Selected Open Funding Opportunities
RDO curates this list of open funding opportunities in the Humanities, Arts, and Interpretive Social Sciences to highlight large, collaborative, and/or strategic funding opportunities that may be of particular interest to the Stanford community. Opportunity descriptions have been compiled from funder announcements, program solicitations, and CFR. This page will be updated regularly to spotlight new opportunities. See RDO's archive (SUNet ID required) for opportunities previously featured on this list.
| Title/Sponsor | Deadline | Description | Amount/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schmidt Sciences Humanities & AI Virtual Institute | 3/13/26 | This program is aimed at fostering research in the digital humanities with a particular focus on artificial intelligence. Ideal projects will have co-PIs with expertises from both the humanities and AI and will address research questions from both domains, advancing both AI capabilities and humanities scholarship. |
|
| NEA Research Grants in the Arts | 3/23/36 | These grants support research studies that investigate the value and/or impact of the arts in American life. | $20,000 - $100,000 (1:1 match required) |
Federal (and some non-federal) opportunities are subject to the university's Facilities & Administration (F&A) cost rates. For many foundation funders, the university has approved lower rates, which can be found in the Pre-Approved IDC Exception List.
For some foundations you must request clearance to apply. Be sure to check CFR's Clearance Restricted Foundations list before submitting a letter of inquiry or proposal.
Recurring Funding Opportunities by Topic
- Digital Humanities Research, last update June 2025
- Public Humanities Research, last update June 2025
- Recurring Limited Submissions Programs
Other Resources
- RDO Arts & Humanities Funding Newsletter: This newsletter features timely, curated internal and external funding opportunities to support scholarly endeavors in these fields.
- Navigating Grant Preparation at Stanford provides guides from our team on how to submit grants as a Stanford PI and how to conceptualize and solicit institutional support.
- Stanford University's Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) maintains a more comprehensive list of foundation funding opportunities. The CFR team can also provide insight around funding priorities and application processes for private funders, as well as tailored prospect research.
- RDO's Funding Search Databases links to resources such as GrantForward and grants.gov that allow the user to search funding opportunities in their area(s) of interest.
Funding Opportunities in Other Disciplines
- The RDO team also curates a list of funding opportunities for researchers in STEM*, including social scientists who employ quantitative methods.
- The Research Management Group at Stanford's School of Medicine keeps a list of funding opportunities for medical researchers.