Funding Opportunities: Sources from the United States for International Researchers and Collaborators

October 2008

Finding Grants

● Grants.gov (http://www07.grants.gov/)

▪ source for finding and applying for U.S. federal government grants

▪ central storehouse for over 1,000 grant programs

▪ provides access to ~ 500 billion USD annually

● Foundation Center, Information for International Visitors

▪ http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/international/

▪ information on international grantmaking by U.S. foundations for those outside the United States.

▪ website includes statistics, courses, books and information (some for sale).

Some sources

National Science Foundation (NSF)

NSF-Office of International Sciences and Engineering (OISE)

http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?org=OISE

▪ focal point for international science and engineering activities inside and outside NSF.

▪ supports programs to expand and enhance international research and education opportunities for U.S. scientists and engineers, especially at the early career stage.

▪ works to strengthen institutional partnerships throughout the global science and engineering research and education community.

▪ supports international collaborations

● List of NSF Program Officers by Country/Region:

http://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/country-list.jsp

NSF-OISE Programs and Funding Opportunities

● Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)

▪ supports collaborative research and education between U.S. and international institutions.

● Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes Program (PASI)

▪ short courses for advanced graduate students and postdocs in the Americas.

● Community-based Data Interoperability Networks (INTEROP)

● Domestic Nuclear Detection Office/National Science Foundation Academic Research Initiative (ARI)

● Explosives and Related Threats: Frontiers in Prediction and Detection (EXP)

● International Polar Year, 2007

● International Research and Education: Planning Visits and Workshops

▪ for the early phases of developing research and education activity between US and an international partner.

● International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)

▪ Fellowships for young researchers who are American citizens/permanent residents to conduct research outside the U.S.

● International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) and Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Projects (DDEP)

▪ supports U.S. undergraduate and doctoral students to work abroad with an investigator outside the U.S..

● East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students (EAPSI)

NSF- Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)

● collaborative research and education between U.S. and international institutions

● Some recent titles:

▪ Percolative and Disordered Systems: A U.S.- Brazil-Netherlands Based International Collaboration

▪ U.S.-Japan Cooperative Research & Education: Ultrafast and Nonlinear Optics in 6.1-Angstrom Semiconductors

▪ Collaborative research with the Paul Scherrer Institute and Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule on Advanced Pixel Silicon Detectors for the CMS detector

● typical award amount ~1,000,000 USD

National Science Foundation (in general)

● investigators may also:

▪ include international components in new proposals submitted to any relevant NSF program

▪ request supplemental funding for projects already supported by NSF

● NSF and USAID (United States Agency for International Development)

▪ April 2008: Memorandum of Understanding (“we want to work together”)

▪ Contact person at NSF: Wayne Patterson wpatters@nsf.gov

▪ http://www.nsf.gov/attachments/111504/public/USAIDNSF-MOU-signed-version.doc

Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global

● international presence for ONR.

● promotes science and technology collaboration of mutual benefit between the US and researchers around the globe.

● Visiting Science Program

▪ http://www.onrglobal.navy.mil/vsp.asp

▪ Supports short visits between Department of Navy (DoN) personnel, contractors and grantees and international scientists and technologists

● Conference Support Program (CSP)

▪ http://www.onrglobal.navy.mil/csp.asp

▪ provides financial support for international workshops and/or conferences

● Naval International Cooperative Opportunities in Science and Technology Program (NICOP)

▪ http://www.onrglobal.navy.mil/nicop.asp

▪ encourage international science and technology (S&T) collaboration in areas of Naval interest by providing seed funding when the ONR

Headquarters or other U.S. government agencies commit to program funding.

▪ Applications accepted on a continuous basis.

National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences

http://www.fic.nih.gov/index.htm

● International Center of U.S. National Institutes of Health

● Support global health issues through:

▪ partnerships between health research institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

▪ training the next generation of scientists to address global health needs.

● List of research grants:

http://www.fic.nih.gov/programs/research_grants/index.htm

● List of training grants:

http://www.fic.nih.gov/programs/training_grants/index.htm

Guggenheim Fellowship

http://www.gf.org/

● Sponsored by the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

● for advanced professionals (mid-career or later) to engage in research (or creation of the arts)

● Two separate competitions:

▪ US and Canadian Competition (due September 15)

▪ Latin American and Caribbean Competition (due December 1)

● Typically 1 year. Minimum six months.

● In 2008: 35 Latin American and Caribbean Fellowships (average award USD 34,000)

USAID's Middle East Regional Cooperation Program (MERC)

http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/merc/program_description.html

● promotes scientific cooperation between Arab and Israeli researcher communities.

● projects must be relevant to development in the Middle East.

● funds many types of projects, including agriculture, water resources, health and the environment.

● Projects must include at least one Israeli and one Arab institutional partner.

● Presently, has active grants in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, West Bank/Gaza, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon.

● Pre-Proposal Guidelines: http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/merc/pre-proposal_guidelines.pdf

● Upcoming pre-proposal deadline: December 15, 2008

U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF)

http://www.crdf.org/funding/

● nonprofit organization

● promotes international scientific and technical collaboration through grants, resources, and training.

● Most programs are with former Soviet bloc countries.

● List of current funding opportunities http://www.crdf.org/funding/

● Some current opportunities (deadlines):

● Georgia:

▪ 2008 Georgian National Science Scholars Program (Oct. 30, 2008).

● Russia:

▪ CGP-RFBR Multidisciplinary Climate Change Competition (Dec. 1, 2008).

● Kazkahstan:

▪ STEP Business Partnership Grants Competition in (Dec. 15, 2008).

● Ukraine:

▪ Business Partnership Grants Competition (Dec. 15, 2008).

▪ CREST 2008 Competition for a Research and Education Center for Energy Efficiency Technologies (Sept. 15, 2008).

▪ 2008 Junior Scientists Research Collaboration Program (Ukraine/US) (Dec. 15, 2008).

▪ CGP 2008 Multidisciplinary Climate Change Competition (Dec. 1, 2008).

United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation

http://www.bsf.org.il/Public/homepage/homePage.asp

● established by the governments of the U. S. and Israel.

● to foster scientific cooperation between the two countries.

● supports cooperative research projects in many scientific fields, including physics.

● Both basic and applied research.

● Accepts proposals annually.

● This year's submission deadline: November 17, 2008.

● Currently calling for proposals:

▪ workshop that brings together Israeli, American and Palestinian scientists for developing partnership research projects.

▪ Deadline: December 19, 2008.