Foundation Funding

Additional Information:

VentureWell envisions a world in which science and technology innovators have the support, training, and access to networks and resources they need to solve the world’s most difficult problems. This fellowship provides a unique opportunity for educators and innovators in STEM to access funding, mentorship, and a collaborative network as you build institution-specific plans to expand STEM innovation and entrepreneurship on your campus.

This one-year fellowship supports higher education leaders in advancing STEM innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) ecosystems with a commitment to environmental and social sustainability and inclusive innovation. This fellowship program aims to strengthen campus innovation and entrepreneurship, and enhances both in-class and out-of-class student engagement and institutional culture by growing ecosystem networks. Teams of two will receive $35,000 in funding—a $10,000 award and $7,500 in travel stipends for each fellow—and 12 months of immersive programming and communities of practice. Teams must consist of two members, with at least one being a faculty member. The second member must be a faculty, staff, or administrator at a U.S. higher education institution.

For more information, please contact Jess Bitting bitting7@msu.edu.  

Learn More about VentureWell – Ecosystem Futures Fellowship

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The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) invites applications for its Impact Research Grant program, which works to address gaps in high-acuity and critical care areas of clinical research.

Three grants of up to $50,000 over two years will be awarded in support of projects designed to address inquiry and systematic research that generates new knowledge. These grants will also facilitate research to support other AACN priorities, such as describing the impact of family presence, influencing nurse certification, and implementing standards for healthy work environments. Grants will ensure a pipeline for research that is vital to AACN’s research translation resources, such as protocols and practice alerts.

Investigators will be expected to present completed studies at the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition.

Primary investigators must be AACN members, hold an earned master’s degree, or have completed candidacy requirements in a BSN-to-PhD or DNP program.

For more information, please contact Jess Bitting bitting7@msu.edu

Learn More about American Association of Critical-Care Nurses – Impact Research Grants

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The Parkinson’s Foundation Impact Awards program is designed for researchers both established and new to the PD field, to provide the support that will enable researchers to test new ideas with an impact on the PD community and generate compelling results that will facilitate continued investment from the Parkinson’s Foundation and other funders. Projects should be “outside the box” to bring new light to the biology of PD, a new approach to Parkinson’s research, or testing a truly novel therapeutic idea. Projects should be based on unconventional ideas that are unlikely to be funded through more traditional funding mechanisms. 

Eligible applicants include scientists with a PhD or MD, regardless of nationality or location. Only independent investigators are invited to apply. Applications from instructors who can demonstrate that they will begin a tenure-track position (as shown by a support letter from their department chair) will be considered. 

For more information, please contact Jess Bitting bitting7@msu.edu

Learn More about Parkinson’s Foundation – Impact Awards Program

Additional Information:

The Parkinson’s Foundation Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Award seeks clinical, pre-clinical, or basic research proposals from promising early-career scientists from all areas of Parkinson’s disease research that will directly impact the understanding of PD. Successful projects should include novel PD research hypotheses and be inventive in methodology or approach.

Junior faculty possessing a PhD, MD, or equivalent are eligible to apply. Applicants must meet the NIH definition of a "new investigator." The foundation anticipates the typical applicant will hold an assistant professor level position. Earlier stage faculty and those with more experience will be considered provided they meet the eligibility criteria. A letter of support from the applicant’s department chair is required to demonstrate the institutional commitment to the applicant.

For more information, please contact Jess Bitting bitting7@msu.edu

Learn More about Parkinson’s Foundation – Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Award

Additional Information:

The Simons Foundation invites letters of intent for its Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences (MPS) program, which aims to stimulate progress on fundamental scientific questions of major importance in mathematics, theoretical physics, and theoretical computer science.

A Simons Collaboration in MPS should address a mathematical or theoretical topic of fundamental scientific importance, where a significant, new development creates a novel area for exploration or provides a new direction for progress in an established field. The questions addressed by the collaboration may be concrete or conceptual, but there should be little doubt that answering them would constitute a major scientific milestone. The project should have clearly defined initial activities and goals by which progress and success can be measured. The support from the foundation should be seen as critical for the project’s objectives.

The project should involve outstanding researchers in various career stages, and the project should be organized and managed in a manner engendering a high level of collaboration. Each collaboration is led by a collaboration director who is expected to determine the scientific agenda, coordinate the scientific activities of the other members, determine (in collaboration with the other members) the scientific themes, coordinate a collaboration website, and organize collaboration meetings and activities as appropriate, including a two-day annual meeting at the foundation. The director will be the foundation’s main contact for the collaboration activities. They will be responsible for monitoring the overall progress of the research effort and deciding on research directions and personnel as the collaboration evolves.

