research grant 2022

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News Release

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

NIH to award over $200 million to support potentially transformative biomedical research projects

The 2022 NIH Director’s Awards enable exceptionally creative scientists to push the boundaries of biomedical science.

The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program , supported by the Common Fund at the National Institutes of Health has awarded 103 new research grants to support highly innovative scientists who propose visionary and broadly impactful meritorious behavioral and biomedical research projects. Awards include the impact exposure to fracking might have on pregnancy and conception; how brain mechanisms influence memory performance; the neural basis of social bias and association using the female songbird as a model; tissue regeneration using the uterus as a model; a mixed methods examination of skin tone and health among African Americans across the United States; and a new model organism to lead in the development of an HIV vaccine. The 103 awards total approximately $285 million in support from the institutes, centers, and offices across NIH over five years beginning in 2022, pending the availability of funds.

“The science advanced by these researchers is poised to blaze new paths of discovery in human health,” said Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., who is performing the duties of the Director of NIH. “This unique cohort of scientists will transform what is known in the biological and behavioral world. We are privileged to support this innovative science.”

The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program supports investigators at each career stage who propose innovative research that, due to their inherent risk, may struggle in the traditional NIH peer-review process despite their transformative potential. Investigators seeking program support are encouraged to think beyond traditional bounds and to pursue trailblazing ideas in any area of research relevant to the NIH’s mission to advance knowledge and enhance health.

The Common Fund oversees programs that pursue major scientific opportunities and gaps throughout the research enterprise, are of significant importance to NIH, and require collaborations across the agency to succeed. The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program manages four awards, including two awards specifically for researchers in the early stages of their careers. These four awards include:

• The NIH Director’s Pioneer Award , established in 2004, challenges investigators at all career levels to pursue new research directions and develop groundbreaking, high-impact approaches to a broad area of biomedical, behavioral, or social science.
• The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award , established in 2007, supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant.
• The NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award , established in 2009, promotes cross-cutting, interdisciplinary approaches and is open to individuals and teams of investigators who propose research that could potentially create or challenge existing paradigms.
• The NIH Director’s Early Independence Award , established in 2011, provides an opportunity to support exceptional junior scientists who have recently received their doctoral degree or completed their medical residency to skip traditional post-doctoral training and move immediately into independent research positions.

NIH issued eight Pioneer awards , 72 New Innovator awards , nine Transformative Research awards , and 14 Early Independence awards for 2022 . Funding for the awards comes from the NIH Common Fund, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Cancer Institute.

About the NIH Common Fund : The NIH Common Fund encourages collaboration and supports a series of exceptionally high-impact, trans-NIH programs. Common Fund programs are managed by the Office of Strategic Coordination in the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives in the NIH Office of the Director in partnership with the NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices. More information is available at the Common Fund website: https://commonfund.nih.gov .

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov .

NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health ®

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• Grants & Funding
• Funded Research
• Funding to Academic Institutions

NIDCR Grants to U.S. Academic Institutions, FY 2022

If you would like to learn more about the type of research that was funded to these institutions and schools, please see NIH RePorter .

*Rank listing and dollar amounts are calculated using data entered by September 30th of each year (the end of the fiscal year), and do not reflect any revisions made after the end of the fiscal year.

Email questions about academic institution rank listings to:  [email protected] .

Research Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities by type.

Requests for Applications (RFA) Find current and recent NCI-supported RFAs that provide funding for various areas of cancer research.

Program Announcements (PA) Find current and recent PAs that invite requests for funding applications to support specific area of cancer research.

NCI and Trans-NIH Initiatives Find current and recent NCI and Trans-NIH Research Project Grants (R01 and R21) that provide funding for specific areas of cancer research.

Requests for Proposals for Contracts Find opportunities for contract funding.

NCI Special Initiatives

Funding Announcements and Notices for COVID-19 When the pandemic began, NCI issued and revised certain existing grants and cooperative agreements to make funds available to study COVID-19. Open funding notices can be found on this page.

Cancer Grand Challenges NCI is partnering with Cancer Research UK to provide multiple rounds of funding for international, interdisciplinary teams to submit approaches addressing one of the open Cancer Grand Challenges. This page shares information on open opportunities and how to apply.

MERIT Award (R37) Early Stage Investigators who have submitted an R01 application within the NCI payline may be eligible for consideration for the Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) (R37) Award.

Outstanding Investigator Award (R35) The Outstanding Investigator Award gives investigators the freedom to work on long-term projects with unusual potential in cancer research.

Provocative Questions Program Provocative Questions is an NCI initiative that intends to assemble a list of important questions, or problems that are paradoxes in cancer research that will stimulate research communities to use laboratory, clinical, and population sciences in new, effective, and imaginative ways.

Research Specialist Award (R50) The R50 encourages the development of stable research career opportunities for exceptional scientists who want to continue to pursue research within the context of an existing NCI-funded basic, translational, clinical or population science cancer research program, but not serve as independent investigators.

NCI Funding Opportunities by Research Topic

Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI research is supported by a wide variety of grant and contract programs across NCI.

Basic Biology Research projects in basic cancer biology are supported and coordinated through the Division of Cancer Biology (DCB).

Behavioral Research Behavioral research in cancer prevention and control is supported by the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS).

Biorepositories and Tissue Sample Collection Development of biospecimen-related policies and practices affecting NCI Biorepositories is coordinated and managed through the Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch (BBRB).

Cancer Health Disparities Basic cancer research from a health disparities perspective is supported by the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD).

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research contributing to the advancement of evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine practice is supported by the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM).

Epidemiology and Cancer Control Research in genetic, epidemiologic, behavioral, social, and surveillance cancer research is supported by the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS).

HIV /AIDS and Cancer Research on HIV/AIDS pursued throughout the NCI, including programs in AIDS-related cancer are coordinated by the Office of HIV and AIDS Malignancy (OHAM).

Nanotechnology Research supporting the application of nanotechnology to all aspects of cancer research is supported by the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer program that is managed by the Office of Cancer Nanotechnology Research (OCNR).

Physical Sciences-Oncology Research supporting the establishment of scientific teams and individual scientists from the fields of physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering to develop novel approaches for cancer research is managed by the Physical Sciences in Oncology Initiative.

Prevention Research that determines and reduces a person’s risk of developing cancer, as well as research to develop and evaluate cancer screening procedures, is supported by the Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP).

Proteomics Research supporting the development of technologies and reagents that will advance our understanding of protein biology in cancer is supported by the Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research (OCCPR).

Small Business and Small Business Technology Transfer Opportunities to increase small business and private sector participation to develop and commercialize novel technologies to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer are managed by the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR and STTR) programs.

Statistical Methodology Resources for statisticians are available from StatFund, an online resource that provides information about biostatistical funding opportunities.

Technology Development Research supporting the development of technologies in clinical, laboratory, and epidemiological research are managed by the Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies Program (IMAT).

Translational Research Research supporting the translation of promising research areas into improved diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for cancer patients is supported by the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD).

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• Grants & Awards

Research Grants

Stimulating innovative research.

Since 2018, we are offering a series of research grants to stimulate innovative research in challenging areas of future importance. Grants of up to 500,000 € per year for up to 3 years have been made available. In 2024, grants are available in the area as further specified below. 

• Discovery strategies for molecular glue degraders and other protein-protein-interaction stabilizers - 1 grant comprising up to 100,000 €/year for up to 3 years with potential further collaboration
• Augmented Reality Digital Twin  - 1 grant comprising up to 120,000 €/year for 1 year with potential further collaboration
• AI-Driven Drug Discovery – up to 3 grants comprising AIDDISON software licenses for one year with potential further collaboration

Submission deadline 31 August 2024.  

About the 2024 research grants

The Merck research grants program is open to scientists in all career stages who are affiliated with any research-based institution, university or company.

In the first stage of the Research Grants applications process, applicants submit their application containing non-confidential information only. You may apply for more than one grant or submit your application for more than one category. If your application is successful, you are invited to submit a full proposal under confidentiality and join a deep-dive workshop. All applicants are informed about the decision of the selection committee. 

Deep dive Workshops

The second stage of the Research Grant process is a collaborative step, the deep-dive workshop. Finalists submit their full proposals and then work together with Merck managers and scientists to jointly optimize submitted project proposals. All teams reaching this stage will be informed in October. The deep-dive workshops are currently scheduled to take place in November 2024. The culmination of the deep-dive workshops will be the selection of the research grant winners.

Research Grant Funding

The third stage of the Research Grants process is the Research Grant funding phase. To enable pay-out and project start, Merck enters into bilateral collaboration agreements with the winning recipients. Our collaborative Research Grants are a unique opportunity for researchers who are interested in working with Merck‘s scientists and receive guidance from industry. During the Research Grant funding period, there will therefore be regular meetings with Merck scientists. 

Molecular glue degraders and other PPI stabilisers

In this category, we are providing financial support for research initiatives that concentrate on pioneering novel approaches for the screening & discovery of molecular glues.  

Discovery Strategies for Molecular Glue degraders & other protein-protein-interaction stabilizers

Molecular glues are small molecules capable of inducing proximity between a target protein and an effector protein inside the cells, hence relying on the effector protein to elicit target protein function. Molecular glues have been discovered, that lead to degradation (e.g. IMIDs) [1], inhibition (e.g. cyclosporin A) [2] or activation of the target protein (asukamycin)[3].

Targeting proteins via the molecular glue mechanism holds the promise to tackle non-ligandable proteins that are considered “non-druggable". However, the identification of degraders or other proximity inducers utilizing this mode of action for specific proteins has historically been largely serendipitous [1]. 

We are committed to providing financial support for research initiatives that concentrate on pioneering novel approaches for the screening and discovery of molecular glues.

We are offering one grant up up to 100,000 € per year for up to three years with potential further collaboration.

• Geoffrey et al., Screening for molecular glues – Challenges and opportunities,  SLAS Discovery 2023 .  
• Liu et al., Calcineurin is a common target of cyclophilin-cyclosporin A and FKBP-FK506 complexes,  Cell 1991 .  
• Isobe et al., Manumycin polyketides act as molecular glues between UBR7 and P53,  Nat Chem Biol 2020 . 

Augmented Reality Digital Twin

We are seeking research proposals to build an interactive Augmented Reality Digital Twin for our automated system’s monitoring and control. 

We are seeking research proposals to build an interactive Augmented Reality Digital Twin for our automated system’s monitoring and control. 

In an autonomous laboratory, drug discovery integrates the molecular design, chemical synthesis and biological assays and testing into one continuous process: design-make-test-analyse or DMTA. AI, automations and robotics will greatly accelerate the DMTA cycle for faster drug discoveries. 

