Limited Submission Opportunities Portal

The primary objective of the National Science Foundation’s Energy Water Security Initiative (EWSI) is to secure American energy and national infrastructure resilience by producing measurable reductions in vulnerabilities where water scarcity threatens energy production, baseload stability, and industrial water extraction. This effort aims to accelerate deployment of technical solutions, with a priority focus on the systemic crisis within the Colorado River Basin. The NSF Energy Water Security Initiative seeks to develop the critical framework needed for research and development and accelerated, high-impact deployment. This initiative implements a two-phase program. Phase 1 awardees receive resources to develop consortia comprising multi-sector partnerships that can deliver on the goals of this initiative. Consortia should include regional partners and provide the collaborative infrastructure needed to accelerate development and deployment of technical capabilities. Phase 2 awardees will receive significant resources to expand the scale of projects leading to rapid completion and deployment of secure, public-domain technologies.

Managing Unit: VPDoR

$550,000 limited submission funding opportunity for early career biomedical scholars. Stanford Assistant Professors with UTL, UML, NTLR appointments in the early years of their tenure track faculty appointments from any school may be nominated. The Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Program funds biomedical research in the fields of cancer, immunology, and neuroscience. Candidates must have completed their training and provided persuasive evidence of distinguished achievement or extraordinary promise in research in one of the relevant fields.

Managing Unit: SoM

The Schmidt Science Polymaths Program supports recently tenured faculty with extraordinary track records and bold, creative visions for exploring entirely new lines of research that are clearly distinct from their prior work. These grants are designed for “polymath” researchers, those who cross disciplinary boundaries and apply insights in unconventional ways, to pursue high-risk, underexplored ideas unlikely to receive traditional funding.
The program invests in individuals, not specific projects, and seeks candidates who are intensely creative, willing to take adventurous leaps, and capable of generating transformative breakthroughs. Successful nominees are not simply excellent scientists—they exhibit high-variance thinking, a strong desire to pivot into new research domains, and the courage to test “big if true” ideas. Proposals should reflect future research directions and describe the kinds of questions they want to explore if traditional constraints were removed.

Managing Unit: VPDoR

The primary goal of each S-STEM Research Hub is to support and carry out high-quality, innovative research on the factors, structures or interventions involved in supporting and promoting the success of domestic low-income undergraduate and graduate STEM students, regardless of other demographic factors. In addition, proposals aiming to investigate other STEM-related questions or issues but not focused on low-income student success, including those focused on the development of new STEM curriculum or academic programs, or specific research opportunities for undergraduates in some STEM-related topic, are not appropriate for the S-STEM-Hub funding opportunity and will be returned without review.

S-STEM Research Hubs are primarily formed to organize groups of researchers to conduct and disseminate rigorous qualitative and quantitative research on topics related to the S-STEM program and low-income student success. Each Research Hub should have a central focus that intersects a clear group of current and prospective S-STEM institutions.

Managing Unit: VPDoR

The Foundation is seeking highly innovative and groundbreaking medical research proposals from top-tier institutions in both basic biological and applied research that will have the greatest impact on scientific knowledge and human health. Proposals should be distinctive and novel in their approaches, question the prevailing paradigm, and lead to the advancement of knowledge in the field. A highly qualified scientific advisory committee will review all proposals. Medical areas of interest include the following: Allergy and Immunology, Biochemistry, Cardiology, Dermatology, Dietetics, Embryology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Genetics, Hepatology, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Nephrology, Neurology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Personalized Medicine, Psychiatry, Pulmonology, Rheumatology, Toxicology. Stanford faculty with PI eligibility (with UTL, UML, and NTLR appointments) may apply.

Managing Unit: SoM

For nearly three decades, Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation has provided significant financial support to some incredibly promising physician scientists who are applying novel and state-of-the-art techniques to address fundamental problems in the genesis and treatment of blood related cancers. Since 1996, the Foundation has committed nearly $45 million in grants to over 330 junior faculty members at the nation’s leading institutions. These grants continue to be a sign of excellence and represent support for many of the most exciting new scientific ideas in blood cancer research. Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation remains committed to funding innovative, translational proposals and to supporting promising independent early-career investigators, rather than well-established, senior scientists.

Managing Unit: SCI (Stanford Cancer Institute)

To support exceptional postdoctoral researchers in quantum materials who face financial challenges in their current postdoctoral appointment or in securing their next career opportunity.  This program will provide one year of bridge funding, professional development, and networking opportunities that sustain research momentum, foster interdisciplinary collaboration across physics, chemistry, and materials science, and strengthen the pipeline of talent advancing fundamental discoveries in quantum materials.

Managing Unit: VPDoR

The foundation's focus and mission is to “support science-based research, striving to advance a healthy and sustainable human future. It is intended for basic life science research addressing fundamental scientific questions that, when answered, will lead to significant advances in medicine or scientific knowledge.” The foundation is focused on supporting new investigators at the Assistant Professor level as they begin their careers.

Managing Unit: SoM

This NOFO is intended to support activities that promote the America First policy agenda by expanding market access for U.S. agricultural products derived from biotechnology through the removal of barriers to the adoption, use, and trade of these products. Targeted engagement with trading partners and relevant stakeholders is critical to U.S. agricultural exports, and this funding opportunity supports efforts to protect and expand American agricultural production and trade.

The recipient will collaborate with USDA/FAS in the design and implementation of in-person and/or virtual seminars, workshops, and collaborative training events in Africa, Asia, Western Hemisphere/Latin America/Americas and other relevant economic bodies and organizations.

Managing Unit: VPDoR

Instruments funded through this program must be shared among the users to create new research opportunities, enable reproducible data generation, encourage collaborative research and training, and strengthen long-term research capabilities. The minimum award is $50,000. While there is no limit on the total cost of the instrument, the maximum award is $400,000. Eligible instruments include, but are not limited to, mass spectrometers, cell sorters, bioimagers, DNA and protein sequencers, light microscopes, 3D printers, and high-performance computers. Applications for general purpose computer systems (computer clusters and data storage systems) will only be considered if the system is solely dedicated to biomedical research.

Managing Unit: SoM

The Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics is a career development award to enable early-career faculty members to carry out innovative bioethics research. It supports research that goes beyond current work in bioethics to help resolve pressing ethical issues in clinical, biomedical, and public health decision-making, policy, and practice, and creates a community that enhances future bioethics research by Scholars and Alums.

Faculty Scholars will be selected on the basis of the strength of their research project, their commitment to the field of bioethics, their achievements, their potential for growth as a bioethics scholar, and support from their home institution, including after the end of this award. While the amount and quality of an applicant’s research in bioethics will count favorably towards their application, outstanding candidates with less direct experience in bioethics will also be considered when their proposed work aims to advance the bioethics field.

Managing Unit: VPDoR

The Searle Scholars Program supports the career development of early-career scientists who demonstrate exceptional potential and have recently begun tenure-track assistant professor appointments. The program funds high-risk, high-reward independent research across a wide range of scientific disciplines, including biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related fields in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences. While it does not typically support purely clinical research, proposals that combine basic and clinical components may be considered.
Applicants for the 2026 competition (with awards beginning July 1, 2026) must submit a research proposal that builds on their previously described research program and will be evaluated for creativity, feasibility, clarity, and the potential for successful outcomes. Searle Scholars Program funding may supplement, but not replace, support from other sources, and overlapping research is allowed.

Managing Unit: VPDoR