Featured Opportunities

June 10, 2026

• The Department of Agriculture, NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Classic Program seeks to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production in the United States. CIG projects present innovations that are expected to result in the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and inventive approaches to agricultural producers (such as market-based systems) to be used in the private sector. CIG generally funds pilot projects, field demonstrations, and on-farm conservation research. On-farm conservation research is defined as an investigation conducted to answer a specific applied conservation question using a statistically valid design while employing farm-scale equipment on farms, ranches, or private forest lands. Project outcomes should benefit a region of a state or a region of the United States, not just one producer or participant. In addition, CIG Classic program funds should not be applied to teaching or training producers on how to access or use existing NRCS financial assistance programs.

• The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) is the Foundation's premier program emphasizing the importance the Foundation places on the early development of academic careers dedicated to stimulating the discovery process in which the excitement of research is enhanced by inspired teaching, enthusiastic learning, and disseminating new knowledge. Effective integration of research and education generates a synergy in which the process of discovery stimulates learning and assures that the findings and methods of research and education are quickly and effectively communicated in a broader context and to a large audience. The CAREER program embodies NSF’s commitment to encourage faculty and academic institutions to value and support the integration of research and education. Successful Principal Investigators will propose creative, effective research and education plans, developed within the context of the mission, goals, and resources of their organizations, while building a firm foundation for a lifetime of contributions to research, education, and their integration.  All CAREER proposals should describe an integrated path that will lead to a successful career as an outstanding researcher and educator. NSF recognizes that there is no single approach to an integrated research and education plan, but encourages all applicants to think creatively about the reciprocal relationship between the proposed research and education activities and how they may inform each other in their career development as both outstanding researchers and educators.

• The NSF STEM K-12 program encourages innovative, multidisciplinary, and potentially transformative projects that build theory, generate new knowledge, and inform education practices in a rapidly evolving technological landscape with advances in emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI). It supports fundamental, applied, and translational research that enhances STEM teaching and learning and across the human lifespan and in a range of formal and informal learning settings. In addition to building theory and informing practice, the program seeks projects that produce new tools and frameworks; harness exemplary formal and informal learning; and unlock new avenues of scientific inquiry and discovery in STEM education to strengthen the Nation's standing as a global leader in STEM innovation. Proposals submitted to the STEM K-12 program may focus on learning or instruction in any field(s) of STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) and may involve a variety of contexts in which teaching and learning take place, including formal education (pre-K to 12) and informal learning environments. The program also supports projects that identify and address salient issues involved in translating research into educational practice for any STEM field, as well as projects that leverage insights from educational practice to drive fundamental research. Additionally, the program seeks proposals that explore how AI and other emerging technologies can be effectively leveraged to study and enhance STEM teaching and learning.

• The Simons Foundation’s Synthetic Plant Biology program is intended to support research that applies engineering principles and techniques to advance our understanding of how plants function. These projects can tackle a variety of goals, including the development of sensors to study plant physiological responses, the engineering of plants capable of withstanding inhospitable environments, genetic modifications that reveal the trade-offs inherent in plant growth and development, and many others. They are interested both in the generation of fundamental insights in plant biology and in the development of innovative tools and techniques that will empower plant biological research in the future. Research funded under this initiative is expected to be exploratory, and there is not a requirement to have preliminary data at the application stage. Instead, we are seeking investigations that are high-risk but which, if successful, would enable highly impactful research in the synthetic biology of plants in the future. Generation of preliminary data is one of the anticipated objectives of these awards.

• The Department of State’s Mission New Zealand Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) announces an open competition, U.S. Public Diplomacy Freedom 250 Grants Program, to implement a program to advance U.S.- New Zealand economic, scientific, and cultural ties. The program is intended to support organizations to build capacity to strengthen or advance the U.S.-New Zealand relationship. Projects may address one or more of the following areas but are not strictly limited to the following topics: a) Promoting science by reinforcing cooperation in key domains, including (but not limited to) scientific research in Antarctica, space exploration and regulatory frameworks, and critical technology and artificial intelligence; B) Advancing prosperity by promoting economic growth and innovation with a focus on biotechnology, space technology, and broader innovation sectors; and C) Strengthening democratic values and ties through programs that celebrate shared democratic principles, cultural connections, and innovative spirit of the peoples of the United States and New Zealand, including but not limited to programming leveraging sports, education, and other areas of connection.

• The NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU) is a core NSF STEM education program that seeks to promote novel, creative, and transformative approaches to generating and using new knowledge about STEM teaching and learning to improve STEM education for undergraduate students. The program is open to application from all institutions of higher education and associated organizations. NSF places high value on educating students to be leaders and innovators in emerging and rapidly changing STEM fields as well as educating a scientifically literate public. In pursuit of this goal, IUSE: EDU supports projects that seek to bring recent advances in STEM knowledge into undergraduate education, that adapt, improve, and incorporate evidence-based practices into STEM teaching and learning, and that lay the groundwork for institutional improvement in STEM education. In addition to innovative work at the frontier of STEM education, this program also encourages replication of research studies at different types of institutions and with different student bodies to produce deeper knowledge about the effectiveness and transferability of findings.

• Government and the nation face a talent shortfall in artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. NSF’a CyberAICorps Scholarship for Service (CyberAI SFS) program welcomes proposals that address AI and cybersecurity education and workforce development. CyberAI refers to using AI in cybersecurity as well as providing security and resilience for AI systems. The Scholarship Track provides funding to establish, or to continue, scholarship for service programs with integrated AI and cybersecurity components (CyberAI). Scholarship recipients must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and work after graduation in the AI or cybersecurity mission of a government organization for a period of at least the length of the scholarship. The Innovation Track supports projects that enhance preparation of AI and/or cybersecurity professionals. Projects may expand existing educational opportunities, curricula, degree programs, educational pathways, methods and interventions, and partnerships among institutions of higher education, government, and employers.

