Research at Brandeis

Finding Funding

Faculty and Staff  |  Students  |  Additional Opportunities and Resources

At the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, we encourage researchers to apply for funding, participate in workshops, and engage in the research process at every stage.

The list below is not a complete list of opportunities. For more comprehensive funding opportunity searches the library now provides access to an aid for locating and securing research funding. Pivot™ answers the growing demands on research developers to quickly discover the right funding opportunities and effectively collaborate with their colleagues. Enter search terms or browse by keyword to explore the latest funding opportunities and research trends. Brandeis Researchers can create an account to manage active or tracked funding opportunities, save searches, share opportunities, and save funding records and funding searches.

Here are some additional resources about Pivot:

The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) also maintains a comprehensive list of additional funding opportunity databases available to Brandeis faculty and staff, and a calendar of recurring foundation RFPs in all fields.

To enable the maintenance and expansion of research programs, InfoEd Global has shared this library of COVID-19 funding opportunities and resources. This database contains nearly 40,000 government, foundation, and industry sponsored opportunities.

For Faculty and Staff

September 28, 2022

This program supports outstanding scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. Given the disproportionate effect the current economic downturn has had on emerging, independent, and untenured scholars, ACLS continued in the 2022-23 competition year to offer these fellowships solely to untenured scholars who have earned the PhD within eight years of the application deadline. In addition, applicants for the ACLS Fellowship are eligible to apply for the ACLS/New York Public Library Fellowships. This joint fellowship requires a separate application to the Cullman Center, due in late September.

October 1, 2022

Brandeis faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students in any discipline whose research or creative activity addresses the questions, issues, and/or needs of a community partner —whether at the local, state, regional, national, or global level — are invited to apply to the COMPACT Community Engaged Research Fund.

The goal of this fund is to support recipients in building sustainable and ethical projects with community partners. This program offers up to $3,500 in seed funding for projects during the 2022-2023 academic year. Applications will be reviewed starting October 1st; a second round of review will commence on December 1st if funds remain. All recipients will be invited to join the COMPACT Community of Practice.

October 5, 2022

The Charles H. Hood Foundation was incorporated in 1942 to improve the health and quality of life for children throughout New England. Today's research projects encompass many disciplines that have contributed to discoveries in pediatric medicine while launching the careers of promising junior faculty. The intent of the Award is to support newly independent faculty, provide the opportunity to demonstrate creativity, and assist in the transition to other sources of funding. Research projects must have direct relevance to child health.

October 13, 2022

Approximately 50 early-career faculty will be invited to participate as Fellows, with early career spanning the time from the first year on the faculty through recently post-tenure. To nominate yourself or another early-career scientist, please contact the program director or use the Scialog Fellow Nomination Form.

Becoming a Scialog Fellow positions the awardee for future research awards in the same Scialog field.

October 19, 2022

The purpose of the Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (MSPRF) is to support future leaders in mathematics and statistics by facilitating their participation in postdoctoral research environments that will have maximal impact on their future scientific development. There are two options for awardees: Research Fellowship and Research Instructorship. Awards will support research in areas of mathematics and statistics, including applications to other disciplines.

November 3, 2022

The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas supported by BIO and with special goals for human resource development in biology. For applications under this solicitation, these areas are (1) Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology, (2) Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes, and (3) Plant Genome Postdoctoral Research Fellowships.

January 26, 2023

The Launching Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS) call has an emphasis to help launch the careers of pre-tenure faculty in Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) fields at institutions that do not traditionally receive significant amounts of NSF-MPS funding, such as some minority-serving institutions (MSIs), predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and Carnegie Research 2 (R2) universities. LEAPS-MPS has the additional goal of achieving excellence through diversity and aims to broaden participation to include members from groups historically excluded and currently underrepresented in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences, including Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Native Pacific Islanders.