We have designed an autonomous laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment, advanced software tools and novel techniques. This automated system will require an advanced monitoring system. 

We are offering one grant comprising 120,000 € for one year with potential further collaboration.

The submitted proposals should:

• include a proof of concept (Technology Readiness Level 3) and describe the innovativeness of the proposal and the potential impact on Merck
• include proposal for interactive digital twin for dashboarding and/or instrument control using AR technologies
• include descriptions of 3D graphics and/or advanced visualization tools 

AI-Driven Drug Discovery

We are inviting research proposals for hit or lead optimization that you would like to advance using our AIDDISON™ drug discovery software. 

Validating AI-designed molecules

We are inviting research proposals for hit or lead optimization that you would like to advance using our AIDDISON™ drug discovery software.

We have designed AIDDISON™ drug discovery software to combine artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and computer-aided drug design (CADD) methods to act as a valuable toolkit for medicinal chemistry needs. As a unified platform for efficient and effective ligand-based and structure-based drug design, it integrates all the facets for virtual screening and supports methods for lead discovery and lead optimization.

Submitted proposals should:

• include a description of your hit or lead optimization project
• be suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal

We are offering up to 3 grants comprising AIDDISON software licenses for one year with potential further collaboration. This research grant includes extensive interaction with our scientists and training on the AIDDISON drug discovery software for teams selected to participate in the deep dive session. 

How can I register on the submissions platform?

To submit an application, investigators must first register with our online portal. On your first visit, you need to register with a valid email address. 

When is the application deadline?

Submissions will be accepted until 31 August 2024 23:59 central European summer time.

How do I apply?

In order to apply, fill out the application form with your research proposal, using non-confidential information only. Please make sure you have read and accepted the terms and conditions before you submit the application form.

Are there any requirements for the attachments I can submit in addition to the abstract?

During the first phase of the application process, we only require title, abstract and information on the project team. Additionally, you can add documents and graphics that explain the concept. There are no formal requirements for the attachments, most commonly used formats will work (for example, pdf or ppt). Please do not include any confidential information at this stage. Get in touch with us in case you have issues uploading documents to the submissions portal on [email protected] .

Can I send in my application for more than one focus topic?

Yes, you should apply for those research topics that are relevant to your proposal and you may submit multiple applications.

My proposal fits well to the topic description but not sure that it addresses all aspects.

We only will disqualify proposals that fall entirely outside the scope of the grant description. Eligible proposals will be evaluated based on the criteria subject to the research grants terms and conditions. These are currently innovativeness, commercial potential, path forward after 3 years, probability of success, team strength, strategic fit.

What about publicity?

Merck retains the exclusive right to make any press release or any kind of public communication about the Grant and the Awardee(s). Confidential details on project content are not revealed.

What is a Deep Dive workshop?

During the deep-dive workshops, invited top submitters further advance their research proposals together with Merck scientists under confidentiality. For this purpose, a participant's agreement needs to be signed. At the end of the workshop, participants present their optimized research proposals and the winning applicants are selected by Merck.

Where and when will the Deep Dive workshops take place?

The deep-dive workshops are currently scheduled to take place in November 2024. 

When will the research grants be paid out?

Following the Deep Dive workshops, Merck enters into bilateral collaboration agreements with the winning recipients to enable pay-out and project start. During the collaboration, there will be regular meetings with Merck scientists.

What happens to applications that are not successful?

Merck will not reveal any information on submissions. In case your submission does not qualify to the next round, you will be notified by email. Please understand that due to the large number of applications we are not able to provide detailed feedback regarding the evaluation process at the abstract submission stage.

Having technical problems with the submission platform?

Please drop us a mail on [email protected] .

Prior calls for research grants

Merck 350 grants.

First edition, our 2018 call for proposals.

Closed calls

• Healthy Lives / Drug Discovery
• Life Reimagined / Synthetic Biology
• Materials & Solutions
• Digitalization / Computing

2020 Research Grants

Our 2022 call for proposals.

• Drug Discovery
• Bioreactor design for culture meat
• Next generation machine learning
• Pandemic preparedness

2021 Research Grants

Our 2021 call for proposals.

• Real time testing and sensors
• Nanoparticle for nucleic acid delivery
• Digital innovation
• Bioelectronics
• Sustainability
• Media recycling for cultured meat

2022 Research Grants

• Drug discovery
• AI for diagnostics & target discovery
• Chemistry in the cloud
• Sustainability in healthcare R&D
• Innovation within green chemistry

2023 Research Grants

Our 2023 call for proposals

• Green Hydrogen

Research Grants on Education: Small

Application deadlines:.

Applications Open Now closed.

Program contact: Cynthia Soto [email protected]

The Small Research Grants on Education Program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived, with budgets up to $50,000 for projects ranging from one to five years. We accept applications three times per year.

This program 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. Our goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.

Program Statement

The Small Research Grants on Education Program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived, with budgets up to $50,000 for projects ranging from one to five years. Eligible investigators may also request additional supplemental funds for a course release. We accept applications three times per year. This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, or method. Our goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education. We seek to support scholarship that develops new foundational knowledge that may have a lasting impact on educational discourse. 

We recognize that learning occurs across the life course as well as across settings—from the classroom to the workplace, to family and community contexts and even onto the playing field—any of which may, in the right circumstance, provide the basis for rewarding study that makes significant contributions to the field. We value work that fosters creative and open-minded scholarship, engages in deep inquiry, and examines robust questions related to education. To this end, this program supports proposals from multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives, both domestically and internationally, from scholars at various stages in their career. We anticipate that proposals will span a wide range of topics and disciplines that innovatively investigate questions central to education, including for example education, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, law, economics, history, or neuroscience, amongst others.

Moreover, we expect and welcome methodological diversity in answering pressing questions; thus, we are open to projects that utilize a wide array of research methods including quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, ethnographies, computational modeling, design-based research, participatory methods, and historical research, to name a few. We are open to projects that might incorporate data from multiple and varied sources, span a sufficient length of time as to achieve a depth of understanding, or work closely with practitioners or community members over the life of the project.

April 2024 deadline

Eligibility and restrictions.

Eligibility

Proposals to the Small Research Grants on Education program must be for research projects that aim to study education. Proposals for activities other than research are not eligible (e.g., program evaluations, professional development, curriculum development, scholarships, capital projects, software development). Additionally, proposals for research studies focused on areas other than education are not eligible.

Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Small Research Grant on Education must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. While graduate students may be part of the research team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.

The PI must be affiliated with a non-profit organization or public/governmental institution that is willing to serve as the administering organization if the grant is awarded. The Spencer Foundation does not award grants directly to individuals. Examples include non-profit or public colleges, universities, school districts, and research facilities, as well as other non-profit organizations with a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS (or equivalent non-profit status if the organization is outside of the United States).

Proposals are accepted from the U.S. and internationally, however, all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. Dollars.

Restrictions

Proposed budgets for this program are limited to $50,000 total and may not include indirect cost charges per Spencer’s policy . Eligible investigators may also request additional supplemental funds for a course release. See the Optional Supplemental Course Release section for details.

Projects proposed may not be longer than 5 years in duration.

PIs and Co-PIs may only hold one active research grant from the Spencer Foundation at a time. (This restriction does not apply to the administering organization; organizations may submit as many proposals as they like as long as they are for different projects and have different research teams.)

PIs and Co-PIs may not submit more than one research proposal to the Spencer Foundation at a time. This restriction applies to the Small Grants Program, Large Grants Program, Racial Equity Research Grants Program, and Research-Practice Partnership Program. If the PI or any of the Co-PIs currently have a research proposal under consideration in any of these programs, they are required to wait until a final decision has been made on the pending proposal before they can submit a new proposal.

How to Apply

The application process begins with a full proposal; there is no requirement to submit an intent to apply form. Full proposals for a Small Research Grant on Education are due by 12:00pm Noon central time on the deadline date.

Full Proposal Guidelines

Small Grant proposals must be submitted through an online application form following the guidelines below.

Step 1 – Registration

Note: This application is configured for the Principal Investigator (PI) on the project to register and submit the form. If someone other than the PI will be completing the online application (e.g., an administrative assistant), the PI should register as described in Step 1 below, then provide their username and password to the person assisting them with the application.

If you (the PI) have never accessed the Spencer Foundation online portal, you must register and create a profile by going to https://spencer.smartsimple.us and clicking the “Register Here” button. Follow the guidelines on the registration page to create your profile.

If you already have an account, log on to update your profile and access the application.

Step 2 - My Profile

After logging in, follow the directions to complete the information requested on the My Profile page and upload your current CV (10-page limit). The My Profile page is your online account with the Spencer Foundation whether you are applying for a grant, reviewing a proposal, or submitting a grantee report.

Note: If you will have Co-PIs on your project, they must also register and complete their profile information if they wish to be included on the application.

Step 3 – Start a Proposal

To fill out the application, go to your Workbench and click the Apply button for the Small Research Grants on Education. Your draft application can be saved so that you can return to it at a later time and continue working on it. Once you save a draft application, you can find it again on your Draft Proposals list on your Workbench.

Small Grant Proposal Elements

Within the online application, there are detailed guidelines for each section. Below is an overview of the elements you’ll be expected to complete.

Project Personnel - As the person creating the draft application, you will automatically be assigned to the proposal as the Principal Investigator. If there are Co-PIs on the proposal, they can be added to the application in this section.  They must first follow Steps 1 and 2 above before being added to the application.

In this section you are also asked to confirm that neither the PI nor the Co-PIs currently have another research proposal under review at Spencer (see Restrictions).

Proposal Summary – Information about the project is requested, such as the project title, start and end dates, the central research question(s), and a 200-word project summary.

Budget and Budget Justification - The budget form is divided into the following categories and each category has a pulldown menu of the line-item choices listed in parentheses below:

• Salaries (PI, Co-PI, Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Graduate Student, Researcher, Undergraduate Researcher, Other Research Staff, Other Staff, Supplemental PI Course Release, Supplemental Co-PI Course Release)
• Benefits (PI Benefits, Co-PI Benefits, Researcher Benefits, Other Staff Benefits, Tuition/Fees, Supplemental Course Release Benefits)
• Other Collaborator (Independent Consultant, Advisor)
• Travel (Project Travel, Conference or Dissemination Travel)
• Equipment and Software (Equipment, Software)
• Project Expenses (Supplies, Participant Stipends/Costs, Communication, Transcription)
• Other (This should only be used for expenses not covered in the choices above)
• Subcontracts (Information is pulled from the subcontract budget forms – see below)

Each expense for your project should be added and the budget narrative field should be completed, providing a description of that specific expense.  Detailed guidelines are available within the application form.

