social groups and social media to develop the skills and protective factors necessary to successfully navigate life, transition to motherhood, and early detection and treatment of mental health disorders. These approaches will necessarily need to break down stigma and limit damaging gender norms. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 11/8/17: Application deadline | 2017-11-08 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Dear Colleague Letter: Support for Engaging Students and the Public in Polar Research | Supports proposals that will leverage the extensive National Science Foundation (NSF) investment in polar sciences and infrastructure, and STEM education research and development, to promote an informed citizenry and the next generation of polar scientists. In order to advance polar science educational opportunities, OPP, DUE and DRL will accept and review proposals for research and development projects that facilitate access to polar research efforts. | Open to all qualified applicants. | Application deadlines: 11/14/17: Discovery Research K-12 (DRK-12) 12/12/17: Improving Undergrad Science Education (IUSE:EHR) | 2017-11-14 |
| Burroughs Wellcome Fund | Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH) Award | Pathogenesis, with a focus on the interplay between human and microbial biology, shedding light on how human and microbial systems are affected by their encounters. | Accomplished investigators at the assistant professor level. | 7/14/17: Pre-proposal deadline 11/15/17: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2017-11-15 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | Enrico Fermi Award | Science, technology, policy, and/or management | The Fermi Award is NOT limited to U.S. citizens; only living nominees will be considered; the award is not limited to researchers whose work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. | 11/17: Anticipated application deadline | 2017-11-21 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award | Atomic, molecular, and chemical sciences; biological and environmental sciences; computer, information, and knowledge Sciences; condensed matter and materials sciences; energy science and innovation; fusion and plasma sciences; high energy physics; national security and nonproliferation; nuclear physics | Nominees must be in the middle of their careers, defined as within 20 years of earning their highest degree; be citizens of the United States; be recognized for achievement in research principally funded by the U.S. Department of Energy; and be recognized primarily on the scientific impact and technical significance of their work relative to its discipline and/or related mission. | 11/17: Anticipated application deadline | 2017-11-21 |
| Dan David Foundation - Tel Aviv University | Dan David Prize | Recognizes and encourages innovative and interdisciplinary research that cuts across traditional boundaries and paradigms. The prizes are granted to individuals or institutions with proven, exceptional, distinct excellence in the sciences, arts, humanities, public service and business, that have made and continue to make an outstanding contribution to humanity. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 11/30/17: Nomination deadline. | 2017-11-30 |
| Association for Computing Machinery | ACM Athena Lecturer Award | Successful nominations will demonstrate a sustained and/or enduring contribution to the computing community, including both technical/research and service/mentoring components. Nominations may focus on an important body of contributions over a significant period of time, or one particularly influential contribution. | Nominations accepted for all qualified female researcher candidates. | 11/30/17: Nomination deadline | 2017-11-30 |
| The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters | Kavli Prize | Astrphysics; Nanoscience; Neuroscience. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 12/1/17: Application deadline. | 2017-12-01 |
| Dept. of Energy (DoE) | SunShot Initiative - Solar Desalination Technology Program | Supports research, development, and potential demonstration of early- stage technologies that can significantly reduce the costs of desalination powered by solar thermal energy. | Open to all qualified applicants. | TBA: Application deadline | 2017-12-01 |
| Dept. of Defense (DoD) - Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) | Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) - Translational Research Award (TRA) | Supports research in the following: Developing reliable in vitro human models for evaluating hearing restoration therapies; Accelerating translation of biological regeneration into therapies that restore auditory function including, for example, treatments that enhance synaptic plasticity or hair cell and neural regeneration; Developing and validating assessment techniques and/or treatment methods that address functional hearing restoration. | Open to all qualified applicants. | Letter of Intent (LOI) and Application deadlines to be announced. | 2017-12-01 |
| Dept. of Defense (DoD) - Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) | Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) - Focused Research Award (FRA) | Supports research in the following: Developing reliable in vitro human models for evaluating hearing restoration therapies; Accelerating translation of biological regeneration into therapies that restore auditory function including, for example, treatments that enhance synaptic plasticity or hair cell and neural regeneration; Developing and validating assessment techniques and/or treatment methods that address functional hearing restoration. | Open to all qualified applicants. | Letter of Intent (LOI) and Application deadlines to be announced. | 2017-12-01 |
| Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) | Young Faculty Award (YFA) | Aims to identify/engage rising stars in junior faculty positions and expose them to DoD and Nat'l Security challenges. Provides high-impact funding to elite researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research directions in the context of enabling transformative DoD capabilities. The long-term goal of the program is to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers who will focus a significant portion of their future careers on DoD and National Security issues. | DARPA is particularly interested in identifying outstanding researchers who have previously not been performers on DARPA programs, but the program is open to all qualified applicants with innovative research ideas. | 10/2/17: Executive summaries due at sponsor. 12/4/17: Application deadline. | 2017-12-04 |
| Dept. of Defense (DOD) - Office of Naval Research (ONR) | Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship | Engineering biology; Quantum Information Science; Cognitive Neuroscience; Novel Engineered Materials; Applied Mathematics (theory and experiments) and Statistics; Manufacturing Science; other fields of research with high potential.
| Faculty with tenure and full-time research staff with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to conduct the proposed research as the principal investigator are invited to submit an application. Applicants should have a record of substantial scientific contributions. The PI must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. | 8/14/17: Acqutrak Registration 8/16/17: White Paper deadline 1/8/18: Full Proposal deadline | 2018-01-08 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Major Research Instrumentation Program NSF 15-504 | The MRI program assists with the acquisition or development of a shared research instrument that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 1/10/18: Application deadline | 2018-01-10 |
| Burroughs Wellcome Fund | Career Awards at the Scientific Interface | Interface between the physical/computational sciences and the biological sciences. | Researchers who have transitioned or are transitioning from graduate work in the physical/mathematical/computational sciences or engineering into postdoctoral work in the biological sciences, and who are dedicated to pursuing a career in academic research. | 9/6/17: Pre-proposal deadline 1/10/18: Full proposal deadline (by invitation) | 2018-01-10 |
| Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) | Multi-Investigator Research Awards | Supports highly integrated programs of collaborative and cross-disciplinary research among multiple Texas investigators. CPRIT encourages applicants who seek to develop or apply state-of-the-art technologies, tools, and/or resources for cancer research, including those with projects having potential commercialization opportunities. | Individuals serving as a PI or Co-PI must reside in Texas during the time the research that is the subject of the grant is conducted. Collaborators who do not reside in Texas are not eligible to receive CPRIT funds. | 1/31/18: Application deadline | 2018-01-31 |
| Fondation Leducq | Transatlantic Networks of Excellence | Cardiovascular and neurovascular disease research in basic, translational, and clinical science, including collaborative “bench to bedside and back” programs. Applicants should aim for results that, at the conclusion of the five-year term, have the potential to advance the diagnosis, management, or prevention of human disease. | Open to all qualified applicants. | 9/5/17: LOI deadline 2/14/18: Application deadline (by invitation) | 2018-02-14 |
| Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) | Fundamental Research to Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction | Science of WMD Sensing and Recognition; Network Sciences; Science for Protection; Science to Defeat WMD; Science to Secure WMDs; Cooperative Counter WMD Research with Global Partners; Fundamental Science for Chemical and Biological Defense.
| Open to all qualified applicants. | 9/30/19: Application deadline. | 2019-09-30 |