Funding Opportunities

On this page:

For students, please see How to Find Support to Do Student Research.

Extramural

The following external sources provide grants to higher education institutions. ORED's Government Funding Opportunities contains additional information.

Federal Funding Agencies

Major federal agencies that fund basic research are provided below. These agencies provide search engines or pages within their sites to assist you in finding appropriate divisions that may be interested in your research idea.

NSF funds approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted at America's colleges and universities.

The primary funder of biomedical research related to human health and disease.

NIFA is a federal agency within the and is part of USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics mission area. The agency administers federal funding to address agricultural  issues.

The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment. Every year, EPA awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants and other assistance agreements.

Web-based Services and Search Engines

 In addition, there are several web-based services that summarize and catalog funding opportunities and provide useful search engines.

  • is ºÚÁÏÍø's web submission portal provides a search engine to find funding opportunities. Cayuse 424 is also the system used to electronically prepare and submit grant proposals.
  • lists all current discretionary funding opportunities from 26 agencies of the United States government, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and many others.
  • is a resource from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities that summarizes funding opportunities, rules and regulations, relevant to sponsored programs and research administration activities on Grants Resource Center (GRC) member campuses. Information is from Grants.gov, the Federal Register, and Federal Business in STEM disciplines.
  • features a searchable database of federal assistance listings and subaward reports. You can find federally funded programs offering grants, loans, cooperative agreements, or subaward reports distributed on federal awards.
  • contains detailed and current information about government and private funding opportunities.

ORED's External Sponsor Resources may contain information about additional services that are available.

State and Regional Funding Agencies

The State of California has several research funding agencies.

The ARB offer California businesses a number of compliance resources including training courses, assistance with permitting, and referrals to financial assistance, including grant programs for early compliance with some regulations. Compliance assistance is sometimes offered through the enforcement division of a District or ARB.

The California Department of Education operates a large number of programs that provide funds to schools and other organizations for a variety of educational purposes.

As the state's primary energy policy and planning agency, the California Energy Commission is committed to reducing energy costs and environmental impacts of energy use - such as greenhouse gas emissions - while ensuring a safe, resilient, and reliable supply of energy.

The mission of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment is to protect and enhance public health and the environment by scientific evaluation of risks posed by hazardous substances.

CalEPA's mission is to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality and economic vitality. It fulfills its mission by developing, implementing and enforcing environmental laws that regulate air, water and soil quality, pesticide use and waste recycling and reduction. Its departments are at the forefront of environmental science, using the most recent research to shape the state's environmental laws.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture strives to support the tradition of innovation and agricultural diversity by working with private industry, academia and public sector agencies. These partnerships allow the department to adapt public policy to a rapidly changing industry - California agriculture.

Caltrans manages more than 50,000 miles of California's highway and freeway lanes, provides inter-city rail services, permits more than 400 public-use airports and special-use hospital heliports, and works with local agencies. Caltrans carries out its mission with six primary programs: Aeronautics, Highway Transportation, Mass Transportation, Transportation Planning, Administration and the Equipment Service Center.

The mission of the California Department of Water Resources is to manage the water resources of California in cooperation with other agencies, to benefit the State's people and to protect, restore and enhance the natural and human environments.

Intramural

The following internal funding sources support research, scholarship, and other activities.

ºÚÁÏÍø Organizations

Most of the opportunities below are managed by ºÚÁÏÍø's Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED).

Research and Scholarly Activity Awards (RSCA)

ºÚÁÏÍø funding for RSCA (either assigned time or small faculty grants) is awarded through a competitive process at the college level. Proposals are generally due in November and submitted through InfoReady. See ORED's Internal ºÚÁÏÍø Funding Opportunities for more information.

Mini-Grant and Summer Stipend (MGSS)

ºÚÁÏÍø funding for MGSS is awarded through a competitive process managed by ORSP and dictated by the policy and regulations mandated by the legislature and the Chancellor's office. Proposals are generally due in November and submitted through InfoReady. See ORED's Internal ºÚÁÏÍø Funding Opportunities for more information.

ORED Internal Grants

ORED accepts proposals for internal grants to help faculty prepare proposals for major external funding. ORED encourages multidisciplinary research collaborations and partnerships. This grant program is open to ºÚÁÏÍø tenured or tenure-track faculty members. Past award recipients must have submitted both a final report and a full length, external grant application through ORED based upon the award in order to be eligible for funding. Proposals are due in February and submitted through InfoReady. See ORED's Internal ºÚÁÏÍø Funding Opportunities for more information.

The METRANS Transportation Consortium is a joint partnership of the University of Southern California (USC) and ºÚÁÏÍø(ºÚÁÏÍø). METRANS funds research on transportation issues within large metropolitan areas and contributes to our knowledge base through the development of improved technology, policies, operations, or management practices.

CSU System-wide Research Funding Initiatives

The opportunities below are managed by the .

CSU Biotechnology (CSUBIOTECH) is a committed network of faculty, deans and presidents representing the CSU’s 23 campuses. Together, their work champions biotechnology innovation and helps students embark on life science careers through experiential learning opportunities.​

COAST is the umbrella organization for marine, coastal and coastal watershed-related activities within CSU.