Researchers looking for funding opportunities can find Penn State limited submission listings as well as occasional calls and announcements from outside of the University.
Funding @ Penn State
Find internal and external funding resources
Upcoming Opportunities
XPrize Foundation Revolutionizing Desalinization for Global Water Use
XPRIZE Water Scarcity is a 5-year global competition set to drive a step change in desalination technologies - reimagining systems, methods, and materials. Thereby facilitating the widespread use of desalination in a manner that supports greater socio-economic equity and environmental sustainability.
This competition will address issues across desalination and water scarcity in three ways:
- through encouraging new desalination systems to be more robust, affordable, and sustainable;
- by supporting novel membrane materials to make existing desalination more robust, affordable, and sustainable; and
- by exciting innovators across the globe to get involved in developing public perception campaigns to address water scarcity from a broader perspective.
Internal Submission Deadline: Monday, January 6, 2025
https://psu.infoready4.com/CompetitionSpace/#competitionDetail/1933862
Simons Foundation: Early Career Investigator in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution Awards Letter of Intent
The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division is now accepting applications for its Simons Early Career Investigator in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution Awards. The deadline for receipt of letters of intent (LOI) is January 23, 2025, 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time.
The purpose of these awards is to help launch the careers of outstanding investigators in the fields of microbial ecology, microbial biogeochemistry and/or microbial evolution in marine or natural freshwater systems, who will advance our understanding through field work, experiments, modeling or theory. Investigators must currently be active in basic research addressing fundamental questions in these fields and must focus a large fraction of their lab’s effort in one of these areas. Applicants whose research focuses on the microbiomes of animals or plants, symbioses of microbes with animals, coral biology, paleoceanography, geobiology or aquatic pollution will not be considered.
Internal Submission Deadline: Thursday, January 16, 2025
https://psu.infoready4.com/CompetitionSpace/#competitionDetail/1957755
Heising-Simons Foundation: Open Call for Science Events and Gatherings
The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program announces a new Open Call for Science Events and Gatherings. For this call, the Foundation welcomes applications for grants to support meetings, workshops, conferences, summer schools, research collaboration gatherings, and other events related to the fields of astronomy, planetary science, cosmology, fundamental physics, climate change science, and/or increasing the representation and retention of underrepresented groups in these fields. They expect to fund up to $400,000 total in grants during each open call for proposals, with each grant being between $20,000 and $80,000. For grants to universities, the Foundation accepts an indirect cost rate up to 15% of the total direct costs. Note that for this cycle For Cycle 1 proposals, the event must take place between April 15, 2025 and March 31, 2026. The primary audience of the event must be undergraduate level and above, and aimed at the scientific community. Events specifically targeting k-12 educators are not eligible.
Internal Submission Deadline: Thursday, January 23, 2025
https://psu.infoready4.com/CompetitionSpace/#competitionDetail/1960197
Pennsylvania Sea Grant College Program
The Pennsylvania Sea Grant College Program is currently soliciting proposals for its next two-year research funding cycle, which begins February 1, 2026, and ends January 31, 2028. Relevant research topics and information about the format and timetable for submitting pre-proposals and proposals are included in the Request for Proposal. Pennsylvania researchers are invited to submit pre-proposals which focus on Pennsylvania’s coasts and watersheds within the Lake Erie watershed, and Susquehanna and Delaware River Basins. Projects should be relevant to Pennsylvania Sea Grant’s Strategic Plan and reflect the goals in the focus areas of healthy coastal ecosystems, resilient communities and economies, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and environmental literacy and workforce developments.
Deadline: February 14, 2025
https://seagrant.psu.edu/research/resources-for-researchers/
Burroughs Wellcome Fund Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers Award
This program is meant to support institutions or consortia that have already begun to work toward taking on the problem of climate’s impact on health. Consortia might include neighboring institutions with already established collaborations, but of more relevance to this RFP are consortia of institutions united by common interests, for example in the health of residents of the Appalachian Mountains or the Great Lakes region, an urban focus, or a focus on rural life, etc.
Deadline: August 7, 2025