External Funding Sources
External Funding Sources
Introduction
If you are seeking grant opportunities for your research or other projects, there are many resources available. Sponsored Research sends regular newsletters of timely grant opportunities. Please sign up to receive the latest edition by emailing grantopportunities@barnard.edu.
We also have a calendar of various grant deadlines throughout the year that we update periodically, available on the External Grant Opportunities page.
If you have questions about sponsored research or would like to request individualized research, please contact Liane Carlson or any one of the staff in the Institutional Funding and Sponsored Research office.
Resources
- There are two Foundation Center databases (Foundation Directory and Foundation Grants to Individuals) available through Columbia Libraries Online for anyone who has a Columbia library account.
- Columbia has an institutional account with Pivot, a grant searching platform subscription service. Anyone with a Columbia email can create a Pivot account and use it to search, save, and share funding opportunities in your area(s) of interest. Instructions are here. Be sure you can retrieve emails sent to your CU address, otherwise Pivot's confirmation email will be stuck in CUIT limbo.
- For a treasure trove of information on grants and grantwriting, see the Michigan State University Library's Grants and Related Resources page.
- Duke University provides a searchable Research Funding online database where one can filter by discipline, funding type, and eligibility, among other things.
- Funds for Writers maintains a list of resources to support authorship.
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American Association of University Women -- Offers fellowships for women in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
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American Council of Learned Societies -- Offers fellowships from scholars in all disciplines of the humanities and related social sciences
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Fulbright Scholar Program -- Promotes educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.
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Institute for Advanced Study -- Offers fellowships for four Schools: historical studies, mathematics, natural sciences, and social science
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Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study -- Offers fellowships for artists and scholars in all academic disciplines, professions, and creative arts
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Renaissance Society of America -- "The Society awards a number of competitive fellowships to members each year supporting individual research projects and publications that advance scholarly knowledge about the period 1300-1700."
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John Simon Guggenheim Foundation -- Provides fellowships in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and creative arts.
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The Wilson Center -- It’s goal is “to unite the world of ideas to the world of policy by supporting pre-eminent scholarship and linking that scholarship to issues of concern to officials in Washington.”
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Woodrow Wilson Foundation -- Offers fellowships and supports the profession of teaching.
Funding Sources of General Interest
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The American Educational Research Association -- The American Educational Research Association is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results.
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American Psychological Association -- The APA has 54 divisions which offer awards and grants
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Archaeological Institute of America -- "promotes archaeological inquiry and public understanding of the material record of the human past to foster an appreciation of diverse cultures and our shared humanity."
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Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance -- Searchable database of government-wide programs
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Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange -- fosters innovation to solve key health and development problems. Grand Challenges support research into technological and data science solutions to global problems in health and economic development.
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Council for International Exchange of Scholars -- CIES annually recruits and sends nearly 800 U.S. faculty and professionals to 140 countries on its traditional program and brings 800 foreign faculty and professionals to the U.S.
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Council on Undergraduate Research -- Provides support for a seminal experience in the life of an undergraduate natural or social science, mathematics, or engineering student.
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Institute for Research in the Humanities at University of Wisconsin at Madison -- "All proposed projects should be bold, innovative, and potentially transformative and have a primary focus in conservation, education, research, storytelling, or technology."
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Institute of Turkish Studies William T. Grant Scholars Program -- "The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand junior researchers’ expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas"
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Klingenstein-Simons Research Grants -- To "support high-quality research that is relevant to policies and practices that affect the lives of young people ages 5 to 25 in the United States."
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Global Grand Challenges -- "Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems. Each initiative is an experiment in the use of challenges to focus innovation on making an impact. Individual challenges address some of the same problems, but from differing perspectives."
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Humanities New York -- Most funding is directed at “public-facing” programming aimed to increase conversation in New York around “issues of civic engagement and trust and to strengthen the bonds of community in New York.”
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Humboldt (Alexander Von) Foundation -- Offers support to scholars and scientists to carry out a research project of their own choice in Germany.
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National Academy of Education -- Promotes scholarship on matters relevant to education in all of its forms.