These grants are intended to support MPS principal investigators, particularly at the aforementioned institutions, for whom LEAPS funding would enable the PI to submit a subsequent successful proposal to a traditional, already-existing NSF funding opportunity, such as individual investigator programs, CAREER competitions, etc. By providing this funding opportunity, MPS intends to help initiate viable independent research programs for researchers attempting to launch their research careers such that LEAPS-MPS awards are followed by competitive grant submissions that build upon the research launched through this mechanism. This LEAPS-MPS solicitation welcomes proposals from principal investigators who share NSF's commitment to diversity.

March 1, 2023

The MCA program offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers at the mid-career stage to substantively enhance and advance their research program and career trajectory. Mid-career scientists are at a critical career transition stage where they need to advance their research programs to ensure long-term productivity and creativity but are often constrained by service, teaching, or other activities that limit the amount of time devoted to research. MCA support is expected to help lift these constraints to reduce workload inequities and enable a more diverse scientific workforce (more women, persons with disabilities, and individuals from groups that have been underrepresented) at high academic ranks.

December 1, 2023

The Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation is a permanent charitable trust fund established under the will of Jasper Whiting, a resident of Dublin, New Hampshire, who died on August 18, 1941. Mr. Whiting left the residue of his estate to the Foundation, as did his wife, Marion, a resident of Boston, Massachusetts, who died on January 28, 1965. The Foundation began awarding annual fellowships after Mrs. Whiting's death. In 2023, the trustees received 104 applications and made 42 awards totaling $256,409.52, or approximately $6,105 per fellowship.

The primary purpose of the Foundation is to award fellowships to present and prospective teachers, with an emphasis on present teachers at the college or university level, to enable them to study abroad or at some location or locations other than that with which they are most closely associated. The aim is to stimulate and broaden the minds of teachers so as to improve and enhance the quality of their instruction. Grants are primarily for travel and related expenses and not as salary substitutes, scholarships or grants in aid. According to Mr. Whiting's will, the benefits under the Foundation are to be conferred at the sole discretion of the trustees but shall not at any time be denied for reasons of race, color, nationality, religion or sex.

For Students

The Undergraduate Research and Creative Collaborations Office (URCC) recently launched ForagerOne, a new integrated system and searchable database, to connect undergraduates with research opportunities and faculty mentors. Detailed information including instructional videos are available for students who are interested in undergraduate research fellowships and grants, paid research assistant jobs, and faculty mentors; and faculty who would like to connect with students and potential faculty collaborators at Brandeis. To get started, undergraduates and faculty can visit ForagerOne, click on “Log In” in the top right, select Brandeis from the list and log in with your Brandeis credentials. If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Lynch.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers many resources for graduate student fellowships and grants.

Links to resources curated to support undergraduate research.

Brandeis University's Hiatt Career Center provides opportunities to support your research. See especially the Internship and Research Grants.

Financial support for research is available at Brandeis. Find targeted information for social scientists about external funding opportunities, and the staff on campus who can assist.

Find out more about opportunities across campus to fund your research and creative work.

  • Additional research opportunities for undergraduates at Academic Services, or
  • Research opportunities for undergraduates in Biology.

Brandeis Science Communication Lab (the CommLab)

Brandeis' Communication Lab is open

We are excited to announce the opening of a new Division of Science resource called the Brandeis Science Communication Lab (the CommLab)!

The CommLab's trained graduate student and postdoc Communication Fellows offer individual coaching, targeted workshops, and a range of initiatives to support the Brandeis scientific community with the skills they need to communicate the rationale, process and results of their incredible science to any audience in written, spoken or visual form.

We invite any Division of Science undergraduate student, graduate student, postdoc, laboratory-staff or faculty person to make a coaching appointment to review any scientific work involving communication: posters, scientific talks, journal articles, resumes, fellowship applications, and more. Use us anywhere from brainstorming to final edits – the earlier the better. To learn more, make an appointment, or read the fellow bios, check out our website.

The CommLab is supported by the Division of Science, the Brandeis MRSEC, the Office of Vice Provost for Research, the Neuroscience Training grants, and the Departments of Biology, Physics and Chemistry.