Subcontracts: If your project will have subcontracts, a separate subcontract budget form will need to be completed for each. The subcontract form has the same categories and line-item choices listed above.

Proposal Narrative - You are expected to upload a proposal narrative pdf that includes the following:

A description of the project, the central research question(s), and the project’s significance.

A rationale for the project. This includes (a) summary of the relevant literature, the relationship of the proposed research to that literature, and the new knowledge or contribution to the improvement of education expected to result from the proposed research; and (b) a summary of the conceptual framework or theory guiding the project and how the project utilizes or builds on this framework of theory.

A description of the proposed research methods, description of participants, data collection instruments, and modes of analysis the project will employ. If applicable to the proposed methods, please include (a) information about the proposed sample/case definition and selection procedures; (b) research design, including when appropriate a description of the context of the study; (c) description of key constructs, measures and data sources; (d) procedures for data collection; and (e) procedures for data analysis.

This narrative may not exceed 1800 words and at the conclusion should include the word count in parentheses. Your reference list should follow your narrative in the same pdf file and will not count toward the 1800-word limit.

The text should be double–spaced and in 12-point font. APA style is preferred.

Note: Tables and other figures can be included in the text of your proposal, where appropriate, provided they are used sparingly. The text contained in any tables and figures will not count towards the word limit. However, it is important that you describe or explain any tables or figures in the narrative portion of your proposal, which will contribute to your word count. Do not assume that tables and other figures are self-explanatory.

Project Timeline - A project timeline should be uploaded as a PDF file and should indicate the proposed start and end dates of the project as well as key project events and milestones. The major activities listed in the project timeline should be reflected in the proposal narrative. The project timeline may not exceed 1 page and the text should be in 12-point font. The proposed project duration can be up to 5 years.

Project Team – A document describing the project team should be uploaded in pdf format and should identify the roles, responsibility and knowledge base of the PI, Co-PI(s), and any supporting researcher(s). In the case where your project includes Co-PIs and other supporting researchers, this document should articulate how the team will work together to complete the research project, highlighting what each team member will contribute to the project. Further, a short description of the relationship between the project team and the research site may be included, if appropriate. This document should not exceed 250 words and should be double–spaced in 12-point font. Note: this document will be reviewed along with the CV of the PI and any Co-PIs included on the application.

Optional Supplemental Course Release – The Spencer Foundation recognizes that scholars' course loads vary significantly across the field creating differential contexts and capacities for research projects. To help mitigate these uneven demands on time, the PI or Co-PI may request supplemental course release funds of up to $10,000 over and above the $50,000 Small Grant budget limit, for a total of up to $60,000.

To be eligible, the scholar (PI or Co-PI) must have a course load of 6 or above per academic year. The supplemental funds cannot be used for anything besides a course release for the scholar and should be the standard rate for a course release at their institution. You may only request 1 additional course release per grant. Two things of note: 1) requesting the Supplemental Course Release funds does not guarantee they will be awarded, and 2) if you have a course load that is less than 6, you may still include a course release in your proposal budget, but your budget may not exceed the $50,000 Small Grants limit and you are not required to supply the documents requested below.

To apply for these the Optional Supplemental Course Release Funds, there are 3 additional application pieces needed:

• The amount requested and a brief budget narrative for the Supplemental Course Release should be included in the Proposal Budget section (detailed above). It should be clearly indicated in the Salary section of the budget form by choosing the appropriate Supplemental Course Release line item from the drop-down menu, as well as in the Benefits section as needed.
• A 250-word Course Release Rationale Statement describing how the additional course release will impact the proposed project should be uploaded as a PDF file.
• A Supporting Letter from the scholar's Dean or Chair should be uploaded below as a PDF file. The supporting letter must include the following: (a) confirmation that the scholar's course load is 6 courses or more per academic year, (b) confirmation that the scholar will be released from teaching a course, if awarded the supplemental funds, and (c) confirmation the budgeted amount for the course release is appropriate for their institution.

Optional Appendices A – If you have additional documents focused on scientific instrumentation relevant to the study, for example interview protocols or survey instruments, they can be uploaded in this section of the application as supplemental information.

Optional Appendices B – If you have other supporting documents, such as letters of agreement or collaboration, they can be uploaded in this section of the application. Please see the guidelines in the online application for more information about these types of appendices.

Optional Appendices C - Innovative Approaches to Equity in Research: We recognize that scholars and scholarship have continued to develop innovative approaches to conducting research in ethical and just ways. Scholars have raised that proposals attending to these issues in sophisticated ways often face choices in providing detail in their proposals. Thus, if you so choose , you are invited to upload a one-page appendix in your grant proposal to elaborate on the theoretical, methodological, and partnership structures, or other dimensions you deem as relevant to conducting ethical and just research. For example, if your work engages youth, families, or community-based organizations, you may want to elaborate on how traditional power dynamics will be addressed. Or, if your work engages with Indigenous communities, you may want to elaborate on the project leadership’s histories and engagement with Indigenous communities, any formal agreements (e.g. Tribal IRB or approvals), or the use of Indigenous methodologies in the project. Or, perhaps you are working on new quantitative measures or modeling approaches that would benefit from further explanation. We anticipate and welcome a wide range of other possibilities.

A note about IRB Approval: Proof of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval is not required at the time of proposal submission.  In the event that IRB approval is needed for this project and it is chosen for funding, the Administering Organization will be responsible for obtaining IRB review and approval in accordance with its institutional policies and applicable law.

Resubmission – If this is a resubmission of a proposal previously submitted to the Spencer Foundation, you are asked to indicate this within the application and upload a 1-page explanation of how the proposal was revised.

Project Data – Within the online application, we ask you to choose the appropriate options with regard to your research project in the following categories: disciplinary perspective, methodologies, topics, geographical scope, contexts, and participants. This information is helpful in determining the appropriate reviewers for your proposal and for internal evaluations of our grant programs.

Signature from Authorized Representative of the Administering Organization – This section of the application details the steps necessary to obtain the authorized signature for your proposal through the Adobe E-sign process.  You are required to provide the Signatory’s name, title, and email address; this is normally an administrative or financial person that has the authority to sign the proposal on behalf of your organization. Note: The signature process must be completed by noon on the deadline date. You, as the applicant, are responsible for making sure your proposal is signed by the deadline.  Please account for the time it takes your organization’s authorized signer to review and sign proposal submissions.  We recommend filling in the online application at least a week ahead of the deadline date. The Spencer Foundation is unable to accept late submissions.

Once you’ve completed all of the elements listed above, click the Submit button at the bottom of the application page and it will be routed to your Signatory for signature and final submission.

Review Process

The Small Research Grants on Education program uses a peer review process for all eligible submissions.  Each proposal will be reviewed by both external panel reviewers and internal staff. The review process for this program takes approximately 6-7 months from the deadline date.

The review panel for this program is made up of scholars in the field of education research with expertise across many disciplines and methodological areas.  Panelist are asked to rate and comment on the following aspects of your proposal:

Significance of the Project: Reviewers will evaluate the centrality of education in the research, the importance of the topic to its field, and the quality of the research question(s) and/or direction of inquiry.

Connection to Research and Theory: Reviewers will evaluate the adequacy of the description of how other researchers have treated the same topic and how well the proposal responds to prior work and theory.

Research Design: Reviewers will evaluate the overall quality, sophistication, and appropriateness of the research design as well as its alignment with the research question(s) and/or conceptual framing.

Budget and Timeline: Reviewers will evaluate the adequacy of the budget and timeline.

Project Team: Reviewers will comment on the potential of the investigator(s) to complete the study as described and share the results or other findings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q : Does this program support research in settings other than K-12 and higher education institutions?

A : Yes, Spencer funds research projects that span the life course (i.e., from early childhood to adult learning) as well as those that focus on contexts outside of school.

Q : Do you have a preference for certain research methodologies?

A : No, we are open to whatever methods make sense for answering the questions at hand. Historically, Spencer has supported research across a range of methods and academic disciplines, and we expect this to continue in this program.

Q : Do you have a preference for research teams vs. individual researchers?

A : No, we do not have a preference. The important thing is to plan the staffing around the aims of the project.

Q : Can a graduate student serve as a Co-PI on a proposal submission?

A : No, the PI and any Co-PIs named on the proposal are expected to have earned doctorate degrees prior to proposal submission.  While graduate students may be included in the budget as research assistants, this program is not meant to support student research projects.

Q : Do you accept proposals from outside the United States?

A : Yes, we accept proposals from outside the U.S. Application materials must be submitted in English and project budgets must be in U.S. dollars.

Q : Do you have a preference for regional, national, or international projects?

A : No, we do not have a preference.

Q : What is the expected duration of projects in this program?

A : We leave the duration of the project up to the PI/research team to determine, but limit it to no more than 5 years.

Q: Can my organization submit more than one proposal at a time?

A: Yes, as long as the proposals are for different projects and the research teams are different, it is fine for an organization to submit multiple applications at one time.

Q : If I (the PI or Co-PI) have a current grant through Spencer, can I apply for a new grant?

A : You may not hold more than one active research grant at a time from the Spencer Foundation. You may apply for a new grant while you have an active grant at Spencer if the active grant will end before the anticipated start date of the new project.

Q : If I am turned down, is it possible to revise my proposal and reapply in a later cycle?

A : Yes, Spencer welcomes proposal resubmissions. However, many factors go into the final decision on each proposal, including our limited budget. Even if you receive feedback on your proposal and are able to address all of the reviewer concerns in the submission, we can offer no guarantees as to the likelihood of funding due to the fact that we currently fund less than 10% of the submissions we receive. Please note, resubmissions are considered among all of the other newly submitted proposals and are not given special status or consideration in the review process.

Q : I have an idea for a project and would like feedback. Is it possible to contact someone?

A : If you have reviewed our program statement and application guidelines and still have questions about whether your idea for a research project falls within this program, feel free to email us at [email protected] for guidance. While we are not able to provide feedback on proposal drafts, we are happy to answer questions by email. Additionally, if helpful please consult the Spencer writing guides .

Q: How do I determine my start date and when should I expect payment if my proposal is selected for funding?

A: We recommend proposing a start date that is at least 8 months after the proposal deadline. The review process for this program takes approximately 6-7 months and once notified of the funding decision, it can take an additional 2 months for the official approval process, which entails reviewing the budget, processing award letters, and issuing the grant payment. NOTE: Grant payments are issued on the third week of each month. If Spencer has not received your signed award letters by your start date, your payment will not be issued.