A Simons Collaboration in MPS is budgeted at up to $2 million per year for four years, including indirect costs. The scientific impact of the collaboration will be evaluated at the year-four annual meeting, and an extension of three additional years may be granted.

To be eligible, the collaboration director must hold a tenured faculty, or equivalent, position at a U.S. or Canadian educational institution, on campus within these countries, with a PhD program in the director’s department at the time of application. PIs and co-investigators (co-Is) must hold a tenured or tenure-track faculty, or equivalent, position at an educational institution at the time of application and for the duration of the award. There are no restrictions on the department and/or discipline of the director or PIs/co-Is. PIs, co-Is, and other collaboration participants may be from non-U.S. institutions.

For more information, please contact Heidi Jurgens at jurgensh@msu.edu

Learn More about Simons Foundation – Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences Program

Additional Information:

The standard award provides significant funding for researchers who have already generated some amount of preliminary data, but are often required to demonstrate additional, significant progress before they can apply to governmental or industrial funding agencies. Standard Awards are open to tenure- and non-tenure track investigators of any career stage who are appropriately trained to lead an independent research study and are permitted by their organizations to manage grants and supervise key personnel.  Specific criteria include:

• Candidates must hold an MD, PhD, DVM, DO, OD or equivalent degree
  • Applicant must serve as the Principal Investigator on the project and have independent laboratory space. The applicant should use the indicated space on the application forms to clarify any position that is not immediately recognizable as an independent research position.
  • While some of the grant can be used to support salary for the PI, the percent requested should be limited to the lesser of 25% of the total grant request, or 25% of the individual’s salary. Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)salaries are capped at the lesser of 15% of the total grant request, or 15% of the individual’s salary.
  • Applicants may currently be working in a non-profit, governmental, academic research institution, or at a for-profit including start-up and biotech institution

For more information, please contact Larry Wallach at wallach@msu.edu. 

Learn More about BrightFocus Foundation—National Glaucoma Research Grant—Standard Award

Additional Information:

Postdoctoral fellowship awards are intended for young researchers in their final stages of mentored training. These awards fund projects in an established laboratory that will serve as the basis for the applicant's own independent research career. Specific eligibility criteria include:

• Candidates must hold an MD, PhD, DVM, DO, OD or equivalent degree
•  Applicant may apply for this fellowship before completing their terminal degree, if they have a firm commitment from the laboratory head in which training will take place, and the applicant is the main author of the application
• Fellowship may be performed in a non-profit, governmental, academic research institution, or at a for profit including start-up and biotech institution
• Previous recipients of this award are not eligible

For more information, please contact Larry Wallach at wallach@msu.edu. 

Learn More about BrightFocus Foundation—National Glaucoma Research Grant—Post Doctoral Fellowship Award

Additional Information:

Advocacy Grants

RRF funds advocacy projects that focus on improving public policy for older persons. Of particular interest are projects that:

• Advance policy issues of critical importance to older people such as economic security, caregiving, housing, etc.
• Use clearly focused and strategic efforts to address systemic problems
• Forge partnerships with organizations to achieve better use of resources and to share knowledge

Mission

RRF Foundation for Aging’s mission is to improve the quality of life for older people. RRF is one of the first private foundations devoted exclusively to aging and retirement issues. Priority areas are:

1. Caregiving
2. Economic Security in Later Life
3. Housing
4. Social & Intergenerational Connectedness

*Technology is a cross-cutting theme as to all of the above. RRF is interested in supporting efforts that leverage technology as a practical tool for enhancing the quality of life of older adults. Within our grantmaking framework, technology is regarded as a “cross-cutting theme” that has relevance across all priority areas and program pathways.

For more information, please contact Larry Wallach at wallach@msu.edu

Learn More about RRF Foundation for Aging—Advocacy Grants

Additional Information:

Research Grants

RRF funds research that seeks to identify interventions, policies and practices to improve the well-being of older adults and/or their caregivers. Preference is given to projects aimed at generating practical knowledge and guidance that can be used by advocates, policy-makers, providers, and the aging network. Of particular interest are:

• Interventional trials; translational studies; and health services and policy research
• Projects that build on the investigator’s past studies
• Proposals that include robust dissemination plans, if appropriate, to assure that findings reach audiences positioned to act on them

Mission

RRF Foundation for Aging’s mission is to improve the quality of life for older people. RRF is one of the first private foundations devoted exclusively to aging and retirement issues. Priority areas are:

1. Caregiving
2. Economic Security in Later Life
3. Housing
4. Social & Intergenerational Connectedness

*Technology is a cross-cutting theme as to all of the above. RRF is interested in supporting efforts that leverage technology as a practical tool for enhancing the quality of life of older adults. Within our grantmaking framework, technology is regarded as a “cross-cutting theme” that has relevance across all priority areas and program pathways.