• The goal of NSF’s Environmental Sustainability program is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival. Research efforts supported by the program typically consider long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. The program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions. There are five principal general research areas that are supported: 1) Circular Bioeconomy Engineering; 2) Industrial Ecology, 3) Green Engineering, 4) Ecological Engineering, and 5) Earth Systems Engineering.

• PepsiCo believe that innovation thrives through collaboration. Their portal is your gateway to partner with them by sharing your groundbreaking ideas and solutions that align with our business priorities and sustainability initiatives. Every day, PepsiCo products bring joy to consumers over one billion times across more than 200 countries and territories. Our diverse portfolio features a wide array of beloved foods and beverages, many of which boast annual retail sales exceeding $1 billion. Their guiding vision is to be the global leader in beverages and convenient foods through our transformative initiative, PepsiCo Positive (pep+). This strategic program places sustainability at the heart of their operations, enabling them to create value and drive growth while respecting planetary boundaries. Together, they want to inspire meaningful change for both our planet and its people. They invite you to join them on this exciting journey towards innovation and sustainability. Their areas of interest are: process and equipment, ingredients and flavors, packaging and materials, and sustainability and agriculture.

• The Department of Defense, Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is interested in receiving proposals for research initiatives that offer potential for advancement and improvement in the NPS core mission of graduate education and research. Readers should note that this is an announcement to declare NPS’s solicitation in competitive funding of meritorious research initiatives across a spectrum of science and engineering, business, politics and public/foreign policy, operational and information sciences, and interdisciplinary disciplines that are in line with the NPS’s graduate education and research mission. Prior to preparing white papers or full proposals, potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact a NPS point of contact (POC) whose program and research efforts best match the Applicant’s field of interest. The academic and research programs links above can be used to locate an appropriate POC by exploring the information provided about faculty members in NPS’s schools, research, institutes, and interdisciplinary centers and research groups.

• The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, through its Climate Change and Human Health Seed Grants program, aims to stimulate the growth of new connections between thinkers working in largely disconnected fields, who, together, may change the course of climate change’s impact on human health. They are primarily, but not exclusively, interested in activities that build connections between basic and early biomedical scientific approaches and ecological, environmental, geological, geographic, and planetary-scale thinking, as well as with population-focused fields, including epidemiology and public health, demography, economics, and urban planning. Also of interest is work piloting new approaches or interactions aimed at reducing the impact of health-centered activities, such as developing more sustainable systems for healthcare, care delivery, and biomedical research. Another area of interest is preparation for the impacts of extreme weather and other crises that can lead to large-scale disruptions, immediately affecting human health and the delivery of healthcare. Public outreach, climate communication, and education efforts focused on the intersection of climate and health are also appropriate for this call. This program supports work conceived through many kinds of creative thinking. Successful applicants include academic scientists, physicians, and public health experts, community organizations, science outreach centers, non-biomedical academic departments, and more.

• The Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH) program provides opportunities for assistant professors to bring multidisciplinary approaches to studying human infectious diseases. The program aims to provide accomplished investigators at the assistant professor level with opportunities to study what happens at the points where the systems of humans and potentially infectious agents connect. The program supports research that sheds light on the fundamentals that affect the outcomes of these encounters: how colonization, infection, commensalism, and other relationships play out at levels ranging from molecular interactions to systemic ones. PATH is a highly competitive award program that provides $505,000 over five years to study pathogenesis. The program intends to give recipients the freedom and flexibility to pursue new avenues of inquiry, stimulating higher-risk research projects that hold potential for significantly advancing our understanding of how infectious diseases work and how health is maintained.

• Join a global community of more than 300 Atlantic Fellows from over 65 countries worldwide, dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. The Global Brain Health Institute’s Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia in their local communities and on a global scale. It is one of seven global Atlantic Fellows programs to promote societies that expand opportunity, improve health, and foster belonging. The program is for professionals from a wide range of disciplines, including the arts, sciences, economics, policy, medicine, journalism, community-based practice and much more. Whatever the discipline, we are looking for individuals working in the area of brain health and dementia who have great ideas, enthusiasm and leadership potential.

• The Russell Sage Foundation’s program on Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration, replaces two previous programs: Immigration and Cultural Contact. Insights gained from these two long-standing programs inform the genesis of the new program on Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration. The program encourages multi-disciplinary perspectives on questions stemming from the significant changes in the racial, ethnic, and immigrant-origin composition of the U.S. population. A primary goal is to find ways in which researchers from different social science traditions studying issues of race, ethnicity, and immigration may complement one another in productive and innovative ways. We continue to encourage multi-disciplinary perspectives and methods that both strengthen the data, theory, and methods of social science research and foster an understanding of how we might better achieve the American ideals of a pluralist society.

• The Russell Sage Foundation, in collaboration with the Hewlett, Spencer, and William T. Grant foundations, seeks to support innovative research on the effects of the Supreme Court decision on a diversity of outcomes—from who attends college and where and the extent to which alternatives to race-conscious policies contribute to educational attainment and economic mobility among different groups in the population. Our interests extend beyond the effects on applications, admissions, enrollment, and degree completion and include the downstream effects, including whether and how the decision alters the college-to-career pipeline that many employers rely on to diversify their workforce, and the factors associated with public opposition to and support for race-conscious policies. We are particularly interested in analyses that make use of newly available data or demonstrate novel uses of existing data. We also support original data collection and encourage methodological variety and inter-disciplinary collaboration.