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National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) -- NASA Science solicits proposals for projects covering a wide range of subjects from scientists, engineers, and educators from NASA centers, universities, nonprofits, other government laboratories, and for profit corporations.
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National Endowment for the Arts -- supports projects and events in all kinds of creative disciplines, including music, theater, musical theater, opera, dance, visual arts, media arts, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, and multidisciplinary works.
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National Endowment for the Humanities -- "NEH enables individuals and institutions across the United States to study, preserve, and share the best of America's history and culture."
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National Geographic Society -- “currently offers three types of grants: Early Career, Exploration, and Request for Proposals.”
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National Historical Publications and Records Administration -- NHPRC “supports a wide range of activities to preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources, created in every medium ranging from quill pen to computer, relating to the history of the United States.”
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National Institutes of Health -- medical research grants
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National Security Agency -- Supports efforts to foster foreign-language training for Americans.
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National Science Foundation -- Awards are given for contributions in the areas of inquiry, application and social action.
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Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Society -- dedicated to accelerating cures for cancer by advancing the pursuit of innovative cancer research and by facilitating collaborations between the science and business communities.
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Roddenberry Foundation -- "The Catalyst Fund is a small grants program focused on early-stage, unconventional ideas that have the potential for disruptive change. The Roddenberry Prize is a biennial competition to crowd-source innovative solutions to issues that demand an immediate, bold, and global response. The Roddenberry Fellowship is a year-long fellowship for activists, community leaders, agitators, and advocates whose work promotes a more tolerant and inclusive society."
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Russell Sage Foundation -- "is the principal American foundation devoted exclusively to research in the social sciences."
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Spencer Foundation -- Funds projects that investigate ways in which education can be improved around the world and includes a wide range of disciplines.
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The John Templeton Foundation -- "A philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the deepest and most perplexing questions facing humankind. We support research on subjects ranging from complexity, evolution, and emergence to creativity, forgiveness, and free will."
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U.S. Department of Education -- Funding opportunities in education and pedagogy research.
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Wenner-Gren Foundation -- Supports anthropology research
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William T. Grant Foundation -- “Supporting research to improve the lives of young people”
Humanities & Social Sciences
- The W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (AIAR) Jerusalem - AIAR provides a base for a broad range of American-led scholarly research projects in archaeological, art historical, textual and historical studies of the ancient Near East, from the prehistoric to the pre-modern periods. Located in an historic building in Jerusalem, the Albright Institute provides fellowships to scholars from pre-doctoral to post-doctoral levels.
- American Academy of Arts and Science - Has served for over 220 years as a major intellectual catalyst in American life. Today, members from every discipline engage in collaborative, multidisciplinary studies of complex problems that defy easy solution: issues ranging from arms control to universal basic and secondary education to the state of the humanities.
- American Academy in Rome - The Academy is an overseas research center for study in the School of Arts or the School of Classical Studies.
- American Council of Learned Societies - Awards fellowships in the humanities and social sciences, comtemplative practice, study and research in China, and Eastern European studies.
- American Institute of Indian Studies - Supports the advancement of knowledge of India, its citizens, society and culture.
- American Philosophical Society - Programs including the General Research grant program, the Henry Phillips grants in Jurisprudence, Sabbatical Fellowship for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Mellon Resident Research Fellowships.
- American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) - Facilitates research by individuals and American institutions in Egypt. It provides a permanent base of operations in Cairo for scholars studying Egypt from prehistory to the present day. More than a dozen archaeological teams sponsored by leading U.S. and Canadian museums and universities are assisted annually by the Cairo Center.
- American Research Institute in Turkey - Promotes American and Turkish research and exchange related to Turkey in all fields of the humanities and social sciences. ARIT provides support for these scholarly endeavors through maintaining research centers in Istanbul and Ankara and administering a program of fellowships to support research in Turkey at the doctoral and post-doctoral levels.
- The American-Scandinavian Foundation - Supports research projects undertaken in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and requires some language facility.
- Bogliasco Foundation - Liguria Study Center is located on the Italian Riviera in the small town of Bogliasco and offers residential fellowhips for artists and scholars in the Arts and Humanities.
- Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange - The Foundation's programs encompass four regions: the Domestic region (the Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macau), the American Region (the United States, Canada and Mexico), the European region, and the Asia-Pacific region. Programs in the Domestic and American regions commenced in 1989, followed shortly by the European region in 1990 and the Asia-Pacific region in 1991. Grant programs differ among the four regions.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - The Department's mission is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination.
- Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies - Established in 1986 to promote the development of African and African-American studies in undergraduate and graduate education and through advanced research at the University of Rochester.
- Folger Shakespeare Library - The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. A magnet for scholars from around the globe, the Folger is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, as well as magnificent collections of other rare Renaissance books and manuscripts on all disciplines-history and politics, theology and exploration, law and the arts.
- Ford Foundation - Limited research and training grants are made in the Foundation's program areas: Asset Building and Community Development, Peace and Social Justice, and Education, Media, Arts and Culture.
- Getty Foundation - Supports projects in art or art history.
- The Greenwall Foundation - Supports research primarily in bioethics and the arts and humanities.
- William T. Grant Foundation - The Foundation's primary focus areas are Youth Development; Systems Affecting Youth; and the Public's View of Youth.
- International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) - Offers research opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Eurasia and China.
- The Library Company of Philadelphia - The Library Company of Philadelphia is a non-profit independent research library with collections documenting every aspect of the history and background of American culture from the colonial period to the end of the 19th century. A collection of national importance, its holdings number approximately half a million printed volumes in a wide variety of formats.
- Louisville Institute - Its fundamental mission is to enrich the religious life of American Christians and to encourage the revitalization of their institutions, by bringing together those who lead religious institutions with those who study them, so that the work of each might stimulate and inform the other.
- The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation - Dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition.
- National Council for Eurasian and East European Research - Among national research organizations, NCEEER is the largest provider of resources to U.S. scholars for postdoctoral research in these fields. Its support for research on the region has produced direct benefits for U.S. policymakers, the academic community, and nonprofit.
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- National Institute of Justice
- New York Council for the Humanities - Funds projects that stimulate public consideration of the humanities, through several different kinds of grants.
- Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture - Offers fellowships in any area of early American studies.
- Phi Beta Kappa Society - Fosters and promotes the liberal arts through the Scholarships and Awards it bestows upon those who have excelled in the liberal arts and sciences. This is done through fellowships, service awards and literary awards.
- Radcliffe Institute Fellowships
- Rockefeller Foundation - Supports study at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy and humanities fellowships held at various institutions.
- Russell Sage Foundation - Supports basic social research in four areas: future of work, immigration, literacy and the social psychology of cultural contact.
- Rutgers University for Research on Women - Promotes innovative scholarship on women and gender through interdisciplinary forums, lectures, and conferences that bring together IRW affiliates with top visiting scholars from the US and abroad
- Smith Richardson Foundation - Seeks to help ensure the vitality of our social, economic, and governmental institutions and to assist with the development of effective policies to compete internationally and to advance U.S. interests and values abroad.
- Social Science Research Council - Scholars in the humanities and social sciences may apply for programs on Germany, Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Japan, Near and Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Applied Economics, Sexuality, International Migration, and International Peace and Security.
- Stanford Humanities Center - Promotes humanistic research and education and Stanford University and nationally.
- Truman Presidential Museum & Library - The Harry S. Truman Library Institute for National and International Affairs is the private, non-profit partner of the Harry S. Truman Library. The Institute's purpose is to foster the Truman Library as a center for research and as a provider of educational and public programs. Applications for funding will be considered by the Institute's Committee on Research, Scholarship and Academic Relations. organizations and American business. The projects it has funded have helped people from all of these fields gain a better understanding of current developments and future prospects in the post-communist countries of Europe and Eurasia.
- U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation - Promotes scientific and technical collaboration between the United States and the countries of the Former Soviet Union (FSU).
- Wenner-Gren Foundation - Supports basic research in any branch of anthropology.
