Funding opportunities for early career faculty:
The Research Development team has compiled a list of research funding opportunities specifically geared toward junior faculty.
- Click here to download an Excel file of opportunities for researchers in the humanities, life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, and social sciences.
- Includes opportunities from federal, foundation, and non-profit sponsors.
- Sort or filter the list by sponsor, discipline/research area, and submission deadline.
Note: For opportunities marked "Limited Submission," please contact Cornell Limited Submissions (ovpr_limited_submissions@cornell.edu) for details about the university's internal selection process.
Foundation Funding
Search Tools
- Foundation Directory: The Directory provides information about U.S. private and public foundations, including organization profiles, links to foundation websites, and funding opportunities. Users can subscribe to the "Philanthropy News Digest" to receive timely updates about new funding opportunities. Access to the Foundation Directory is provided by the Cornell University Library.
Grant Forward: A searchable database of grants from over 14,000 sponsors, including foundations. Search by keywords and advanced filters. Save your favorite searches to receive alerts about new grants, and save your favorite grants to keep track of them. GrantForward also recommends grants based on your CV, past publications, and research interests. Cornell University subscribes to GrantForward. Faculty, students and staff with a Cornell netID have free full access. Sign up here using your cornell.edu email.
The Science Philanthropy Alliance provides overviews of areas of interest, approaches, and funding opportunities from several of its member organizations (such as the Sloan Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and more). Visit the Alliance Member Priorities webpage.
Tips for Writing Proposals for Foundation Grants
- Research and make the right fit.
- One of the most common reasons applications are rejected is not fitting with the funder's interests, goals, and priorities. Tailor your proposal to the specific funder's guidelines and interests.
- Funders really want to know:
- How will they benefit from investing in your research program? How will it help them achieve their goals?
- Why should they care? (The "so what?" factor.)
- Why are you the best one to do the work?
- How will you sustain the work after the funds are gone?
- Write an Executive Summary - Even if it's not required by a funder, an Executive Summary is good to have on-hand to share with potential funders and program managers. It should be clear and concise, and grab the reader's attention immediately.
Federal Agencies
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Research Programs
The NEH Division of Research supports scholarly research that advances knowledge and understanding of the humanities. Awards are made to scholars (individuals, collaborative teams, or institutions) working on research projects of significance to specific humanities fields and to the humanities as a whole. Opportunities include the Fellowships, Collaborative Research, and Summer Stipends programs. Learn more here.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Early Stage Investigator (ESI) Status
NIH defines an Early Stage Investigator (ESI) as a Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) who has completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award. Click here to learn more about NIH ESI Policies.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
The foundation-wide Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) offers the NSF's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. In addition, early career researchers are eligible (and encouraged) to compete for NSF core grants and special initiatives - the article NSF 101: Funding opportunities for early career researchers describes several of these opportunities.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) New Investigator Grants
The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the nation’s leading competitive grants program for the food and agricultural sciences. Within AFRI there are specific opportunities for early career professionals that meet the USDA's eligibility criteria for New Investigators. There are two types of New Investigator Grants available: Standard Grants and Seed Grants. To learn more about USDA New Investigator grants, click here.
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
DOD's Young Investigator Programs (or, YIPs) support the research of early career faculty, with the long-term goal of developing the next generation of academic scientists, engineers and mathematicians in strategic disciplines whose research aligns with agency missions and priorities. Visit our Working with DOD webpage for resources and information about agencies and programs.
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
DOE’s Office of Science is the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Its Early Career Research Program supports outstanding scientists, early in their careers, whose research falls within the programmatic priorities of the Office of Science. Click here for more information.
Volunteer to be a reviewer
In addition to providing a great service, reviewers benefit by gaining first-hand knowledge about the peer review process, learn common problems with proposals, and have opportunities to network with agency program officers and new colleagues.
NEH Peer Review Panels: The NEH is always looking for scholars, humanities center staff, and other experts to serve as peer reviewers. Lean about the NEH application review process and sign-up to be an NEH review panelist here.
NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) Early Career Reviewer (ECR) Program: The NIH ECR Program aims to help early-career scientists (Assistant Professor level or equivalent) become more competitive as grant applicants through first-hand experience with peer review and to enrich and diversify the CSR's pool of trained reviewers. Learn more here.
- NSF Reviewer Program: Send an e-mail to the NSF program officer(s) of the program(s) that fits your expertise. Introduce yourself and identify your areas of expertise, share your CV, and let them know that you are interested in becoming a peer reviewer. Learn more about the NSF Reviewer Program here.
- USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Peer Review Panels: NIFA convenes peer review panels comprised of research, education, extension, and other subject matter experts to review competitive grant proposals. Peer review panelists are selected based on their expertise, credentials, and NIFA panel needs. Contact the program staff listed in Request for Applications or volunteer via the Peer Review system. Learn more here.
- Volunteer to be a NASA STMD reviewer: Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is seeking subject matter experts to provide electronic reviews and to engage in discussions at in-person and virtual panel meetings. Early career researchers are welcome. STMD reviewer forms.
