Featured Opportunities

March 25, 2026

• The Department of Agriculture, NIFA through its Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative—OREI Research Projects and Extension and/or Education Components NOFO, requests applications for OREI research projects for FY 2026 to solve U.S. organic agriculture issues, priorities, or problems through the integration of research, education, and extension/outreach. Applicants should check the OREI web page to access the NOFO and monitor for updates. OREI funds research, education, and extension/outreach programs that enhance the ability of producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. Related to this program, NIFA also released Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative-OREI Planning Projects for Assistance in Development of Future OREI Proposals Requiring Multi-regional or Regional Coordination and Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative-OREI Workshop Proposals.
• Global resources available for the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) are flat or declining, while the burden of wasting remains high. Under these constraints, improving outcomes will depend on seeking to expand budgets but also more on fundamentally improving the cost-effectiveness of SAM treatment. Through its Cost-Disrupting Innovations to Reduce the Cost of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Grand Challenge, the Gates Foundation seeks innovations that can substantially increase the number of children treated for SAM per dollar of spend. They are interested in solutions that achieve step-change improvements in economics by reducing the cost of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). Another Grand Challenges RFP looks at reducing the total cost of treating a child without changing the unit cost of RUTF or using a RUTF alternative. This Grand Challenge is explicitly designed as an idea-sourcing and proof-of-concept mechanism. We seek innovative approaches capable of achieving at least a 30% reduction in the ex-factory unit cost of RUTF in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Cost reductions should be calculated relative to the applicant's own current ex-factory production baseline or a clearly justified comparator. Applicants should explicitly state baseline assumptions. Reductions are not required to be measured against a single global benchmark price. This call focuses specifically on physical composition, ingredients, manufacturing, packaging, and factory-level production economics. Clinical trials and delivery-only approaches are out of scope.
• Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) remains a leading contributor to child mortality globally. At the same time, global resources available for SAM treatment are flat or declining, while the burden of wasting remains high. Under these constraints, improving outcomes will require not only expanding budgets but fundamentally improving the cost-effectiveness of SAM treatment. While Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) is central to SAM treatment, it represents only one component of total treatment cost. In many contexts, logistics, staffing, supervision, visit frequency, and system overhead account for a substantial share of the total cost per child treated. Through its Breakthrough Innovations to Significantly Reduce the Cost of Severe Acute Malnutrition Treatment Grand Challenge, the Gates Foundation seeks innovations that can substantially increase the number of children treated per dollar spent by reducing the total cost per child treated, without changing the ex-factory price of RUTF or substituting RUTF with an alternative product. This initiative is designed as an idea-sourcing and proof-of-concept mechanism to identify transformative, system-level innovations.
• NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), through its Space to Soil Challenge, invites participants to design small satellite (SmallSat) mission concepts that leverage adaptive sensing and onboard processing to enhance regenerative agriculture, forestry, or a similar land resilience objective.​ Participants must work within onboard power, compute, and bandwidth constraints characteristic of SmallSat missions, focusing on how to orchestrate existing land observation algorithms into an efficient, responsive onboard intelligence layer.​ Both hardware-oriented and software-oriented solutions—or combinations of the two—are encouraged. Develop or describe potential adaptive sensing or onboard processing solutions that support SmallSat mission concepts to advance regenerative agriculture, forestry, or a similar land resilience objective. NASA’s primary objective for this challenge is to advance computational and systems approaches for adaptive sensing or onboard processing on SmallSat missions. The goal is not to develop new agricultural or forestry science but rather to improve how SmallSats sense, process, and deliver information to enable these applications.
• The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Public Scholars program offers grants to individual authors for research, writing, travel, and other activities leading to the creation and publication of well-researched nonfiction books in the humanities written for the broad public. Writers with or without an academic affiliation may apply, and no advanced degree is required. The program encourages non-academic writers to deepen their engagement with the humanities by strengthening the research underlying their books, and it encourages academic writers in the humanities to communicate the significance of their research to the broadest possible range of readers. NEH especially encourages applications from independent writers, researchers, scholars, and journalists. The 2026 Public Scholars competition will only accept projects for research in American history and culture and Western civilization. Competitive applications must focus on topics in the history, culture, and government of the United States in any period from the Colonial Era to the present, or topics in Western civilization from antiquity to the present.
• The NEH Media Projects program supports the development, production, and distribution of radio programs, podcasts, documentary films, and documentary film series  that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Projects must be grounded in humanities scholarship and demonstrate an approach that is thoughtful, balanced, and analytical. Media Projects offers two levels of funding: Development and Production.
• The Employment and Training Administration at the Department of Labor (Labor), is soliciting applications in support of the administration of the Talent Search Program (TS) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The purpose of the Talent Search Program is to identify qualified individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds with potential for education at the postsecondary level and encourage them to complete secondary school and undertake postsecondary education. Talent Search projects publicize the availability of, and facilitate the application for, student financial assistance for persons who seek to pursue postsecondary education, and encourage persons who have not completed programs at the secondary or postsecondary level to enter or reenter and complete these programs.
