Science & Research Grants for Nonprofits

Washington Headquarters Services · $2.5K–$800K

This Department of Defense program funds research on security cooperation and irregular warfare topics, open to individual researchers (with or without institutional affiliation), academic institutions, think tanks, and federally funded R&D centers; past awardees may reapply. Applicants can submit only one proposal at a time as principal investigator, and research products must be unclassified and made publicly accessible. Awards range from $2,500 to $800,000, and the deadline is not imminent.

U.S. National Science Foundation · $1.5M–$6.5M

This National Science Foundation program funds Mathematical Sciences Research Institutes as national resources that advance research in mathematics and statistics and broaden participation, with awards ranging roughly from $1.5 million to $6.5 million. Only U.S.-based non-profit non-academic research organizations and accredited institutions of higher education may apply; multi-institutional consortia are allowed but one entity must take overall management responsibility. Individuals and for-profit firms are not eligible.

Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command · Amount varies

The Army Applications Lab Broad Agency Announcement funds basic and applied scientific research in defense-relevant areas described in the BAA. Eligibility is unusually broad: institutions of higher education, nonprofits, state and local governments, foreign organizations and public entities, and for-profit businesses (large and small) may all apply. No specific award amount is listed, and projects are selected through full and open competition, so applicants should review the BAA's stated research areas of interest.

National Institute of Standards and Technology · From $10M

This NIST CHIPS R&D Office Broad Agency Announcement funds research, prototyping, and commercial solutions that advance U.S. microelectronics technology, with a stated floor of about $10 million per award. Eligible applicants include for-profit and non-profit organizations, accredited universities, FFRDCs, and federal entities, but they must be domestic; individuals and unincorporated sole proprietors are not eligible. Some foreign partners may participate as subawardees, subject to restrictions (foreign adversaries excluded). Given the large award size, applicants should review the full BAA for compliance requirements.

Munitions Directorate · Up to $750M

This Air Force (Munitions Directorate) Broad Agency Announcement funds research and development supporting air dominance, with a program ceiling reported up to roughly $750 million. Eligibility is described as unrestricted and open to any type of entity, subject to any clarifications in the full announcement, making it broadly accessible to businesses, universities, and nonprofits. Because it is defense-focused R&D, applicants should expect security and compliance requirements and should review the full BAA for specifics.

Naval Supply Systems Command · Amount varies

This Naval Postgraduate School opportunity funds basic and applied STEM research (not hardware procurement or development of a specific system). Eligible applicants are public and private institutions of higher education and 501(c)(3) nonprofits other than universities, so it is restricted to academic and nonprofit research organizations. Applicants are encouraged to first submit a white paper to NPS for feedback before submitting a full proposal through Grants.gov. No award amount is specified.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

The NSF Engineering Environmental Resiliency (EER) program funds fundamental research to advance resource and energy conservation and recovery and to protect the environment and human health, including circular-economy, waste-reuse, contaminant-fate, and related topics. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, open to any type of entity subject to NSF clarifications, though the work is research-oriented and best suited to universities and research organizations. No award amounts or deadline are listed. Projects focused mainly on earth systems or human/social behavior are directed to other NSF directorates.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

An NSF research program open to any type of eligible entity (universities, nonprofits, and other research organizations, per standard NSF rules) studying human-machine interaction in physics-based environments, such as robotics, smart environments, and rehabilitation technology. Eligibility is broadly described as unrestricted, subject to standard NSF proposal rules; no award amount or deadline is listed in this posting.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

An NSF research program open to any type of eligible entity (universities, nonprofits, and other research organizations, per standard NSF rules) funding fundamental research in environmental engineering, including pollution prevention, remediation, and sustainable water treatment. Eligibility is broadly described as unrestricted, subject to standard NSF proposal rules; no award amount or deadline is listed in this posting.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

The NSF Division of Chemistry is piloting no-deadline submission for its Chemistry of Life Processes, Chemical Structure and Dynamics, and Chemical Theory/Computational Methods programs. Eligibility is limited to U.S.-based nonprofit non-academic research organizations (such as independent museums, observatories, and research labs) and accredited U.S. institutions of higher education acting for their faculty; individuals and businesses do not qualify. No specific award amount is listed, and proposals may be submitted at any time.

