Who funds them, what they fund and how to apply.
AFWERX's SBIR/STTR program funds dual-use technology for the U.S. Air Force through Open Topic, Specific Topic, and STRATFI/TACFI scale-up solicitation tracks, released as continuous numbered cycles (e.g. "26.BZ"). Specific Topic 26.BZ and 26.TZ Release 5 is open through 23 September 2026.
A $100 million Bezos Earth Fund initiative funding projects that apply AI to sustainable proteins, power grid optimization, and biodiversity conservation. It runs in two phases: Phase I seed grants of $50,000 to up to 30 grantees (submissions closed August 13, 2024), followed by Phase II implementation grants of up to $2 million to 15 grantees. Eligible applicants include US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits and academic institutions globally.
Renaissance Philanthropy fund applying AI and machine learning to mathematical research: new ML paradigms for mathematical discovery, tools and infrastructure for mathematicians, automated theorem proving and AI-assisted proof development, and open mathematical datasets/benchmarks. All funded code, datasets, and research outputs must be open-access with preprints in public repositories. Initial $9M round expanded by $13M announced March 2026; main grants of $100K-$1M for 12-24 months, plus $20K-$30K summer fellowships and up to $100K seed grants for early-stage work.
The Frontier Model Forum's AI Safety Fund awards grants to independent researchers at academic institutions, research institutions, NGOs, and mission-driven for-profits, for research addressing critical safety and security risks of frontier AI models and enabling standardized third-party evaluations. Proposed budgets are capped at $500,000 per grant, and rounds run as periodic competitive RFPs rather than rolling applications.
AI-BOOST's 2026 AI Challenge Competition runs four generative AI challenges in two application windows. Each challenge awards five EUR 28,500 Spark prizes, a EUR 100,000 final prize, and two EUR 12,500 special awards.
OpenSSF project that funds security work on critical open-source projects, foundations, and ecosystem services that use an OSI-approved license. Applications follow a four-quarter seasonal calendar: submissions in January, April, July, and October, then a month of co-design and a month of decision and disbursement. Recipients publish monthly reports and join monthly strategy roundtables. A March 2026 coalition investment of $12.5 million is managed with OpenSSF; Alpha-Omega reports more than 70 grants totaling over $20 million.
Amazon Research Awards give university researchers up to $100,000 in unrestricted funds plus up to $50,000 in AWS Promotional Credits, awarded across periodic calls for proposals.
12-18 month fully funded residency for scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs across Neuro-AI, AI-enabled life sciences, open science, and public-goods infrastructure; $125k-$250k/yr salary plus $0-$1.5M per-project budget. Application cycles run about twice a year.
NIH PAR-27-024 funds late-stage optimization and sustainable dissemination of research technologies and software via the RM1 mechanism. Recurring receipt dates run through 2029: 29 Sep 2026, 28 Jan 2027, 28 May 2027, 28 Jan 2028, 26 May 2028, and 29 Jan 2029.
Annual global challenge mobilizing developers to build AI solutions to urgent global issues (climate, public health, justice/human rights), run with UN Human Rights and The Linux Foundation. Winning solutions are recognized at the United Nations and supported through deployment in communities worldwide.
Coinbase Developer Platform's grant program for developers building real, user-facing onchain applications using CDP tools (Wallets, AgentKit, the CDP SDK, Onramp, and the Swap API). Runs in quarterly/seasonal rounds ($3,000-$10,000 per grant, ~$30,000 per round); a project must be at MVP stage with a public demo video. CDP also funded prize tracks at the "Agents in Action" hackathon (Best Use of x402 + CDP Wallet, Best Use of CDP Wallet, Best Use of x402), each with 1st/2nd/3rd place awards.
Coefficient Giving's Alternative Protein R&D RFP funds pre-competitive research on taste, flavor, fat systems, egg replacement, and priority fish species. The call expanded to $30 million across two rounds. Round 1 ($100,000-$1 million) closed August 10, 2026. Round 2 ($1-5 million) closes September 15, 2026.
The Internet Society Foundation's Common Good Cyber Fund supports nonprofits that maintain public-interest cybersecurity infrastructure and protect vulnerable or high-risk communities. The 2026 call will award at least $3.5 million through two-year operating grants.
International collaborative-research call for real-world AI robotics applications, part of the CONCERT-Japan framework.
The eBPF Foundation's Academic Research Grant Program funds academic research benefiting the eBPF community. It awarded five $50,000 grants in 2024, and its 2026 cycle accepted applications from June 15 through July 15 for awards up to $50,000; submissions are now under review.
EIC Accelerator supports high-risk, market-creating innovations from startups and SMEs through grants below EUR 2.5 million, optional equity investments of EUR 1-10 million, and business acceleration support. Short proposals are accepted continuously and full proposals use scheduled 2026 batching dates on 7 Jan, 4 Mar, 6 May, 8 Jul, 2 Sep, and 4 Nov.
A 90-day ENS DAO pilot that distributes viewpoint-neutral incentives to active delegates and their delegators using time-weighted balances, recipient caps, and monthly claimless transfers. Governance authorized 90,000 ENS for rewards and 5 ETH for sponsored delegation gas, with unused funds returned to the treasury after the pilot. Distributions are claimless. There is no application form.
ESP fellowship round funding PhD-level research in areas relevant to Ethereum, including blockchain, AI, and economics; the 2026 round offered $24,000 grants to current PhD students conducting research in these areas.
Status describes whether a program is running. Application methods are recorded separately. Read the funder’s terms before applying.