Funding Opportunities for Faculty

Below is a list of funding opportunities available to faculty through federal and state agencies, as well as national organizations and private foundations. These resources support a wide range of scholarly, research, creative, and programmatic activities across all disciplines.

For additional information, please contact Leigh Lipscomb, Director of Grants, at lipscombl@citadelfoundation.org.

1. Federal Funding Sources
   
   
   • Grants.gov: This is the primary source for finding and applying for federal grants. It features funding opportunities from all federal grant-making agencies. You can search this site by keywords, categories, agencies, and other criteria.
   • Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): HRSA provides grants to IHEs to fund projects that serve the public, particularly in areas with healthcare needs.
   • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): NASA funds a wide range of faculty research, primarily focused on science and technology that aligns with their mission directorates. These include Aeronautics, Exploration Systems Development, Science, Space Operations, and Space Technology.
   • National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): NEA awards grants to nonprofit organizations, creative writers and translators, state arts agencies, and regional arts organizations in support of arts projects across the country.
   • National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): NEH offers a variety of grant programs to individuals and organizations that do the highest quality work to promote the humanities.
   • National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC): NHPRC supports projects to develop means to preserve authentic electronic records, publish papers documenting America’s founding era, and other eras important to understanding U.S. history.
   • National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH funds biomedical, behavioral, and social science research aimed at improving human health. This includes basic, translational, and clinical research across a wide range of disciplines, from genetics and neuroscience to public health and health disparities. NIH also supports research training, career development, and infrastructure to advance scientific discovery and innovation.
   • National Park Service (NPS): NPS funds a broad range of planning, development, and research projects for historic sites, as well as education, training, and repatriation efforts.
   • National Science Foundation (NSF): NSF funds research and education in all science and engineering fields except medical sciences. Its support spans basic research, applied research, and the development of research infrastructure, with an emphasis on advancing knowledge and innovation. NSF also promotes STEM education and workforce development from early education through graduate studies.
   • National Trust for Historic Preservation: Offers grants to nonprofit organizations and public agencies, primarily for planning and education projects.
   • Presidential Library Grants: Several private foundations associated with Presidential Libraries offer grants-in-aid to assist researchers studying Presidential Library holdings.
   • U.S. Department of Education (ED): ED provides funding to institutions of higher education aimed at improving student achievement and promoting educational excellence. This includes grants for research, teacher preparation, student support services, and programs that enhance academic quality and institutional effectiveness. Additionally, funding often targets initiatives that address underserved populations and foster innovation in education.
   • U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Science (DOE): Funds basic research in physical sciences, including energy, physics, materials science, computing, and chemistry.
   • U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ): DOJ offers funding opportunities to support law enforcement and public safety activities in state, local, and tribal jurisdictions; to assist victims of crime; to provide training and technical assistance; to conduct research; and to implement programs that improve the criminal, civil, and juvenile justice systems.
   • U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT): DOT provides grants to maintain a safe, accessible, and efficient national transportation system.
   • U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA): EDA offers funding opportunities to support regional economic development initiatives.
   • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): EPA awards research grants that support environmental protection and public health initiatives.
   • U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA): SBA funds limited grants related to small business innovation, research, entrepreneurship, and exporting.
     
     
2. State Funding Sources
   
   
   • South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC): SCAC funds a wide variety of initiatives aimed at supporting artists, arts organizations, and arts education across the state. They provide grants for arts projects, artist development, community arts development, and arts learning programs.
   • South Carolina Humanities (SCH): SCH funds public programs that promote the humanities, which include history, literature, philosophy, and cultural studies. They offer grants to support a variety of projects, from large-scale exhibits and documentaries to smaller community-based initiatives.
   • South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium (SC Sea Grant): SC Sea Grant funds research focused on critical marine and coastal resource-related needs and opportunities in South Carolina and the region. This includes research within the areas of Healthy Coastal Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, Weather and Climate Resilience, Sustainable Coastal Development and Economy, and Scientific Literacy and Workforce Development.
     