• Schmidt Sciences invites proposals for the Science of Trustworthy AI program, which supports technical research that improves our ability to understand, predict, and control risks from frontier AI systems while enabling their trustworthy deployment. This Request for Proposals is grounded in our Research Agenda, which defines the scientific scope and priorities. The questions in each subsection guide what we consider in scope; they are not an exhaustive checklist. Proposals need not match any question(s) verbatim, but should clearly advance the underlying scientific objectives of our research agenda and explain why the work advances the science of trustworthy AI. They expect strong proposals—especially at funding Tier 2—to take a clear stand on a small number of core questions and pursue them deeply, rather than addressing many agenda items superficially. The research agenda has three connected aims: Aim 1: Characterize and forecast misalignment in frontier AI systems; Aim 2: Develop generalizable measurements and interventions; and Aim 3: Oversee AI systems with superhuman capabilities and address multi-agent risks.
• The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Office of Fellowships has conducted the NRC Research Associateship Programs in cooperation with sponsoring federal laboratories and other research organizations since 1954. NRC Research Associateships are awarded to exceptionally talented postdoctoral and senior scientists and engineers through a rigorous selection process. These selected individuals are granted tenure as guest researchers at participating laboratories, highlighting their outstanding contributions and potential in their respective fields. The NRC Research Associateship Programs aim to: 1) Offer uniquely promising postdoctoral and senior scientists/engineers the chance to pursue self-directed research that aligns with the goals of the sponsoring laboratories; 2) Enhance the comprehensive research efforts of these laboratories. Provide recent doctoral graduates with a platform to conduct focused research in collaboration with select members of the permanent professional laboratory staff; and 3) Foster the professional growth of Associates by providing opportunities to gain skills, experience, and connections through collaboration with leading scientists, enhancing their future career prospects in academia, industry, or government research roles.
• The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Integrated Data Systems and Services (IDSS) program supports operations-level national-scale cyberinfrastructure systems and services that broadly advance and facilitate open, data-intensive and artificial intelligence-driven science and engineering research, innovation, and education. Through this solicitation, the IDSS program is accepting proposals for three categories of projects: Category I. Development, deployment, and operation of novel national-scale integrated data systems and services, which may include interfacing with or leveraging other existing capabilities, systems and services, as appropriate to the project; Category II.  Transition of established smaller scale, regional, pilot, or prototype data-focused systems and services to national-scale production/operational quality/level. This may also include enhancement and expansion of existing national-scale data-focused operational systems and services; and Category III. Planning grants for future potential development/deployment or transition/enhancement IDSS projects.
• The goal of NSF’s Engineering of Biomedical Systems (EBMS) program is to provide opportunities for fundamental and transformative research projects that integrate engineering and life sciences to solve biomedical problems and serve humanity in the long term. Projects are expected to use an engineering framework (for example, design or modeling) that supports increased understanding of physiological or pathophysiological processes. Projects must include objectives that advance both engineering and biomedical sciences. Projects may include: methods, models, and enabling tools applied to understand or control living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; or new approaches to the design of systems that include both living and non-living components for eventual medical use in the long term. The long-term impact of the projects can be related to effective disease diagnosis and/or treatment, or improved health care delivery. However, immediate goals should focus on improved fundamental understanding of cell and tissue function in normal or pathological conditions and advancing biomedical engineering.
• The goal of the NSF’s Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics program is to advance fundamental engineering research on the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions, systems engineering, and molecular thermodynamics as they relate to the design and optimization of chemical reactors and the production of specialized materials that have important impacts on society. The program supports the development of advanced optimization and control algorithms for chemical processes, molecular and multi-scale modeling of complex chemical systems, fundamental studies on molecular thermodynamics, and the integration of these methods and concepts into the design of novel chemical products and manufacturing processes. This program supports sustainable chemical manufacturing research on the development of energy-efficient chemical processes and environmentally-friendly chemical products through concurrent chemical product/process design methods. Sustainability is also enhanced by research that promotes the electrification of the chemical process industries over current thermally-activated processes.
• The Gates Foundation's Philanthropic Partnerships Team (PPT) mobilizes resources and cultivates champions for global health and development (GH&D), ensuring that philanthropy helps the world's most vulnerable children survive and thrive. Thus, they are seeking applications and use cases of AI that address the core question: How might AI support donors to give more and give sooner? This RFP is focused on supporting donor-facing applications and underlying systems of giving that test and demonstrate bold, innovative applications of AI that strengthen and expand philanthropic giving. Desired outputs include generating practical evidence and examples to inform broader practice across the philanthropic sector. We are particularly interested in solutions that increase support for GH&D. For this RFP, GH&D refers broadly to efforts that improve health, economic opportunity, and human well-being in low- and middle-income countries. Within this field, we are especially interested in efforts that reduce preventable mortality, combat infectious diseases, and expand pathways out of extreme poverty, consistent with the Gates Foundation's long-term goals.