Q: Are budgets expected to include in-kind giving or cost sharing? If not expected, is it allowed?

A: In-kind giving or cost sharing is not expected or required as part of your proposal budget. However, if you plan to include in-kind giving or cost sharing as part of your project budget, you should indicate this in the online budget form in the narrative section. If your proposal is chosen for funding, the grant award may be contingent upon receiving documentation confirming the additional support.

Recent Awardees

The Effects of Special Education on Crime Briana Ballis, Katelyn Heath University of California, Merced

Picturing Resilience: The Visual Narratives of Safety and Joy among Black Collegians Ashley Carpenter Appalachian State University

Precarity and Education: Examining the Experiences of Central American Unaccompanied Youth in California Public Schools Stephany Cuevas, Martha C. Franco Chapman University

Living in Tension: How Faculty and Staff at Evangelical Christian Colleges and Universities Support LGBTQ+ Students Kaitlin Gabriele-Black Salve Regina University

A Critical Race Content Analysis of Diversity in Children’s Books, from 2020-2021 Lorena Camargo Gonzalez Sacramento State Sponsored Research

Resource Inequality Across U.S. Colleges and Universities: New Evidence from Old Data Christopher M. Herrington Virginia Commonwealth University

Focusing on Multiplicative Foundations to Enhance Access to Calculus Andrew Izsak Tufts University

Echoes of Racialization in Danish High Schools:  Teachers’ Creative Negotiations of Policy in Work with Muslim Youth Reva G. Jaffe-Walter, Iram Majeed Khawaja Montclair State University

Understanding the Lives and Teaching of Migrant Teachers with Undocumented Backgrounds through the Lens of Community Cultural Wealth Yeji Kim University of Missouri – Columbia

Reimagining Spaces of Learning and Border Crossing through Narratives and Inquiries on Migration Wan Shun Eva Lam Northwestern University

Interrogating the Alignment of Current Statistical Methods with the Theory of Systemic Racism Michael K. Russell Boston College  

A Mixed Methods Examination of the Impacts of Climate Change Education on Students Sarah Schwartz, McKenna F. Parnes Suffolk University

Affordances of Makerspaces Influencing Biomedical Undergraduate Engineering Students' Design Learning and Curriculum Localization in Uganda and the USA Robert Ssekitoleko, Ann Saterbak Makerere University

The Influence of Anti-Critical Race Theory Legislation on Teacher Candidate’s Job Search Danielle Sutherland Towson University

Youth Writing for Peace in Colombia: A Collaborative Analysis of Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives Kate Vieira University of Wisconsin-Madison  

Find Out More About Us

The Spencer Foundation invests in education research that cultivates learning and transforms lives.

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Lyle M. Spencer established the Spencer Foundation in 1962 to investigate ways education, broadly conceived, might be improved.

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Improving Equity in U.S. Higher Education: A Call for Equity-enhancing Opportunity Structures

Wall to Wall: Examining the Ecology of Racial and Educational Inequality with Research

Race-conscious Preparation and Support Approaches for Asian, Black, Latinx, and Native K-12 Leaders

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INFORMATION FOR

• Residents & Fellows
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Cheung Receives NIH Grant to Research Water Contaminants and Human Health

Kei-Hoi Cheung, PhD , professor of biomedical informatics and data science, has been awarded a grant by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to research environmental health data and drinking water contamination using AI methods.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines emerging contaminants , or contaminants of emerging concern, as “chemicals that have not previously been detected in water, or that are being detected at significantly different levels than expected.” These potential pollutants include pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and endocrine disrupting chemicals caused by industrial land use and agricultural runoff. Researchers and government agencies warn that these chemicals may pose adverse health and ecological effects.

Only a fraction of these contaminants have been extensively evaluated, but Cheung’s project aims to address this. The study will explore how new data and metadata standards can be used to harmonize diverse environmental health information. Integrating a variety of data types in this way could help other researchers investigate drinking water contaminants and their associated impact on human health. To extract and integrate these data types, Cheung’s team will deploy artificial intelligence (AI) techniques like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. They also plan to build an environmental exposure knowledge graph, and engage with users to evaluate the impact of their project.

“There is a great desire by the data science, exposure science, and epidemiology communities to use data and metadata standards to accelerate environmental research workflow, gain new knowledge, and increase data reuse,” said Cheung, who is also a professor of biostatistics at the Yale School of Public . “Bringing this desire to fruition requires a set of community-driven standards for describing environmental exposures and linking them to human health and disease-related data.”

Cheung's co-investigators at Yale include Nicole Deziel, PhD, MHS , associate professor of epidemiology, Vasilis Vasiliou, PhD , Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology, and Hua Xu, PhD, FACMI , Robert T. McCluskey Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science. Mark Musen, professor of biomedical informatics at Stanford University, is also a co-investigator.

The grant will award $600,000 annually for the next five years.

Featured in this article

• Kei-Hoi Cheung, PhD Professor of Biomedical Informatics & Data Science; Professor, Biostatistics
• Nicole Deziel, PhD, MHS Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences); Co-Director, Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric and Environmental Epidemiology (CPPEE)
• Vasilis Vasiliou, PhD Department Chair and Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences) and of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and of Environment; Director, Yale Superfund Research Center; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Cancer Center; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Co-Director, Environmental Health Sciences Track, Executive MPH
• Hua Xu, PhD Robert T. McCluskey Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science; Vice Chair for Research and Development, Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science; Assistant Dean for Biomedical Informatics, Yale School of Medicine

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Eligibility

Advanced doctoral students (advanced to candidacy – all but dissertation) and established scientists are eligible for Leakey Foundation Research Grants. There are no citizenship restrictions; however, all applications must be written in English.

The Leakey Foundation exclusively funds research related to human origins. Priority of funding is commonly given to exploratory phases of promising new research projects that meet the stated purpose of the Foundation. The majority of The Leakey Foundation’s Research Grants awarded to doctoral students are in the $3,000-$15,000 range with a funding limit of $20,000. Larger grants given to senior scientists and post-doctoral researchers may be funded up to $30,000. As of May 2022, the funding limits have increased to $20,000 for PhD candidates and $30,000 for senior scientists and post-doctoral researchers.

The deadlines for research grant applications are January 10th and July 15th.

We occasionally make exceptions to our application deadline. If you are experiencing extenuating circumstances that you believe would preclude you from meeting the deadline, please contact us at [email protected] .  We will consider such requests on a case-by-case basis. 

*New Requirement General Contingency Plan: Considering potential impacts to your project plan (for example, COVID-19, political unrest, natural disasters, emerging infectious diseases, etc.), it is important to have formal contingency plans for your proposed project. In up to one page, please describe the possible risks you may encounter that could hinder a successful completion of the project and describe your plans for adjusting this project if needed. Changes could include modified start dates for travel, fieldwork or data collection, alternative data collection strategies, alternative field sites, or alternative methods for recruitment and engagement of participants, as well as any other potential modifications to research and development activities (including IRB/IACUC approvals/changes).

*New Policy Investigators may only submit one proposal as a principle investigator (PI) per granting cycle. This policy does not apply to co-investigators. For example, you may be the PI on one proposal as well as a co-investigator on another.

Please consider the following if you are thinking of applying for a Leakey Foundation Research Grant:

• Is my research relevant to human origins and evolution?
• For PhD candidates: Will I be advanced to candidacy (all but dissertation) before the deadline for application?
• Am I affiliated with an academic or research institution?
• We do not award funds to individuals.
• Am I fully compliant on all prior Leakey Foundation awards?

How to Apply

Please use the  detailed application instructions  as well as the application guidelines and FAQs to prepare the attachments that you will upload to your new application. Then use the links on this page to apply online.   

Click here to email our grants department at grants at leakeyfoundation dot org.

L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Young Talents programmes

Twas-samira omar innovation for sustainability award, twas-dfg cooperation visits programme - mena, twas-dfg cooperation visits programme - ssa, twas-fayzah m. al-kharafi award, research and project grants.

TWAS research grants are awarded to both individual scientists and research groups

TWAS research grants fund several programmes that support:

• Researchers in developing countries, allowing them to purchase specialized equipment and consumable supplies, and
• Support Master of Science students.

The calls for 2024 TWAS Research Grants in Basic Sciences—one for  individuals  and one for  groups —will open on 1st February 2024.

Under this scheme, grants are awarded to promising high-level research projects in biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics carried out by individual scientists in one of the S&T-lagging countries identified by TWAS.

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( Sida ) provides essential support to TWAS, OWSD and GenderInSITE. Sida-supported programmes focus on research grants and PhD fellowships in 66 S&T-lagging countries , and support the TWAS Regional Offices and its science diplomacy programme. Sida is a government agency working under the Swedish Foreign Ministry. It administers approximately half of Sweden's budget for development assistance to developing countries.

Under this scheme, grants are awarded to promising high-level research projects in biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics carried out by research units in the S&T-lagging countries identified by TWAS.

Under this scheme, grants are awarded to high-level scientists for interdisciplinary research projects. Each grant supports a collaborative project jointly carried out by two Principal Investigators (PIs) in the S&T-lagging countries identified by TWAS.

Under this scheme, grants are awarded to past grant recipients of the TWAS Research Grant programme who procured equipment through the grant in one of the S&T-lagging countries identified by TWAS.

With the support of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), UNESCO-TWAS launched a new programme to strengthen the capacity of African countries lagging in science and technology. The programme is aimed at young scientists who are getting established in their country or are about to return home to an academic position. Grants are awarded to promising high-level research projects in Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Earth sciences, Engineering, Information Computer Technology, Mathematics, Medical Sciences and Physics carried out in African countries lagging in science and technology identified by TWAS.

German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) promotes education, science and research.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis, affecting human health as well as economies and societies worldwide. TWAS and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) are offering a competitive grant for research collaboration. Technologists and researchers from IsDB Member Countries are invited to submit research and innovation proposals that can help address challenges related to post COVID-19 pandemic.

Islamic Development Bank

The Islamic Development Bank , founded in 1974, works to foster the economic development and social progress of member countries and Muslim communities in accordance with the principles of Islamic Law. It has made significant investments in areas related to science and science capacity, as well as in infrastructure and education. IsDB, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has 57 member countries. It has regional offices in Rabat, Morocco; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Dakar, Senegal. It also has country gateway offices in Ankara, Turkey, and Jakarta, Indonesia, plus field representatives in 14 member countries.

Under this scheme, grants are awarded to teams of 2-5 women for action-based projects which, although scientific in nature, will take them outside the lab to promote practical and tangible change under the umbrella of the “climate action” SDG in their local context. The principal applicant and project leader is a woman scientist, holding a PhD, living and working in a science and technology lagging country (STLC). Co-applicants are either scientists or technical experts in a field relevant to the project, from any developing country.

