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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEH Humanities Initiatives | 5/6/25 (optional draft due 3/25) | Humanities Initiatives grants can help strengthen the teaching and study of the humanities at colleges and universities by supporting the development of new or improvement of existing humanities programs, educational resources, or coursework. | up to $150,000 |
| Spencer Large Research Grants | 5/14/25 (LoI) 6/17/25 (Full Proposal) |
This program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. It is "field-initiated" in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. | $125,000 to $500,000 |
| VIA Art Artistic Production Grants | 5/15/25 (LoI) | Artistic Production grants fund the production and exhibition of new artistic commissions. Often exhibited beyond museum walls in public space, funded projects feature high levels of thought leadership, artistic production, and public engagement. | $25,000 to $100,000 |
| NEA Grants for Arts Projects | Part 1: 7/10/25 Part 2: 7/22/25 |
Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) provides project-based funding in several disciplines, including literary arts, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts. Eligible project types vary by discipline; you can find more information at NEA's website. | $10,000 to $100,000 |
| NSF Linguistics Program | 7/15/25 | The Linguistics Program supports basic science in the domain of human language, encompassing investigations of the grammatical properties of individual human languages, and of natural language in general. Research areas include syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics and phonology. | Varies depending on project types |
| NSF Science and Technology Studies | 8/4/25 | The STS program supports proposals across a broad spectrum of research that uses historical, philosophical and social scientific methods to investigate STEM theory and practice. STS research may be empirical or conceptual; specifically, it may focus on the intellectual, material or social facets of STEM including interdisciplinary studies of ethics, equity, governance and policy issues. | Varies depending on project types |
| Templeton Foundation Open Funding Inquiry | 8/15/25 | The Templeton Foundation funds research “that inspire people with awe and wonder.” Funding areas include Character Virtue Development; Religion, Science, & Society; and Public Engagement. Templeton invites funding inquiries on a rolling basis, but they are reviewed annually at this time. | Varies |
| Robert Wood Johnson Fdn Exploring Equitable Futures | rolling through 10/15/25 |
This call for proposals supports projects that seed new and unconventional ideas that could radically advance health equity for generations to come. The foundation seeks to fund projects that We aim to fund projects that:
|
Varies |
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 2024
- Public Humanities Research, last update July 2024
- Funding Opportunities for Collaborative Research from the National Endowment for the Humanities, last update May 2023
- Recurring Limited Submissions Programs
Other Resources
- Pursuing Extramural Funding - A Primer for Faculty in the Humanities, Arts, and Interpretive Social Sciences: This resource, created by RDO for Stanford faculty in the Humanities, Arts, and Interpretive Social Sciences, provides a general overview of the process of applying for extramural funding as a Principal Investigator (PI) at Stanford.
- 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.
- DoResearch's Find Funding links to university-supported resources, including Pivot and grants.gov, that allow the user to search funding opportunities in their area(s) of interest.
- The National Research Council (NRC) has identified a list of awards in a range of disciplines that include research/scholarship awards, fellowships, and memberships in honorary societies.
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.