For more information, please contact Larry Wallach at wallach@msu.edu

Learn More about RRF Foundation for Aging—Research Grants

Additional Information:

The McKnight Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Award (NBD Award) assists scientists working to apply the knowledge achieved through basic research to human brain disorders, and who demonstrate a commitment to equitable and inclusive lab environments. Each year, up to four awards are given. Awards provide $100,000 per year for three years. Funds may be used toward a variety of research activities. They may not be used for the recipient’s salary. Online application opens on July 30, 2024.

The McKnight Foundation is interested in proposals that address the biological mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric disorders. This includes proposals that provide mechanistic insights into neurological functions at the synaptic, cellular, molecular, genetic or behavioral level across different species, including humans and vertebrate and invertebrate model organisms. A new additional area of interest is the contribution of the environment to brain disorders. We are particularly interested in proposals that incorporate new approaches and in those that provide potential paths for therapeutic interventions. Collaborative and cross-disciplinary applications are encouraged.

For more information, please contact Larry Wallach at wallach@msu.edu

Learn More about McKnight Foundation—Neurology & Brain Disorders Award

For more information, please contact Jess Bitting bitting7@msu.edu

Learn More about Melanoma Research Alliance Established Investigator Award 2024 - 2025

For more information, please contact Jess Bitting bitting7@msu.edu

Learn More about Melanoma Research Alliance Established Investigator Academic-Industry Partnership (AIP) Award 2024 - 2025

For more information, please contact Jess Bitting bitting7@msu.edu

Learn More about Melanoma Research Alliance Pilot Award 2024 - 2025

Additional Information:

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. RWJF’s Health Policy Fellows program supports this vision by creating a strong and diverse leadership in health policy committed to advancing health.

Health Policy Fellows is a nonpartisan program located in Washington, D.C., that engages midcareer professionals interested in increasing their expertise in health policy. We are seeking applicants with deep experience and subject matter expertise in a discipline that influences health. Applicants should be committed to contributing to the health policy filed for at least 10 years after the fellowship. The fellowship strongly encourages individuals with diverse backgrounds, ideologies, and perspectives to apply.

Eligibility/Selection Criteria:

• Exceptional midcareer professionals that have earned an advanced degree (masters or doctoral degree).
• Applicants must have deep experience and subject matter expertise in a health-related discipline. Examples include but are not limited to medicine: nursing; public health; law; dentistry; economics; and other social sciences (especially disciplines related to factors that influence population health, such as housing, transportation, nutrition, wealth, employment, education, and environmental and community conditions); health services and social work/behavioral health; and other health professions.

Optional applicant web conference calls are available as well as specific deadlines and resources on the RWJF website.  

For more information, please contact Melissa Anderson at ande2476@msu.edu

Learn More about Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Health Policy Fellows

Additional Information: 

This call for proposals focuses on reducing methane emissions, identified as a critical area for developing impactful solutions to climate change. Methane’s warming effect in the atmosphere is 86 times stronger than CO2, and although 158 countries have committed to reducing their methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, recent studies show a record increase in methane emissions over the past five years. According to the studies, 60 percent of these emissions originate from human activities, therefore representing an opportunity for new climate solutions. 

The Breakthrough Science program welcomes applications from researchers at all levels, from PhD students to professors, affiliated with academic or non-profit research institutions. It targets projects focused on significantly lowering methane emissions in areas like agriculture, industrial manufacturing, and waste management. 

For more information, please contact Allison Jones jonesa70@msu.edu

Learn More about EQT Foundation – Breakthrough Science Grants

Additional Information:
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research is dedicated to accelerating exciting academic discoveries into new therapies and platforms that will substantially improve outcomes for cancer patients.

The Drug Discovery Award program was established to align with investigators working to discover and progress a new therapeutic agent into preclinical development, providing not only resources to support post-target validation through early lead development but also the expertise of seasoned biopharma R&D scientists who will advise on activities on the critical path to developing a new therapeutic agent.