The Elsevier Foundation

The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to knowledge centered organizations around the world, with a focus on diversity and inclusion in science, technology and health, research in developing countries and global health. Since 2006, the Foundation has awarded more than 100 grants worth over $6 million to non-profit organizations working in these fields. The Elsevier Foundation is a US based, corporate not-for-profit 501(c)(3), funded by Elsevier , a leading scientific, technical and medical information solutions provider.

The DECIMALS fund has been set up to provide grants to small research teams in developing countries, allowing them to analyze the impacts that Solar Radiation Management might have in their regions. It was launched in response to a common concern voiced at SRMGI’s engagement workshops, where local participants often proposed and widely supported the idea that scientists in developing countries should undertake research on the potential local impacts of SRM, noting that there is typically very little funding available to support research in this area.

Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative

The Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative is an international, NGO-driven project that seeks to expand the global conversation around  SRM geoengineering  research and its governance. The initiative is neutral on whether SRM should ever be used, and seeks to engage new voices in discussions of the underlying societal and scientific issues. A global pioneer in bringing developing country voices into SRM discussions, SRMGI co-organised the first major SRM discussion meetings in China, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica, Senegal, Brazil, and many other countries of the Global South, always in concert with local partners.

The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) offers fellowships for women who have completed their PhDs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects and are employed at an academic or scientific research institute in a science and technology lagging country. Early Career fellows will be supported to establish an environment at their institution where they can maintain an international standard of research and attract scholars from all over the world to collaborate.

International Development Research Centre

IDRC supports research in developing countries to create real and lasting change. This knowledge can be used as a tool for addressing pressing global challenges.

Part of Canada’s foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve the lives of people in the developing world.

Research scholar program

The Research Scholar Program aims to support early-career professors who are pursuing research in fields relevant to Google.

The Research Scholar Program provides unrestricted gifts to support research at institutions around the world, and is focused on funding world-class research conducted by early-career professors.

Program details

Application status, award information, eligibility criteria, funding amounts, supporting cutting-edge research, award recipients.

Applications are currently closed.

Decisions for the November 2023 application will be announced via email by April 2024. Please check back in Fall 2024 for details on future application cycles.

We encourage submissions from professors globally who are teaching at universities and meet the eligibility requirements. It is our hope that this program will help develop collaborations with new professors and encourage the formation of long-term relationships.

Awards are disbursed as unrestricted gifts to the university and are not intended for overhead or indirect costs. They are intended for use during the academic year in which the award is provided to support the professor’s research efforts.

• Post doctoral staff can only serve as a co-PI, not a primary PI.
• We consider exceptions for applicants who have been teaching seven years or fewer and had delays, such as working in industry, parental leave, leave of absence, etc. This exception request can be documented on the application.
• Faculty can only serve as a PI or Co-PI per round. Applicants cannot serve on two separate proposals.
• Applicants can apply a maximum of 3 times within the 7 years post-PhD.

The funds granted will be up to $60,000 USD and are intended to support the advancement of the professor’s research.

Algorithms and optimization

Our team conducts research in graph mining, optimization, operations research, and market algorithms to improve Google's infrastructure, machine learning, and marketplaces. We collaborate with teams across Google and perform research in related areas, such as algorithmic foundations of machine learning, distributed optimization, economics, and data mining.

Health research

Google Health research aims to advance AI and technology to help people live healthier lives through collaborative research with public officials, clinicians, and consumers. We are developing tools to understand population health, novel algorithms to better understand and use complex medical data, and technology to help people find high-quality health information and understand their health status.

We invite proposals that will generate and understand large datasets to improve population health, develop novel algorithms for better understanding of complex medical data, and develop novel methods to extract health insights cheaper, faster, or better.

Machine learning and data mining

Machine learning is the foundation of Google's research, with a broad scope that includes foundational and algorithmic work, critical real-world applications, and topics, such as federated learning, information retrieval, learning theory, optimization, reinforcement learning, robotics, and recommender systems.

Natural language processing

Our team comprises multiple research groups working on a wide range of natural language understanding and generation projects. Our researchers are focused on advancing the state of the art in natural language technologies and accelerating adoption everywhere for the benefit of the user. Natural language processing and understanding plays a major role in driving Google’s company-wide OKRs as language understanding is the key to unlocking Google’s approach: “Build a more helpful Google for everyone that increases the world’s knowledge, success, health, and happiness.”

Quantum computing

The Quantum AI team is developing an error-corrected quantum computer and discovering valuable applications by offering a quantum computing service. We collaborate with academic partners to advance both goals, so if you have a quantum algorithm you would like to run on our service, please submit a proposal.

Software engineering and programming languages

Research on all aspects of software development, including the engineers and the programming languages, libraries, development tools, and processes that they use.

Fundamental and applied science

Large language, visual, and multimodal models have made significant advances in recent years, opening up new possibilities for scientific research. We invite proposals in these four areas:

• Applications : Proposals that demonstrate how large language models can be used to advance scientific discovery in a specific field.
• Foundations : Proposals that explore broad advances in building, tuning, or deploying large models for scientific research, such as integrating language models with specialized scientific tools, developing multimodal models for understanding scientific data, and accelerating scientific analysis, experimentation, and summarization.
• Evaluation : Proposals that develop datasets or methods for benchmarking and evaluating large models for science, including evaluating domain-specific knowledge, assessing factuality and grounding, evaluating multimodal capabilities, and developing tasks that require multi-step scientific reasoning.
• HCI : Proposals that enhance scientific workflows, such as automating complex simulation pipelines, with large language models and human-in-the-loop interaction.

Human-computer interaction

HCI researchers at Google design and build large-scale interactive systems that aim to be humane, simple-to-understand, and delightful to use. We work across a variety of HCI disciplines, including predictive and intelligent user interfaces, mobile and ubiquitous computing, social and collaborative computing, and interactive visualization.

Machine perception

Machine perception researchers at Google develop algorithms and systems to tackle a wide range of tasks, including action recognition, object recognition and detection, hand-writing recognition, audio understanding, perceptual similarity measures, and image and video compression.

Google's privacy research reaches across multiple teams, focusing on different aspects of privacy to advance the state of the art and develop tools to protect users and give them control over their data. This includes work on privacy-preserving technologies using cryptography and differential privacy, machine learning for privacy, user interface design and human-computer interactions to make communication clear and empower users, privacy policy to define Google's guiding principles for user protection, and system analysis and measurement to develop techniques to evaluate the privacy health of Google's systems.

Google's security and anti-abuse research team brings together experts from multiple disciplines to defend users from a wide range of threats. This includes work on access control, information security, networking, operating systems, language design, cryptography, fraud detection, machine learning for abuse detection, denial of service, emerging threats, user interfaces, and other human-centered aspects of security.

Systems and networking systems

Google's systems and networking systems research is focused on building and deploying novel systems at unprecedented scale. Our work spans the entire spectrum of computing, from large-scale distributed systems to individual machines to accelerator technologies.

We address fundamental questions around data center architecture, cloud virtual networking, wide-area network interconnects, software-defined networking, machine learning for networking, large-scale management infrastructure, congestion control, bandwidth management, capacity planning, and designing networks to meet traffic demands.

What is the evaluation criteria when assessing proposals?

To ensure fairness, we use a scoring rubric for consistency across reviews. We look at the criteria below to assess proposals. Proposals must comply with the required format and other Research Scholar Program guidelines.

• Faculty Merit : Faculty is accomplished in research, community engagement, and open source contributions, with potential to contribute to responsible innovation.
• Research Merit : Faculty's proposed research is aligned with Google Research interests, innovative, and likely to have a significant impact on the field.
• Proposal Quality : The research proposal is clear, focused, and well-organized, and it demonstrates the team's ability to successfully execute the research and achieve a significant impact.
• Broadening Participation : Faculty is committed to broadening participation in computing through their work on a variety of initiatives, including, for example, designing and deploying programs, and training and mentoring students from historically marginalized groups.
• AI Ethics Principles : The research proposal strongly aligns with Google's AI Principles .

What are the steps for the selection process?

• November: Applications open
• December/January: Proposal reviews and scoring
• February: Committee reviews proposals, scoring and make selections
• March: Approval process for selected proposals
• April: Applicants are notified of decision

We completely understand the desire to receive feedback and do our best to meet this request. However, due to the high volume of applications received, you may not receive feedback on your proposal.

To ensure fairness, we use a scoring rubric for consistency across reviews.

How many times can I apply for the Research Scholar program?

Faculty may apply up to a maximum of 3 times within the 7 years they received their PhD.

Can I receive this award more than once?

Faculty can receive a Research Scholar award only once. Previous Faculty Research Award recipients are still eligible to receive a Research Scholar award.

Who is eligible to apply for the Research Scholar Program?

Institutions:

• We accept applications from full-time faculty at universities around the world. Funding is focused on supporting the faculty’s research. We do not allow applications from non-degree-granting research institutions.
• Since our funding is structured as unrestricted gifts to degree-granting Universities, we cannot process awards to other institutions (e.g. not-for-profits institutions, hospitals, non-degree-granting research institutes, etc) even if they are affiliated with a University. A Principal Investigator must apply in his or her capacity as a university professor and must be able to accept an award through that University.

Principal Investigator Requirements:

• Global faculty who have received their PhD less than 7 years from submission from degree-granting institutions who are doing research within fields relevant to Google.
• An applicant may only serve as Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator on one proposal per round, they cannot be listed on two separate proposals.
• We understand that titles may differ globally. In order for someone without the title of professor to apply, he or she must be a full-time faculty member at an eligible institution and serve as a formal advisor to masters or PhD students. We may, at our discretion, provide funding for Principal Investigators who advise undergraduate students at colleges that do not award advanced degrees.

Past Applicants:

• If an applicant’s proposal was not selected for funding the previous round, they are welcome to apply with a new proposal (or substantively revised proposal) the following round. A Principal Investigator can apply a maximum of 3 times within the 7 years post-PhD.

How do I apply for the Research Scholar Program?

The application process includes filling out an online form requesting basic information and uploading a PDF proposal via the form. As part of the online form, you will be asked to select a topic area. Please select carefully, as this will help us in ensuring your proposal is read by the appropriate reviewers. Do not send any confidential or proprietary information in your proposal. Any information you send us as part of your application will be considered not confidential regardless of any markings or designations on it.

I have a social science background, can I still apply?