NSWC CRANE - N00164 · Amount varies

This Navy (NSWC Crane) Broad Agency Announcement seeks innovative research and technology demonstrators in national-security focus areas such as electronic warfare, sensors, hypersonics, and power systems. Eligibility is unrestricted to any entity type, so businesses, nonprofits, universities, and research organizations may propose, though work must align with the Navy's defense mission. No fixed award amount or deadline is stated; proposers are encouraged to contact the listed points of contact before submitting.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

This NSF/NIFA Plant Biotic Interactions program funds research on how plants interact with viruses, bacteria, fungi, pests, and other organisms, spanning fundamental mechanisms through agriculturally relevant applications. Eligible applicants include U.S. nonprofit non-academic research organizations, two- and four-year U.S. institutions of higher education, USDA/NIFA-eligible entities (including state agricultural experiment stations, universities, research foundations, federal agencies, and U.S.-citizen/permanent-resident individuals), and groups of these. Foreign and international organizations are not eligible. Strictly ecological projects without underlying mechanisms are not appropriate. No award range or deadline is listed here.

Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command · $100K–$2.3M

This U.S. Army research program (Tactical Behaviors for Autonomous Maneuver) funds work on robotics and autonomous systems for future multi-domain military operations, with awards ranging from about $100,000 up to roughly $2.3 million to a single entity. Institutions of higher education, for-profit, and non-profit organizations may apply, and FFRDCs may propose subject to their sponsoring agency's policy; teams are allowed but not required. Note the listed proposal dates have passed (Cycle 2 submission was April 24, 2024), so verify whether any cycle remains open before pursuing it.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

This U.S. National Science Foundation program (Chemical Evolution of the Solid Earth and Volcanology) funds fundamental research on the origin and evolution of Earth's core, mantle, and crust, including volcanology, igneous and metamorphic processes, ore deposits, and geochronology. Only U.S.-based institutions of higher education and non-profit, non-academic research organizations (such as museums, observatories, and research laboratories) may submit proposals, so for-profit firms and individuals are not eligible to apply directly. Funding amounts and deadlines are not stated.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

This U.S. National Science Foundation program (Particulate and Multiphase Processes) funds fundamental research on the physics and chemistry of particulate and multiphase systems, including suspensions, granular flows, structured and active fluids, aerosols, and self-assembly processes, with relevance to advanced manufacturing, energy, biotechnology, and environmental sustainability. Eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any entity type), though NSF research awards in practice are typically made to U.S. universities and research organizations. Funding amounts and deadlines are not stated.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

This U.S. National Science Foundation program (Transport Phenomena) funds fundamental research into the transport of mass, momentum, energy, and species across scales, supporting advances in areas such as AI, manufacturing, biotechnology, microelectronics, and energy. Eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any entity type), though NSF research awards are typically made to U.S. universities and research organizations through experiments, theory, and computational modeling. Funding amounts and deadlines are not stated.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

The NSF STEM K-12 program funds fundamental, applied, and translational research that advances STEM teaching and learning across formal and informal settings. Proposals may only be submitted by U.S.-based for-profit organizations (including small businesses) with R&D capacity, non-profit non-academic organizations tied to education or research (e.g., museums, research labs, professional societies), state and local governments, accredited U.S. institutions of higher education, and federally recognized tribal nations. Individuals and most general nonprofits without a research/education tie are not eligible; no specific award amount or deadline is listed here.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

This NSF program funds foundational robotics research and is explicitly open to any type of entity, though proposals must clearly justify the research as centered on robots and address fundamental gaps in robotics science rather than routine engineering. No specific award amount or deadline is listed. Best suited to researchers and research institutions rather than general nonprofits or businesses, despite the broad formal eligibility language.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

Eligibility is unrestricted (open to any entity type, subject to NSF clarifications) for this National Science Foundation Dynamics, Control and Systems Diagnostics program. It supports fundamental theoretical, computational, and experimental research on modeling, analysis, diagnostics, and control of dynamic systems. No fixed award amount or deadline is listed; PIs are encouraged to email a one-page project summary for feedback, and standard NSF limits on foreign organizations apply, so awards generally go to U.S. institutions.

U.S. National Science Foundation · Amount varies

Eligibility is unrestricted (open to any entity type, subject to NSF clarifications) for this National Science Foundation Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems program. It funds innovative research in circuit and system hardware, signal processing, communications, and sensing systems across applications such as healthcare, communications, transportation, energy, and security. No fixed award amount or deadline is stated, and standard NSF limits on foreign organizations apply, so awards typically go to U.S. institutions.