Eligibility:

• Principal investigators must hold an MD, PhD, or equivalent and be independent researcher at the respective institutions.
• Individuals are limited to one application as principal investigator but may be co-investigators on other proposals without limitation.
• Eligible therapeutic modalities:
  • Large molecules / biologics
  • Small molecules (including heterobifunctionals)
  • Peptides
  • Conjugates (ADC, radioconjugates)
  • Nucleic acids (ASO, RNA)
• Eligible project stages:
  • Lead discovery – generate and credential new leads against a validated target
  • Optimization – assess and enhance efficacy, safety, and DMPK of existing leads
• The following topics are ineligible for this award:
  • Drug delivery technologies or optimizations
  • Drug repurposing
  • Preclinical development (IND-enabling studies)
  • Cell therapies, gene therapies, viral therapies, and vaccines

 For more information, please contact Heidi Jurgens at jurgensh@msu.edu or Melissa Anderson at ande2476@msu.edu.

Learn More about The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research – Drug Discovery Award

Additional Information:

The Foundation’s mission focuses on infants and young children. Accordingly, priority is given to projects that improve the nutrition, care and development of infants and young children from the first year before birth to three years of age. The Foundation is particularly interested in fresh approaches to solving common, everyday problems or emerging issues within our defined focus area. Projects should focus on issues faced by care providers that, when implemented, will improve the health, nutrition and/or developmental outcomes for infants and young children. The board is particularly looking for practical solutions that can be easily and rapidly implemented on a broad scale with a predictable time frame to clinical application.  The Gerber Foundation’s priority research areas are:

1. Pediatric Health
2. Pediatric Nutrition
3. Environmental Hazards

Note that the Foundation is looking for projects that will result in ‘new’ information, treatments or tools that will result in a change in practice. The board rarely funds projects that are focused on sharing current information with parents or caregivers (parent or provider educational programs). 

NOTE: I would recommend that, if you feel you have a concept that might be of interest to the Gerber Foundation, you contact me first to discuss it at: wallach@msu.edu.

For more information, please contact Larry Wallach at wallach@msu.edu

Learn More about Gerber Foundation—Research Grants

Additional Information:

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention welcomes innovative research studies focused on understanding and preventing suicide. Biological, psychological, social, community and other approaches are of interest, and we encourage multidisciplinary research.

Innovation Grants involve rigorous research to increase our understanding of suicide and suicide prevention. They are awarded in the amounts outlined below for two years.

Distinguished Investigator Grants: Up to $150,000 – Grants awarded to investigators at the level of associate professor or higher with an established record of research and publications.

Standard Research Grants: Up to $125,000 – Grants awarded to individual investigators at any level.

Early Career Research Grants: Up to $140,000 ($126,000 for the PI and $14,000 for a mentor) – Grants awarded to investigators at or below the level of assistant professor.

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships: Up to $140,000 ($56,000 stipend and $14,000 institutional allowance per year) – Grants awarded to investigators who have received a Ph.D., M.D., or other doctoral degree within the preceding six years and have had no more than three years of fellowship support.

Pilot Research Grants: Up to $50,000 (1 or 2 years) – Awarded to investigators at any level, these grants provide seed funding for new projects that have the potential to lead to larger investigations. These grants typically entail feasibility studies rather than hypothesis-driven research. Examples include manual development and new biomarker development.

For more information, please contact Melissa Anderson at ande2476@msu.edu.

Learn More about American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – Innovation Grants

Additional Information: 

The BSF Research Grants program is the main program of the BSF, and it funds both U.S. and Israeli scientists who wish to collaborate on research projects that address topics in basic science. In recent years the BSF has been receiving some 400 research grant applications annually, including start-up applications, approving about 100. At any given moment there are around 450 active grants in this program, and the total annual expenditure in this program is around $16 M. 

Applications to the program are made jointly by U.S. and Israeli researchers.  No prior collaboration is required, but the synergy between the researchers must be evident. Also, as you might imagine, the BSF is different from a national science foundation, and insists not only on scientific excellence, but also on collaboration between the principal investigators from the two countries. We base our evaluation of the collaboration, first and foremost, on the joint publications that emanated from the grant. Lack of joint publications might affect your chances to receive future BSF grants. 

Submissions to the program are made once annually in mid-November, but submission in any specific scientific discipline is allowed only each second year (See Areas of Research). The results are announced in early July of the following year, after the summer BSF Board meeting, in which the number of grants and their average size are determined. Traditionally, the board does not discuss specific proposals or fields. 