Yes. We focus on funding social science research that looks at technology's implications and impacts on individuals and society. We typically review submissions from fields like human-computer interaction, psychology, and science and technology studies, as well as research in computer science fields with a strong emphasis on the human experience.

What is the proper format for a Research Scholar proposal?

• The proposal should be a maximum of 5 pages if you are a sole Principal Investigator.
• If you choose not to include the co-Principal Investigator’s CV then your proposal should only be 5 pages.
• The extra 2 pages will only accommodate for an additional CV, not for additional proposal content.
• The maximum page limit includes the 2-page CV of the primary Principal Investigator, which is required for all applications (again a 2-page CV for a co-Principal Investigator is optional).
• To be fair to you and others, we do not consider proposals longer than the maximum page limit.
• We request a Google Scholar profile link as part of the online application form. Our reviewers find it helpful to be able to easily reference a Principal Investigator's publication history to see how the current proposal relates to past work the Principal Investigator has done in relevant fields. The Google Scholar profile complements, but does not replace, the Principal Investigator's 2-page CV.
• We do not require a budget breakdown since we have flat funding amounts we will grant based on region.
• We would prefer proposals to respect a minimum 10pt font size and 1-inch (2.5-cm) margins. Our reviewers value readability.
• Below is an example of what a proposal may look like (though the relative length of each section may differ by proposal).

Proposal Format

• Proposal Title
• Principal Investigator full name, contact information (postal address, email address, phone), affiliation (university, school, college and/or department)
• Research goals, including a problem statement.
• Description of the work you'd like to do, as well as the expected outcomes and results.
• How this relates to prior work in the area (including your own, if relevant)
• References, where applicable.
• Our goal is to support work where the output will be made available to the broader research community. To that end, we ask that you provide us with a few sentences sharing what you intend to do with the output of your project (e.g. open sourcing code, making data sets public, etc.). Please note that the awards are structured as unrestricted gifts, so there are no legal requirements once a project is selected for funding. This is simply a statement of your current intentions.
• The maximum length of a Principal Investigator CV is two pages. Any submitted CV that is longer than 2 pages may be cut off at two pages before the proposal review process begins.
• We require a CV for at least the primary Principal Investigator on the proposal. We will accept CVs from each of the Principal Investigators listed on the proposal (up to two are allowed). Each CV must be limited to two pages.

Should I add a budget breakdown in my proposal?

Please do not include budget details in your proposal. We will be providing flat funding amounts based on the cost of student tuition on a regional basis.

How much funds will I get if I am awarded?

We provide support up to $60,000 USD depending on the cost of student tuition on a regional basis.

I am not eligible for this program, how can I apply to other programs?

Our website is consistently updated with new programs we offer. We encourage you to connect with our Google researchers at conferences to build more opportunities for applying to research grants.

Are Research Scholar Awards eligible for extensions?

The program is designed to support one year of work. If you are selected as a recipient of a Research Scholar award, we will partner you with a Google sponsor who can navigate the potential of an extension.

Does the co-PI need to meet the same eligibility criteria as the primary PI?

Yes, the co-PI must meet the same eligibility criteria as the primary PI. We are providing an exception if the co-PI is a postdoctoral researcher.

Can I speak to someone from the Research Scholar team to ask additional questions?

We will be providing limited email support via [email protected] . Due to the volume of emails we receive, we may not be able to respond to questions where the answer is available on the website.

Open advice to Google Research Awards proposal writers

As a part of the group of engineers that review proposals for this program, we read a lot of proposals. We'd like to read more good proposals. Here's some advice on how you can improve the content of your short proposal and make reviewing it easier.

A good research grant proposal:

• Clearly specifies a problem. Good research is driven by a great problem or question, and a good proposal starts with a clearly specified one.
• Describes a specific, credible, relevant outcome. Try to identify a specific and appropriately sized outcome, to give us a clear notion of what the research award would be enabling. What will likely come to be that might otherwise not happen? While this outcome should be a decisive step towards achieving your vision, it generally won't be adequate to completely achieve it. It often helps to describe both the minimum that is likely to be accomplished and a potential best-case. Since picking the right datasets and test cases is often important, tell us which ones you plan to use.
• Crisply differentiates the proposed contribution from prior work. Please apply normal practices (citations, etc.) for documenting how your work will materially advance the state of the art. Make it clear how your work will be changing the state of the art, and not simply trying to match it.
• Tells us how the research challenge(s) will be addressed. Successful research projects combine a great problem with ideas for solutions, too. We recognize that all the answers won't be known yet, but we'd like to feel that the direction has been established, and a plausible path has been identified. (Try to avoid proposals of the form "We want to look at problem X".) It's hard to have a big impact without taking risks, but please identify what the difficulties are likely to be and how you plan to mitigate them. It may help to explain how you succeeded in addressing analogous problems in other projects.
• Puts the proposed work in context. Most projects we fund also have support from other sources. To help us understand the expected impact of Google support, please explain what funding you already have for this area of research and how the proposed work relates to your existing plans. Do you plan to build a capability for other research, provide a tool, reproduce a prior result, collaborate with others to try something out, follow up on a promising idea, or explore a new one? All are potentially of interest; we just want to know.
• Makes the case to a non-expert. While we try to have your proposal reviewed by a Google expert in your field, it will also be read by non-experts, so please make at least the motivation and outcomes broadly accessible.

See past Research Scholar program recipients

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• 2022 IFFGD Research Grant

In March 2022, The International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD) awarded one research grant of $30,000 for innovative research related to gastrointestinal disorders .

This grant was made possible through the money raised during IFFGDs 2021 Virtual Walk .  We are very grateful to all of you who participated in this event and donated in support of this research.

Selection Committee

• William E. Whitehead, PhD, Chair
• Braden Kuo, MD, MSc
• Lesley A. Houghton, PhD
• Darren Brenner, MD
• Baha Moshiree, MD

We are pleased to introduce you to the grant recipient:

Dr. Judy Nee, Harvard University

Summary of Dr. Nee’s Research

Background :.

There is a fundamental gap in the understanding of the role of sex hormones in the pathophysiology of abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) . Androgens, which circulate in both sexes but generally at higher levels in males, have links to both chronic pain and IBS but have been studied almost exclusively in men with this disorder. Women, however, are more commonly affected by IBS. Relatively lower androgen levels in women may increase symptom severity but this has not been well explored. Beyond circulating hormones, another key source of androgens derives from the β-glucuronidase activity of gut microbes, which deconjugate androgen-glucuronides to generate a large pool of active androgens in the colon.

The goal of this study is to identify the specific androgens most relevant to both women and men with IBS abdominal pain and bowel habit. This would be the first study to consider these novel androgenic ligands in IBS and the first to examine fecal sex hormones in this disorder.

We will correlate baseline androgen levels (in both blood and stool) with baseline visceral pain, while statistically controlling for age and sex. Eligible participants will be healthy adults between 18 and 75 years old, and IBS patients meeting the IBS Rome IV criteria with at least a moderate score on the IBS Symptom Severity Scale (≥ 175) at screening. The primary pain outcome measure will be the visceral pain severity measured on a 100-point visual analogue scale. Secondary clinical assessments include bowel consistency, anxiety, and depression. Each participant will provide 2 separate blood samples and 2 separate stool samples. Using a highly sensitive mass, validated spectrometry-based assay, we will measure free (unconjugated) and total (unconjugated and conjugated) 11-oxy C-19 steroids in addition to total testosterone, free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, estradiol, and estrone.

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IFFGD is a nonprofit education and research organization. Our mission is to inform, assist, and support people affected by gastrointestinal disorders. Our original content is authored specifically for IFFGD readers, in response to your questions and concerns.

If you found this article helpful, please consider supporting IFFGD with a small tax-deductible donation.

Related Information

Restroom Access Card: We understand the difficulties of needing to use a restroom urgently, especially for patients with gastrointestinal conditions. This can be a problem

Background of IFFGD’s Travel Awards IFFGD first offered Travel Awards in 2023. To date, we have presented Awards to 23 young investigators from around the

The 2024 Virtual Digestive Health Wellness & Walk held Saturday, July 6, 2024 – Saturday, July 13, 2024 is a charitable event to raise money to support gastrointestinal illness research. 

Like a traditional walk, participants register to be active to get credit for steps taken during the event. However, this event goes beyond a step goal by also awarding points to participants for self-care, wellness, and outreach activities.

By adding these alternative activities, we hope that anyone that wants to participate, can participate. #Moves4GIhealth24

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Research Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities currently open or planned can be found below. The list may change periodically and should only be used as a guide to assist potential applicants. Please check back for updates or sign up to receive notifications of new funding opportunities. Research Grants Listserv

All forms necessary for completing an application are noted in the announcement and available to download. Funding Opportunities: How to Apply and Required Forms  

Open Funding Opportunities

Air Quality Information: Making Sense of Air Pollution Data to Inform Decisions in Underserved Communities Overburdened by Air Pollution Exposures Funding Opportunity - April 8, 2024 - June 26, 2024

Advancing Sustainable Chemistry Funding Opportunity - March 18, 2024 - May 29, 2024

Environmental Research Apprenticeship Program for College and University Students Request for Applications (RFA)  - February 15, 2024 - May 15, 2024

Notice of Intent

The Notice of Intent information is preliminary, is for informational purposes, is subject to change, and applicants must still review the funding opportunities and respond to the content and comply with the requirements described in the funding opportunity when its issued.

Ecological Risk and Impact of UV Filters in Sunscreens on Aquatic Ecosystems This Funding Opportunity will solicit proposals for research measuring the effects of UV filters on freshwater and marine organisms, advancements in analytical methods to detect and quantify UV filters in saltwater, and development of innovative metrics and modeling approaches to support evaluation of ecological risk and inform sustainable risk-based decisions. - Opening Soon

Nanosensor Technology This Funding Opportunity will solicit research to develop and demonstrate nanosensor technology with functionalized catalysts that have potential to degrade selected contaminants in addition to detecting and monitoring pollutants. - Opening Soon

Innovative Water Technology Grant Program: Predictive Models for Removal of Micropollutants from Water by Novel Adsorbents This funding opportunity will solicit research to develop, test and deploy predictive models for novel adsorbents for removal of emerging micropollutants from water and to estimate the effectiveness of these adsorbents to remove specific classes of micropollutants in full-scale, fixed-bed, flow-through unit operations.  - Opening Soon

National Priorities: De Facto Water Reuse This funding opportunity will solicit research on drinking water supplies with a significant fraction of wastewater effluent from upstream discharges and advance the understanding of potential impacts de facto water reuse poses on drinking water quality.  - Opening Soon

STAG Program: Enhanced Aquifer Recharge in Sole Source Aquifers This funding opportunity will solicit ground water research assisting local governments, universities, Tribes, and related water institutions, primarily located in rural areas, in advancing planning research, and implementation of Enhanced Aquifer Recharge (EAR) for sole source aquifers.  - Opening Soon

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• Research Grants Listserv
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• User Manual
• Dr. D.S. Kothari Research Grant for Newly Recruited Faculty Members

Fellowship for Superannuated Faculty Members

• Research grant for In-Service Faculty Members
• Dr. Radhakrishnan UGC Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Savitribai Jyotirao Phule Fellowship for Single Girl Child

Dr. s. radhakrishnan post-doctoral fellowship, dr. d. s. kothari research grant for newly recruited faculty members, research grant for in-service faculty members, savitribai jyotirao phule fellowship for single girl child eligibility details.

