Funding Announcements

Please find below additional research funding opportunities, along with dates for upcoming informational webinars.

Nathan Shock Centers - Pilot Awards │ November 5

Charles A. King Trust Fellowship Award │ November 6

Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Research Fund │ October 30 Office Hours

The Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Research Fund, managed by Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, is accepting proposals for its current funding cycle. Established in 1947, the fund supports non-profit and academic organizations in Greater Boston that serve children and adolescents with chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional disabilities.

The fund prioritizes:

Community-led projects
Community-based participatory research
Racial and health equity-focused initiatives

Projects may involve pilot studies, research, or evaluations aimed at improving quality of life for youth with disabilities.

Award Amount: Up to $160,000 over two years.

Eligibility Summary: To be eligible for funding from the Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Research Fund, projects must meet the following criteria:

Target Population: Children and adolescents (birth to 23 years old) with chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional disabilities requiring long-term or interdisciplinary support services.
Inclusion & Diversity: The research team must include individuals with disabilities and consider intersectionality with other marginalized identities.
Geographic Requirement: At least 60% of project participants must live within the Fund’s designated Greater Boston area (refer to the official Application Guidelines for the full list of eligible towns and cities).
Applicant Affiliation: Applicants must be affiliated with a nonprofit organization or institution located within the Fund’s geographic area.
Qualifications: No advanced degree is required. Eligible applicants include a broad range of professionals such as medical providers, researchers, educators, therapists, social workers and community members working with children and adolescents with disabilities. Proposals must include at least one team member with research expertise. S. citizenship is not required.

Refer to the Application Guidelines for a complete list of eligibility details.

Office Hours: October 30 at 1-2 p.m. ET
Registration Required.

Deadlines:

Initial Proposal Deadline: Thursday, December 4, by 12 Noon ET
Full Proposal Deadline (by invitation): TBD, Spring 2026
Funding Period: September 1, 2026 – August 31, 2028

Gates Foundation (GC) Accelerating the Development of Innovative, Exceptionally Low-Cost Maternal and Child Nutrient Ingredients and Products │ November 12 Webinar

Gates Foundation (GC) Accelerating Innovation in Vaginal Formulations in Support of Women's Health │ November 20 Webinar

Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center - Pilot Grants │ November 21 ADRC Research Day

The Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (BU ADRC) Pilot Grants invites proposals for innovative research in biomedical, epidemiological, behavioral, legal, ethical, health systems, or other areas related to Alzheimer’s disease.

Funding: Two NIH-funded awards of $25,000 in direct costs for one-year, non-renewable studies. Grant Mechanism: Development Grants (NIH-funded, P30-AG072978)
Purpose: To support new investigators entering the ADRD field and pilot studies generating preliminary data for future grant applications.
Not Eligible: Established investigators seeking to expand or supplement existing funded projects.
Eligible Applicants: Assistant professors, instructors, postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, or senior investigators new to ADRD research.

ADRC Research Day

Join us in person on November 21, in the Hiebert Lounge to learn more about BU ADRC Pilot Programs and the grant application process.

Why attend: Get details about the Pilot Grant, ask questions, and network with fellow researchers.

RSVP and indicate if you’ll present a poster.

Submission Guidelines

Deadline: January 23, 2026
Format: Submit a single PDF using the NIH PHS 398 form.

Proposal Requirements

Title Page: Grant program name and proposal title
Research Plan: Specific aims, background, preliminary results, and experimental methods (max. 5 pages, excluding references)
Key Personnel: Biosketch(es)
Budget: Detailed budget and justification
Advisor Letter: Required for postdoctoral and student applicants

No appendices allowed.
If involving human subjects, include a Target Enrollment form.
Department or administrative signatures are not required.
Email the completed proposal to sheppard@bu.edu.

Review & Funding

Proposals will be reviewed by at least two experts and scored on scientific merit.
The Executive Committee will make final funding decisions.
Funding period: July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027
No extensions or carry-over of funds permitted.

Additional Considerations

Proposals using BU ADRC resources (e.g., participant registry, brain bank) or addressing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) are strongly encouraged.
Partnerships that support recruitment and retention of diverse research participants are encouraged.
All resulting publications and abstracts must cite NIH grant P30-AG072978.

Contact: Dean Sheppard — sheppard@bu.edu | (561) 312-8174

More details are available under the “For Investigators” tab at bu.edu/alzresearch.

DARPA Expedited Research Innovation Series │ Last day of every month

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in collaboration with the Applied Research Institute (ARI), has updated its long-term open call under the Expedited Research Innovation System (ERIS), now renamed the Expedited Research Innovation Series. This initiative seeks novel technologies, methods, or research that support DARPA-related objectives. Submitted ideas, presented via video pitches, will be evaluated and curated for potential rapid funding and acquisition by the Department of Defense. The update includes new ERIS topic areas and revised selection criteria.