In mid-November of even calendar years (2022, 2024, etc.) the following areas of research will be eligible for submission: 

Exact and Physical Sciences 

• Atmospheric, Ocean & Earth sciences 
  • Aquatic geochemistry 
  • Atmospheric Chemistry 
  • Atmospheric Radiation 
  • Climatology 
  • Geochemistry 
  • Geohydrology 
  • Geology (continental and marine) 
  • Geophysics; Seismology 
  • Physical oceanography and limnology 
  • Physics of the Atmosphere (Meteorology) 
• Chemistry 
  • Biological & medicinal chemistry 
  • Biophysics 
  • Chemical & molecular physics 
  • Chemical measurement and imaging 
  • Chemical theory, models & computational methods 
  • Electrochemistry; molecular electronics; semiconductor based nanotechnology 
  • Environmental chemical sciences 
  • Macromolecular, supramolecular and nanochemistry 
  • Organic based nanomaterials; polymers; other materials 
  • Synthetic, catalytic & organometallic chemistry 
• Computer sciences 
  • Algorithms; Data Structures 
  • Artificial Intelligence; Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning 
  • Bioinformatics 
  • Complexity; Combinatorics; Graph Theory 
  • Cryptography; Security 
  • Information retrieval and Management; Data Bases 
  • Networks & Systems; Distributed and parallel processing 
  • Quantum Computing 
  • Scientific Computing 
  • Software Engineering; Verification; logic and Semantics 
  • Vision; Graphics; Computational geometry 
• Energy research 
  • Alternative energy (Solar, Wind, Biofuel, etc.) 
  • Energy storage and conversion 
  • Energy-other 
  • Fossil fuels (improved use, etc.) 
• Environmental research (air, water, soil) 
  • Air pollution (identification, measurement, management and control) 
  • Environmental chemical sci 
  • Soil pollution (identification, measurement, management and control) 
  • Water pollution (identification, measurement, management and control) 
• Materials research 
  • Chemistry of materials 
  • Electronic and optic materials & thin films 
  • Material processing 
  • Nanomaterials (nanoparticles, nanotubes, carbon based nanostructures, etc.) 
  • Polymers & Soft materials 
• Mathematical sciences 
  • Algebra; Numbers Theory; Combinatorics; Logic 
  • Analysis; Differential Equations 
  • Applied Mathematics 
  • Geometry; Topology 
  • Probability; Dynamics 
  • Statistics; Operational Research 
• Physics 
  • Elementary particles, Quantum fields; Strings 
  • Non-linear Physics; Soft Condensed Matter 
  • Astronomy; Astrophysics; Cosmology 
  • Biophysics 
  • Nuclear 
  • Optics; Photonics 
  • Plasma 
  • Solid State 
  • Statistical Physics 

Social Sciences 

• Economics 
  • Applied economics 
  • Economic theory 
• Psychology (Except Psychobiology) 
  • Cognitive - Cognitive Abilities 
  • Cognitive - Judgments and Decision Making 
  • Cognitive - Learning 
  • Cognitive - Memory and Thinking 
  • Cognitive - Psycholinguistics 
  • Cognitive - Sensation and Perception 
  • Developmental - Child Cognitive Dev 
  • Developmental - Child Psychopathology 
  • Developmental - Child Social Dev 
  • Social - Emotion 
  • Social - Interpersonal Behavior 
  • Social - Judgments and Decision Making 
  • Social - Personality and Individual Differences 
  • Social - Psychopathology 
• Sociology 
  • Anthropology (Cultural and social) 
  • Social stratification and Ethnic/gender relations 
  • Sociological theory and methods 
  • Sociology of community/marriage/ family and deviance 
  • Sociology of culture, media, and communication 
  • Sociology of globalization 
  • Sociology of work and organizations 

For more information, please contact Allison Jones?jonesa70@msu.edu

Learn More about U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation – BSF Research Grants

Additional Information:

NOTE: The purpose of this internal RFP is to identify potential project that might be of interest to the Hudson-Webber Foundation.

The Hudson Webber Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking organization created to support organizations and institutions that move the city of Detroit forward.  As such, the Foundation’s geographic focus is the City of Detroit.  The Foundation invests in exceptional buildings, housing, parks, and streetscapes, and encourages and supports practices that promote inclusivity and sustainability, and that reflect the authentic identity of Detroit. If you have a potential project you would like to discuss with Hudson Webber Foundation, the first step is to connect with me at:  wallach@msu.edu by November 22, 2024. 

For more information, please contact Larry Wallach at wallach@msu.edu.

Learn More about Hudson Webber Foundation—Built Environment