(i) Any single girl child of her parents pursuing Ph.D. in any stream/subject in recognised Universities/Colleges/ Institutes is eligible to apply under the scheme.

(ii) The scheme is applicable to such a single girl child who has registered herself in regular, full-time Ph. D. program.

(iii) Admission to Ph.D. Course in part-time/distance mode is not covered under the scheme. A scholar is not eligible for fellowship if the research is intended/pursued through open/ part-time distance education mode or part-time mode.

(iv) Girl students up to the age of 40 years for general category and 45 years for the reserved categories i.e. SC/ST/OBC and PWD (Persons with Disabilities) as on the last date of submission of online application are eligible.

(v) Both the scholar receiving the fellowship and the institution concerned, where the scholar is pursuing her Ph.D are responsible to ensure that the terms and conditions of these schemes are followed properly and only the eligible candidates get the fellowship.

Fellowship for Superannuated Faculty Members Eligibility Details

(i) Faculty members at the level of Professors/Associate professors (who are going to superannuate within six months or already superannuated) from the following institutions are eligible to apply under the schemes::

• Universities (including constituent and affiliated colleges/institutions) included under Section 2(f) of UGC Act, 1956 and having valid accreditation from NAAC.
• Deemed to be Universities under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956 and having valid accreditation from NAAC.
• Institutions fully funded by Central or State Governments and empowered to award Degrees.
• Institutions of National Importance.

(ii) Age: up to 67 years

(iii) The applicant must have successfully supervised the Ph.D. dissertations of 10 full time candidates, 3 of whom having received their degrees during the preceding 10 years.

(iv) The applicant must have handled, as Principal Investigator, at least 3 sponsored research projects funded by national / international agencies.

(v) The applicant shall not hold any administrative responsibility during tenure of the fellowship which would be from the date of superannuation.

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Post-Doctoral Fellowship Eligibility Details

a. Only the unemployed candidates who have been awarded the Ph.D. degree in the relevant subject/discipline of Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences including languages are eligible to apply. (Provisional Certificate may be accepted in case the degree is not awarded). Persons already in regular service are not eligible to apply.

b. Candidates should be below 35 years of age (as on the date/last date of application). There shall be age relaxation for SC/ST/OBC (Non Creamy Layer)/Women/PWD (Persons with Disabilities) and Transgender for 5 years.

c. If selected candidate is availing any other fellowship/remuneration, he/she will have to resign from the same before accepting the UGC Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

d. Those candidates who have already availed any kind of Post-Doctoral Fellowship from UGC need not apply under the scheme.

e. General category candidates having minimum 55% of marks or equivalent percentage converted from CGPA score at Post graduate level are eligible to apply. A relaxation of 5% of marks is allowed for reserved categories (SC/ST/OBC (Non Creamy Layer)/ PWD (Persons with Disabilities) and Transgender).

f. It is necessary that the candidate identifies a Mentor/Supervisor (affiliated to University/Institute wherein Post-Doctoral Fellowship is tenable) for his/her post-doctoral research work and obtain his/her consent for the mentorship.

Research Grant for In-Service Faculty Members Eligibility Details

(i) Faculty members regularly appointed and working the following institutions are eligible to apply under the schemes:

(ii) Age: up to 50 years. (Faculty above 50 years of age is not eligible to apply).

(iii) The applicant should have a minimum 10 years of service left in the University from the date of submission of his / her application.

(iv) The applicant must have successfully supervised Ph.D. dissertation of 5 full-time candidates

(v) The applicant must have successfully completed at least 2 sponsored research projects funded by national / international government or private agencies.

Dr. D. S. Kothari Research Grant for Newly Recruited Faculty Members Eligibility Details

(ii) All teachers who are newly appointed at the level of Assistant Professor against permanent posts in university shall be eligible to receive financial support under the scheme.

(iii) The Assistant professor should possess Ph.D. degree with minimum five (5) research papers to his / her credit, published in journals of international repute.

(iv) The Assistant Professor should apply for the grant within a period of two years from the date of joining the post in the Department / University.

The dawn of the FemTech revolution

Women’s healthcare enables better outcomes for women patients and consumers, 1 The authors acknowledge the importance of healthcare to the transgender, nonbinary, and gender-fluid communities and that not all people who identify as women are born biologically female and vice versa. The focus of this paper is on women’s health support as related to a market segment specific to a certain biological sex. We recognize the need for future research into health issues that is inclusive of the transgender, nonbinary, and gender-fluid communities. Indeed, we intend to explore these needs in much greater detail in the months and years ahead. investors and other stakeholders across the value chain, and society at large. We explore many of these opportunities, and the broader context in which they have developed, in a related article, “ Unlocking opportunities in women’s healthcare .” In this article, we focus specifically on FemTech: defining what it means, taking the measure of its already impressive growth, and exploring its potential to help better match resources, talent, and capital to women’s unmet health needs.

Understanding FemTech

The term “FemTech” was first coined in 2016 by entrepreneur Ida Tin. In the course of just a few years, it has grown to encompass a range of technology-enabled, consumer-centric products and solutions.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative, global effort by Emma Kemble, Lucy Pérez , Valentina Sartori , Gila Tolub , and Alice Zheng, representing views from McKinsey’s Healthcare Systems & Services Practice.

For purposes of this research, we analyzed 763 FemTech companies, designated as largely tech-enabled, consumer-centric solutions addressing women’s health, excluding biopharma and incumbent medical devices. We included select nondigital consumer products (with materials science innovations), devices (that are patient friendly), and health clinics (that are consumer-centric). We excluded companies that are more than 20 years old or are not focused exclusively on women’s health (diagnostics, supplements, telemedicine). Companies with both men’s and women’s health solutions were included in the data set but were excluded from funding calculations.

In the course of just a few years, FemTech has grown to encompass a range of technology-enabled, consumer-centric products and solutions.

FemTech provides a wide range of solutions to improve healthcare for women across a number of female-specific conditions, including maternal health, menstrual health, pelvic and sexual health, fertility, menopause, and contraception, as well as a number of general health conditions that affect women disproportionately or differently (such as osteoporosis or cardiovascular disease). While it’s still early days, our research indicates that the dynamics underlying FemTech are accelerating: public awareness, company formation, and funding are surging (Exhibit 1).

FemTech companies are already validating their investment hypotheses. Among others, Progyny, which manages fertility benefits for employers, went public in 2019 at a valuation in excess of $1 billion; its current market capitalization is about $4 billion. And Maven Clinic, a virtual clinic for women’s and family health, was valued at more than $1 billion in a recent Series D investment. In fact, the opportunities for multiple players, including investors, researchers, providers, payers, and legacy pharmaceutical and medical-device companies, are becoming increasingly evident.

A market of opportunity

Depending on scope, estimates for FemTech’s current market size range from $500 million to $1 billion. Forecasts suggest opportunities for double-digit revenue growth. On the digital health front, FemTech companies currently receive 3 percent of all digital health funding . In our scan of hundreds of FemTech companies, we found concentration in maternal health patient support, consumer menstrual products, gynecological devices, and solutions in fertility. Funding reached $2.5 billion by early December 2021. In some cases, FemTech companies are filling gaps not yet addressed by biopharma and device incumbents, such as in the area of maternal health. Yet this is clearly, and promisingly, only the beginning of what FemTech can address. There are still significant white spaces (Exhibit 2).

On the cusp of disruption

FemTech companies could disrupt healthcare in a number of ways. Initial breakthroughs are already being achieved across a range of areas, including the following:

• Improving care delivery: Virtual clinics such as Tia, innovative brick-and-mortar clinics such as Kindbody, and direct-to-consumer prescription delivery services like those of The Pill Club, all enable women to access care in a more convenient, consumer-centric manner.
• Enabling self-care: Trackers and wearables offered by companies such as Bloomlife, and at-home diagnostics like those provided by Modern Fertility, are among the FemTech solutions that are helping women take greater charge of their health and health-related data.
• Improving diagnoses: Clinical diagnostics companies are pushing the scientific frontier to address unmet medical needs in areas such as endometriosis (DotLab) and preterm birth (Sera Prognostics).
• Addressing stigmatized areas: Companies are addressing what had been considered to be stigmatized topics head on, such as menstrual health (Thinx), sexual health (Rosy Wellness), pelvic care (Elvie), and menopause (Elektra Health).
• Delivering culturally sensitive and tailored care: Solutions tailored for subpopulations are emerging for Black women (such as Health in Her HUE), LGBTQ+ populations (FOLX Health), and women in low- and middle-income countries (Kasha).

The categories in which FemTech is having an impact are increasing—and also, in some cases, starting to evolve, overlap, and redefine themselves as FemTech companies begin to scale up and seek new ways to expand. For instance, Maven started in maternity care and then expanded across the reproductive life cycle. Peppy, which was founded to offer a solution for organizations to better support their people once they had brought their new babies home, now also addresses challenges around menopause. Other businesses, among them models that were launched on a direct-to-consumer model , are now seeking to obtain regulatory approval and reimbursement, as they build upon their experiences and real-world data to provide improved solutions for a broader set of stakeholders who benefit from better women’s healthcare.

Looking forward, early movers can stake out opportunities in prominent white spaces, including by leveraging technology to address women’s health issues beyond reproduction, and by helping to meet the needs of underserved populations such as low-income or minority communities. FemTech also presents significant partnership opportunities for legacy players in traditional sectors. Cosmetics leader L’Oréal, for example, recently unveiled a partnership with the period-tracking app Clue to deepen knowledge on the relationship between skin health and the menstrual cycle. As FemTech companies increasingly gain traction and change the competitive landscape, stakeholders within and beyond the healthcare ecosystem could well provide additional momentum.