     
3. Industry Partnership Sources
   
   
   • South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA): The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) fuels South Carolina’s innovation economy by supporting technology-based startups, academic research, and industry partnerships. It provides funding, coaching, and other resources to accelerate the growth of these entities.
     
     
4. Foundation and Corporate Sources
   
   Please Note: If you are interested in pursuing funding opportunities with foundations or corporations, we kindly ask that you do not contact these organizations directly. Instead, please reach out to The Citadel Foundation for guidance. You may contact Leigh Lipscomb, Director of Grants, at lipscombl@citadelfoundation.org, or Page Tisdale, Senior Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations, at page.tisdale@citadelfoundation.org.
   
   The Citadel Foundation may already have an existing relationship with the organization and can help navigate the best approach. Additionally, many foundations and corporations do not accept unsolicited proposals, and working through The Citadel Foundation can enhance your chances of a successful outcome.
   
   
   • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: This foundation funds original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics.
   • Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: This foundation primarily funds projects in the arts and humanities, with a focus on promoting underrepresented populations, collective understanding, and cultural engagement.
   • Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation: The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation primarily funds research in chemistry and the life sciences, with a focus on supporting young investigators and fostering the development of new scientific instruments, methods, and materials.
   • Arthur Vining Davis Foundations: Provides funding focused primarily on private higher education, public educational media, interfaith leadership and religious literacy, and environmental engagement, stewardship, and solutions. Occasionally, it has funding opportunities for public institutions.
   • Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF): BWF primarily supports research in biomedical sciences, infectious diseases, and the interfaces between different scientific disciplines, including climate change and human health. They also have a strong focus on supporting early-career scientists and fostering diversity within the scientific community.
   • Gates Foundation: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation primarily funds initiatives focused on global health, global development, and education in the United States. They invest in research, development, and scaling of innovative solutions to address issues like infectious diseases, poverty, and access to education and economic opportunity.
   • Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA): The RCSA is a foundation providing catalytic funding for innovative scientific research and the development of academic scientists.
   • The Robert B. Silvers Foundation: This foundation supports writers working in the fields of long-form literary and arts criticism, the intellectual essay, political analysis, and social reportage.
   • The Spencer Foundation: Provides funding for education-focused research projects, research training fellowships, and additional field-building initiatives.
   •  The Teagle Foundation: Provides funding to faculty, in their role as teachers in the classroom and agents of change, to transform undergraduate education to ensure the benefits of a liberal education are broadly accessible.
   • Whitehall Foundation: Provides funding in the life sciences—specifically focusing on basic neurobiology research (both vertebrate and invertebrate, excluding clinical)—emphasizing support for early-career investigators through grants up to $100,000/year or Grants‑in‑Aid up to $30,000/year.
     
     
5. National Organizations
   
   
   • American Chemical Society (ACS): ACS offers funding to advance the chemical sciences through research, education, and community projects. Programs include the Petroleum Research Fund, Green Chemistry, and Organic and Medicinal Chemistry.
   • American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS): ACLS has supported individual scholars and scholarly teams around the world in their pursuit of research with the potential to advance knowledge in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. Their current focus includes providing more pathways for those who have traditionally had less access to external research support and scholarly resources, including first-generation scholars, people from historically marginalized communities, and non-tenure track faculty.
   • American Mathematical Society (AMS): AMS administers several research and travel support grant programs, including research grants for tenure-track and tenured faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs).
   • American Political Science Association (APSA): The APSA awards grants, fellowships, and scholarships with the aim of advancing education and research in political science. These include grants to support scholarly research, civic engagement programming, collaborative projects on teaching political science, and research projects with real-world impact.
   • Mathematical Association of America (MAA): MAA is a professional organization that supports mathematical sciences through various programs and grant opportunities.
   • National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA): The NASBA Grant Program seeks to advance research on educational issues impacting certified public accountants (CPAs), the public accounting profession, and state boards’ charge to protect the public.
   • National Geographic Society (NGS): NGS funds a wide range of projects focused on scientific fieldwork, conservation, education initiatives, and storytelling efforts that align with their mission.