Performing & Fine Arts
- Manhattan Arts International - Manhattan Arts International promotes global interchange in the arts.
- Lower Manhattan Cultural Council - The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council continues to support artists with the appropriate resources to positively impact surrounding communities.The council provides $500,000 in grants.
- National Endowment for the Arts - The National Endowment for the Arts supports artist's innovative and creative abilities to better communities of the U.S.
- New York Foundation for the Arts - The New York Foundation for the Arts supports emerging artists and art organizations. Artists' Fellowships grants of $7,000 are available to individual artists in sixteen disciplines.
- New York State Council on the Arts - The New York State Council on the Arts aims to widen the cultural resources that add value to the history and heritage of New York's citizens.
- Fulbright Program - The Fulbright Scholarship Program, "sponsors U.S. and foreign participants for exchanges in all areas of endeavor, including the sciences, business, academe, public service, government, and the arts and continues to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries."
- Terra Foundation - The Terra Foundation for American Art is dedicated to fostering exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States for national and international audiences.
- John Simon Guggenheim Foundation - The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation offers "fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions and irrespective of race, color, or creed."
Sciences
- American Association for the Advancement of Science - Open to any field of physical, biological or social sciences or any relevant interdisciplinary field.
- American Astronomical Society - Supports any type of astronomical research.
- American Chemical Society
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - Supports research projects that help further the understanding and treatment of depression and the prevention of suicide.
- Beckman Foundation - Supports non-profit research institutions to promote research in chemistry and the life sciences, broadly interpreted, and particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments, and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science.
- The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation - Funds research projects in chemistry, chemical engineering and related sciences.
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Earthwatch, The Center for Field Research - Supports field work worldwide in the following areas: endangered ecosystems, oceans, biodiversity, cultural diversity, folklore and oral history, global change, world health and archaeology.
- Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation - The Foundation was organized as a non-profit, educational corporation in December 1960 by Frederick C. Gloeckner to provide a source of financial aid for research and educational projects in floriculture and the supporting and allied fields, such as plant pathology, plant breeding, agricultural engineering, agricultural economics, entomology, and plant physiology related to floriculture and ornamental horticulture.
- Hudson River Foundation - Seeks to elucidate the dynamic interactions between the physical, chemical and biological processes of the Hudson River. Prefers work that has a clearly articulated significance for identified policy issues, and that is conducted in the context of other ongoing research and monitoring of the river.
- Human Frontier Science Program - Supports basic research focused on complex mechanisms of living organisms; fields supported range from brain functions to biological functions at the molecular level. Particular emphasis is now placed on bringing scientists from fields such as physics, mathematics, chemistry, computer science and engineering together with biologists to open up new approaches to understanding complex biological systems.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA encourages the submission of unsolicited proposals relevant to its mission.
- National Center for Environmental Research
- National Geographic Society - Supports scientific field research and exploration in the following disciplines: anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, biology, botany, geography, geology, oceanography, paleontology and zoology.
- National Institute of Mental Health
- National Institutes of Health
- National Research Council - Postdoctoral and senior research associateship awards are available for researchers in chemistry, earth and atmospheric sciences, engineering, mathematics and applied sciences, life and medical sciences, space and planetary sciences, and the physical sciences.
- National Science Foundation (homepage)
- National Science Foundation (grant proposal guide)
- National Science Foundation FastLane
- Naval Research Laboratory
- Office of Science and Technology (Embassy of France in the US) - (1) aides in strengthening the place of French science and technology in the United States, and (2) disseminates in France information on American research and development policy as well as current events in science and technology
- Research Corporation - Supports research in astronomy, chemistry and physics.
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation - Supports research in chemistry, physics, mathematics, economics, neuroscience and computer science.
- U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Program
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Whitehall Foundation - A not-for-profit foundation which is focused exclusively on assisting basic research in vertebrate (excluding clinical) and invertebrate neurobiology in the United States. Investigations should specifically concern neural mechanisms involved in sensory, motor, and other complex functions of the whole organism as these relate to behavior. The overall goal should be to better understand behavioral output or brain mechanisms of behavior.