Moreover, FemTech—and indeed, improved women’s healthcare overall—could help catalyze positive social changes across the healthcare ecosystem and beyond. Consider menopause, which frequently occurs when women are most likely to step into senior roles . Its effects can have an impact on the number of women in top positions and the quality of women’s experiences throughout organizations. 2 Jeneva Patterson, “It’s time to start talking about menopause at work,” Harvard Business Review , February 24, 2020. Deploying technological and consumer-centric solutions to address menopause can serve as a model and an enabler for future female leaders.

Along those lines, FemTech is powered to a significant extent by female entrepreneurs—more than 70 percent of FemTech companies we analyzed had at least one female founder, compared with a 20 percent norm for new companies. Indeed, across the value chain, a more inclusive, gender-aware healthcare system could help support more women to become inventors, investors, physicians, founders—and healthier human beings, solving for the health conditions of other human beings. Research has shown that when inventors set out to solve a health problem, male inventors are more likely to solve for a male-oriented condition; women-led teams solve for both. 3 John-Paul Ferguson, Rembrand Koning, and Sampsa Samila, “Who do we invent for? Patents by women focus more on women’s health, but few women get to invent,” Science , June 18, 2021, Volume 372, Number 6548, pp. 1345–48.

Increasing female representation among researchers, inventors, investors, and founders can create more consumer-centric products and solutions that recognize and target women’s specific healthcare needs. Indeed, the market is not just women consumers but also payers and providers that seek better products and tools to engage more effectively with women end consumers. FemTech solutions are not only achieving commercial success; they are contributing to the conditions for continued innovation. Because women are not just consumers but the primary healthcare decision-makers for themselves and often for their families, better health outcomes for women can lead to better outcomes for society.

As women’s healthcare becomes an increasing priority, FemTech is rising to meet the challenge as it matches capital and talent with unmet needs. In a short period of time, FemTech has already demonstrated impressive early wins. An even greater disruption could be ahead.

Emma Kemble is a consultant in McKinsey’s New Jersey office, Lucy Pérez is a senior partner in the Boston office, Valentina Sartori  is a partner in the Zurich office, Gila Tolub is a partner in the Tel Aviv office, and Alice Zheng is an alumna of the Silicon Valley office.

The authors wish to thank Angie Cui, Arshiya Fazal, Kat Guillen, Prithvi Kamadana, Peter Pfeiffer, Nikhil Sahni, Josh Sternberg, Nicole Szlezak, and Eli Weinberg for their contributions to this article.

References to companies presented as examples in this article do not represent an endorsement from McKinsey & Company.

This article was edited by David Schwartz, an executive editor in the Tel Aviv office.

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Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, replaces University of Utah Computer Science Professor and former Microsoft Executive Dan Reed, whose six-year term on the Board ended on May 10. The Board re-elected McCrary, Vice President for Research and Professor of Chemistry at the University of the District of Columbia, to serve a third term as NSB’s vice chair. 

It has been more than 30 years since the NSB had a Chair who was working in industry at the time of his or her election. Prior NSB Chairs working in industry at the time of their election were Mary Good (AlliedSignal), Roland Schmitt (GE), and Lewis Branscomb (IBM). Gil also has the distinction of being one of only three NSB Chairs under 50 at time of election.

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About Darío Gil

Gil is a member of the NSB class of 2020 - 2026. Over the last two years, Gil chaired the Board’s Committee on External Engagement, leading the Board’s engagement strategy and initiatives. Gil has also served on NSB’s Committee on Strategy and chaired the sub-committee on Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), which worked with the NSF to launch the agency’s first new directorate in 30 years.  

Gil is Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, responsible for one of the world’s largest and most influential corporate research labs, with over 3,000 researchers. He leads the technical community of IBM, directing innovation strategies in hybrid cloud, AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, and exploratory science. 

Gil, who received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to the “advancement and practical use of artificial intelligence and quantum computing in industry and society.” An advocate of collaborative research models, Gil co-chairs the Executive Board of the International Science Reserve, a global network of open scientific communities that provides specialized resources to prepare for and help mitigate urgent, complex global challenges. Gil has served on the President’s Council of Science and Technology Advisors (PCAST) and serves on the boards of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the New York Academy of Sciences, the New York Hall of Science, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). 

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McCrary is Vice President for Research and Professor of Chemistry at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) where he guides the development and sustainability of UDC’s research ecosystem through acquired grants and partnerships. He started his career as a research scientist at AT&T Bell Laboratories-Murray Hill and then joined the Advanced Technology Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), eventually becoming the inaugural Chief of the Convergent Information Systems Division. At NIST McCrary led the effort for electronic book standards and prototypes by employing high school and college students. McCrary’s executive research leadership positions include the Vice Chancellor for Research at University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Morgan State University; and Business Area Executive for Science & Technology at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He is a former national president of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers and a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. McCrary was elected in 2023 to the Executive Committee of Council on Research (COR) of the Association of Public & Land- Grant Universities (APLU).

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EGFR signaling pathway as therapeutic target in human cancers

Affiliations.

• 1 Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Institute of Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council (CNR), Area della Ricerca di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
• 2 Institute of Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council (CNR), Area della Ricerca di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
• 3 Unit of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenetics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
• 4 Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
• PMID: 35427766
• DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2022.04.002

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) enacts major roles in the maintenance of epithelial tissues. However, when EGFR signaling is altered, it becomes the grand orchestrator of epithelial transformation, and hence one of the most world-wide studied tyrosine kinase receptors involved in neoplasia, in several tissues. In the last decades, EGFR-targeted therapies shaped the new era of precision-oncology. Despite major advances, the dream of converting solid tumors into a chronic disease is still unfulfilled, and long-term remission eludes us. Studies investigating the function of this protein in solid malignancies have revealed numerous ways how tumor cells dysregulate EGFR function. Starting from preclinical models (cell lines, organoids, murine models) and validating in clinical specimens, EGFR-related oncogenic pathways, mechanisms of resistance, and novel avenues to inhibit tumor growth and metastatic spread enriching the therapeutic portfolios, were identified. Focusing on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), where EGFR mutations are major players in the adenocarcinoma subtype, we will go over the most relevant discoveries that led us to understand EGFR and beyond, and highlight how they revolutionized cancer treatment by expanding the therapeutic arsenal at our disposal.

Keywords: EGFR; EGFR-TKI; NSCLC; Personalized therapy; Therapy resistance.

Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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• Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* / genetics
• Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics
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• ErbB Receptors / metabolism
• Lung Neoplasms* / genetics
• Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
• Signal Transduction
• Protein Kinase Inhibitors
• ErbB Receptors
• EGFR protein, human

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ADVANCING PARKINSON’S DISEASE RESEARCH IN CANADA: THE CANADIAN OPEN PARKINSON NETWORK (C-OPN) COHORT

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Background Enhancing the interactions between study participants, clinicians, and investigators is imperative for advancing Parkinson’s disease (PD) research. The Canadian Open Parkinson Network (C-OPN) stands as a nationwide endeavor, connecting the PD community with ten accredited universities and movement disorders research centers spanning –at the time of this analysis– British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec.

Objective Our aim is to showcase C-OPN as a paradigm for bolstering national collaboration to accelerate PD research and to provide an initial overview of already collected data sets.

Methods The C-OPN database comprises de-identified data concerning demographics, symptoms and signs, treatment approaches, and standardized assessments. Additionally, it collects venous blood-derived biomaterials, such as for analyses of DNA, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and serum. Accessible to researchers, C-OPN resources are available through web-based data management systems for multi-center studies, including REDCap.

Results As of November 2023, the C-OPN had enrolled 1,505 PD participants. The male-to-female ratio was 1.77:1, with 83% (n = 1098) residing in urban areas and 82% (n = 1084) having pursued post-secondary education. The average age at diagnosis was 60.2 ± 10.3 years. Herein, our analysis of the C-OPN PD cohort encompasses environmental factors, motor and non-motor symptoms, disease management, and regional differences among provinces. As of April 2024, 32 researchers have utilized C-OPN resources.

Conclusions C-OPN represents a national platform promoting multidisciplinary and multisite research that focuses on PD to promote innovation, exploration of care models, and collaboration among Canadian scientists.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY Teamwork and communication between people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), doctors, and research scientists is important for improving the lives of those living with this condition. The Canadian Open Parkinson Network (C-OPN) is a Canada-wide initiative, connecting the PD community with ten accredited universities and movement disorders research centers located in –at the time of this analysis– British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. The aim of this paper is to showcase C-OPN as a useful resource for physician and research scientists studying PD in Canada and around the world, and to provide snapshot of already collected data. The C-OPN database comprises de-identified (meaning removal of any identifying information, such as name or date of birth) data concerning lifestyle, disease symptoms, treatments, and results from standardized tests. It also collects blood samples for further analysis.

As of November 2023, C-OPN had enrolled 1,505 PD participants across Canada. Most of the participants were male (64%), living in urban areas (83%), and completed post-secondary education (82%). The average age at diagnosis was 60.2 ± 10.3 years. In this paper, we look at environmental factors, motor and non-motor symptoms, different disease management strategies, and regional differences between provinces. In conclusion, C-OPN represents a national platform that encourages multidisciplinary and multisite research focusing on PD to promote innovation and collaboration among Canadian scientists.

Competing Interest Statement

JMM has grants from Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (2021 to 2023), Parkinson Foundation: PD GENEration (2023 to present), the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (2018-present), and Brain Canada (2018 to present). JMM serves as a US delegate of Oxford University Press (2022 to 2026). JMM serves as Vice President of the American Academy of Neurology and is on the Board of Directors of Parkinson Foundation. APS was a past consultant for Hoffman La Roche; received honoraria from GE Health Care Canada LTD, Hoffman La Roche. APS serves on the Board Directors of Parkinson Canada and Canadian Academy Health Sciences. APS is supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (PJT173540) and Krembil Rossy Chair program. DAG has received honorariums for speaking from Ipsen and for consulting from Abbvie. DAG is involved in clinical trials via CIHR, Cerevel Therapeutics, Hoffman La Roche, UCB Biopharma, and Bial R&D Investments. DAG has also received grants from CIHR, Parkinson Canada, Brain Canada, Parkinson Research Consortium, EU Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Disease Research, uOBMRI, and NIH. ZGO, LVK, and APS are Editorial Board Members of this journal but were not involved in the peer review process of this article nor had access to any information regarding its peer review. MC, GPM, MB, CPN, CD, IK, SB, AB, RC, ND, PAM, MJM, DM, MGS, AJS, EAF, and OM have no conflicts of interests to report pertaining to this study.

Funding Statement

This study was funded by Parkinson Canada and Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund, with the financial support of Health Canada.

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethics committee/IRB of the University of Calgary gave ethical approval for this work.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Data Availability

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.

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