The updated ERIS call introduces new topic areas:

Detecting and tracking elusive objects across air, land, and space domains
Overcoming limitations of current sensing systems
Enhancing resilience, efficiency, and effectiveness of strategic systems
Defending against chemical and biological threats (natural or human-made)
Optimizing human health and performance across all phases of military operations
Developing innovative methods and metrology for complex, emergent, and adaptive systems, including:
Scalable quantum-aware metrology
Engineering materials across length scales
Designing adaptive, resilient human–AI ecosystems

Applicants must submit a video pitch (max seven minutes) outlining a DARPA-relevant problem, potential innovations, team expertise, and market impact. Selected pitches will be featured in the ERIS Marketplace for 12 months, allowing DARPA and other DoD entities to review and rapidly acquire promising technologies. DARPA recently used this process for its Ag X BTO initiative under the Biological Technologies Office (BTO).

Submission Criteria: DARPA’s updated ERIS submission criteria now include two categories: New Submissions (first-time submissions or those corrected for compliance issues) and Resubmissions (previously peer-reviewed submissions deemed “non-awardable”).

The updated call also includes revised ERIS selection criteria.

Evaluation Criteria: DARPA updated the Evaluation Criteria ERIS video submissions with the following weightings:

Advancing the state of the art – 40%
Team capability – 30%
Problem definition – 20%
Defense or commercial impact – 10%

DARPA emphasizes that being assessed as “awardable” and placed in the ERIS Marketplace does not guarantee a current or future award.

Due Date: ERIS submissions are accepted monthly, with a deadline at noon (ET) on the last day of each month. Early submissions may receive feedback and can resubmit before the deadline if necessary.

Additional information:

Submission checklist: ERIS Checklist v2
Training course: ARI Navigating and Using the DARPA ERIS Marketplace

Contact: Email the ERIS coordinator at eris@darpa.mil

National Science Foundation New Translation to Practice Program │ January 20, 2026

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) new Translation to Practice (TTP) program purpose is to identify and support translational research, develop partnerships between higher education and industry, government, open-source ecosystems and other entities, and advance STEM education and training for all Americans, especially students and post-doctoral researchers. NSF TIP’s goal for translation of research to practice is to ensure that innovations developed through research have tangible and positive impacts for the U.S. such as improving quality of life, promoting economic and job growth, ensuring national security, and maintaining global competitiveness.

The NSF Translation to Practice (TTP) program offers three funding tracks representing different stages of research translation.

TTP-Explore (TTP-E): For researchers with active NSF awards to pursue early, high-risk translational work. Offers up to two years of extended funding. Requires pre-approval from the NSF Program Officer.
TTP-Translate (TTP-T): Supports use-inspired research and translational activities like prototyping and community engagement. No prior NSF funding required, but awardees must complete I-Corps training.
TTP-Partner (TTP-P): Funds projects involving strategic partnerships beyond academia (e.g., industry, government) to support commercialization. Requires collaboration with an NSF-Catalyzed Partner and inclusion of their personnel on the proposal.

NSF emphasizes that TTP tracks are independent and applicants should choose the track that aligns with their innovation’s maturity. While NSF Catalyzed Partnerships are only required for the TTP-Partner track, they are allowed and strongly encouraged in TTP-Explore and TTP-Translate proposals. NSF also plans to pursue direct partnerships with external stakeholders for potential co-funding and may issue additional Dear Colleague Letters to announce future partner-specific TTP opportunities.

Total Funding and Award Size: NSF expects to award $30M across 29 projects. Award limits by track are:

TTP-Explore: Up to $600,000
TTP-Translate: Up to $1.2M (36 months),
TTP-Partner: Up to $2M (48 months)

Each PI or Co-PI may submit only one TTP proposal at a time across all tracks. PIs must hold a full-time research, teaching position. They must wait for a decision on any submitted TTP proposal before applying again.

Due Dates:

TTP-Explore (TTP-E): Rolling submission, allowed anytime after email approval from the NSF Program Officer.
TTP-Translate (TTP-T) and TTP-Partner (TTP-P): Submit on the third Tuesday of September, January, and May each year.
- Upcoming deadlines:
  - Sept. 16, 2025
  - Jan. 20, 2026
  - May 19, 2026

Webinars: Register for the NSF TTP informational webinars to be held July 22 and Aug. 12, at 2 p.m. ET.

If you have any questions about these funding opportunities contact us.