• The goal of NSF’s Computational and Data-enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E) meta-program is to identify and capitalize on opportunities for major scientific and engineering breakthroughs through new computational and data-analysis approaches and best practices. The CDS&E meta-program supports projects that harness computation and data to advance knowledge and accelerate discovery above and beyond the goals of the participating individual programs. The intellectual drivers may be in an individual discipline or cut across more than one discipline in various Divisions and Directorates. A CDS&E proposal should enable and/or utilize the development and adaptation of advances in research and infrastructure in computational and data science. The CDS&E meta-program encourages research that pushes the envelope of science and engineering through computation and data, welcoming proposals in any research area supported by the participating divisions. A proposal may address topics that develop or enable interactions among theory, computing, experiment, and observation to achieve progress on hitherto intractable science and engineering problems.
• The aim of Sony’s Women in Technology Award with Nature is to recognize and celebrate the remarkable women spearheading advancements in technology, driving positive change for society and the planet. Spotlighting these achievements, they hope to inspire and empower the next generation of women in technology. They will recognize three inspirational women in technology who are poised to redefine the future of their fields, positively impacting our society and the planet. At least one winner will be selected in early-career category each year. Applications will be judged on their own merit and not against different career stages. Early to mid-career women researchers working in academia, at a research institution, or an affiliated university spinout are invited to apply. A PhD or equivalent is not required. ​Each of the three recipients of this award will be granted a significant prize to advance their research endeavors. Additionally, their work will be showcased on Nature.com, amplifying its impact and fostering collaborations on a global scale. ​
• The KU NIH CoBRE in Chemical Biology of Infectious Disease is requesting applications for Pilot Projects that will provide investigators with support for research activities, mentoring, and access to Core Lab Services. Three pilot projects at up to $70,000 in annual total direct costs starting July 1, 2026 are anticipated for support pending the funding of a Phase III application. Pilot projects are for twelve months starting July 1, 2026 or as approved by NIH, potentially renewable for a second period pending scientific progress and available funds. Applications must describe a pilot research project that fits well with the scientific theme of Chemical Biology of Infectious Disease and incorporates substantial use of one or more associated core labs at KU. The competition is open to all full-time faculty at any State of Kansas Regents University with priority given to those who qualify as NIH Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) or New Investigators (NIs).
• Limited access to affordable diagnosis is a significant barrier to disease control and equitable healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Nearly half of the global population lacks essential diagnostic tests, and access is almost nonexistent for up to 81% of people in the poorest settings, driving delayed or missed disease detection at scale. Thus, the Gates Foundation’s Cost-disruptive Tools for Diagnosis and Screening Grand Challenge seeks tests that materially reset the cost curve in LMICs while meeting real-world deployment constraints (see Table 1). These tools are defined as devices that amortize capital to near-zero incremental cost and consumable $1-class. For screening applications, cost targets should be interpreted per person screened; for diagnostic or monitoring applications, per test performed. Accordingly, this initiative aims to translate these cost-disruptive concepts into scalable solutions across high-priority disease areas. We are particularly interested in transformative, high-risk, high-reward innovations that fundamentally rethink how diagnosis or screening is performed, including novel sensing modalities, software-defined diagnostics, and AI-enabled or software-only approaches that materially change performance, cost structure, or deployment models.
• Recent PhDs in anthropology and related fields frequently lack the time and resources to publish their work. But their research is often the source of the discipline’s most exciting new ideas. Thus the Wenner-Gren Foundation’s Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowships program supports emerging scholars whose work has the potential to transform our understanding of what it means to be human. There is no preference for any methodology, research location, or subfield. Applicants can apply regardless of institutional affiliation, country of residence, or nationality. Independent scholars are encouraged to apply. Recipients can use the fellowship award while preparing a book, monograph, journal article(s), book chapter(s), or a combination of such publications. The Foundation particularly welcomes proposals that emphasize comparative perspectives, are likely to generate innovative approaches or ideas, and/or integrate two or more subfields. We also welcome proposals for writing projects that can stand as a model for new genres of scholarly communication.
• The Russell Sage Foundation’s (RSF) core program on Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context (launched in 2022) merges its long-standing program on Behavioral Economics and its special initiative on Decision Making and Human Behavior in Context. This program encourages perspectives from multiple disciplines, including economics, psychology, political science, sociology, law, public policy, and other social sciences, to further our understanding of economic, social, political, and psychological decision-making processes, attitudes, behaviors, and institutional practices in public and private contexts such as policing/criminal legal systems, employment, housing, politics, racial/ethnic relations, and immigration.