Funding Opportunities

NIH Research Software Engineer (RSE) Award

Grant

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

$300,000 for up to three years; no more than $200,000 for one year

Deadline: Letter of intent: 2026-11-04 · Full proposal: 2026-12-04

Salary support via the NIH Research Specialist (R50) mechanism for Research Software Engineers contributing to NIH-funded biomedical, clinical, behavioral, or health-related research software, tools, and algorithms. Targets RSEs outside a traditional independent-investigator career path.

Geography: USA
Focus area: Biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and health research software
Website: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-24-011.html

Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE)

Grant

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Track 1 (Planning): up to $300,000 · Track 2 (Establishment): up to $1,500,000 · Track 3 (Security): up to $1,500,000; 40–60 awards anticipated

Deadline: Full proposal: 2027-03-02 · Full proposal: 2027-09-07 (first Tuesday in March and September, annually)

Successor to POSE (NSF 24-606). Supports turning promising open-source research products into sustainable, secure open-source ecosystems, via three tracks: planning and scoping a new ecosystem, establishing or expanding an ecosystem around a product with existing adoption, and enhancing the safety, security, and privacy of existing ecosystems. A prior planning award is not required for the other tracks.

Eligibility: See solicitation NSF 26-506.
Geography: USA
Focus area: Open-source research software ecosystems
Website: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/pesose-pathways-enable-secure-open-source-ecosystems

Open Science Meetings

Grant

Open Science NL

€15,000

Deadline: 10 December 2026 14:00 CET, or earlier if the budget runs out (9% of the €400,000 budget remained as of 13 October 2026)

Both researchers and research support staff may submit an application for financial support for organising an open science meeting.

Eligibility: Dutch institutions
Geography: Netherlands
Focus area: Open Science communities that want to meet.
Website: https://www.openscience.nl/en/calls/open-science-meetings-0

GitHub Secure Open Source Fund

Grant

GitHub

$10,000 per project, paid in tranches ($6,000 during the 3-week program, $2,000 at the 6-month check-in, $2,000 at the 12-month check-in), plus up to $10,000 in Azure credits

Deadline: Rolling; applications are considered for all program sessions

Funds maintainers of widely-depended-on open source projects to improve security practices, through a 3-week education program, GitHub Security Lab office hours, and direct funding tied to security milestones at 6- and 12-month check-ins. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and considered for all program sessions.

Eligibility: Open source project maintainers (individuals or teams of up to 3) aged 18+, with an active GitHub profile, located in a GitHub Sponsors-supported region, not a current GitHub employee, with a clearly licensed project that has demonstrated community adoption and a defined governance structure.
Geography: Global (GitHub Sponsors-supported regions)
Focus area: Open source software security
Website: https://github.com/open-source/github-secure-open-source-fund

BSSw Fellowship Program

Fellowship

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Science Foundation (NSF)

Up to $25,000 per Fellow, awarded as a subcontract to the recipient's institution

Deadline: 2027 cohort applications due 2026-10-31 (extended from 2026-10-30)

Provides recognition and funding to leaders and advocates of high-quality scientific software, who propose a funded activity (e.g. a workshop, tutorial, or community content) that promotes better scientific software practices.

Eligibility: Applicants at any career stage (student through senior professional) affiliated with a U.S.-based institution able to receive federal funding.
Geography: USA
Focus area: Scientific software developer productivity and sustainability
Website: https://bssw.io/pages/bssw-fellowship-program

CHARTED Fund 2: Community Activities

Grant

CHARTED (dRTP Skills)

£150,000 total; up to £12,500 per activity (80% of Full Economic Costs)

Deadline: Rolling deadline, 15th of alternate months; next 2026-11-15. Apply at least three months before the activity.

Supports local networks, workshops, hackathons, mentoring programmes, and training that build skills and clarify career pathways for digital Research Technical Professionals. Covers room/venue hire and catering; excludes staff time and equipment purchases.

Eligibility: UK-based researchers and dRTPs involved with research software, research data, or research computing, or freelance trainers/educators in this sector; can support non-UK collaborators visiting the UK.
Geography: UK
Focus area: Community activities for the dRTP ecosystem
Website: https://drtp-skills.ac.uk/funds-community/

CHARTED Fund 4: Professional Development

Grant

CHARTED (dRTP Skills)

£150,000 total; up to £5,000 per award

Deadline: Rolling deadline, 15th of each month; next 2026-11-15

Reimbursement-based fund supporting early-career digital Research Technical Professionals to attend conferences, training courses, and certificate programmes, or undertake inter-institutional knowledge-exchange visits. Staff time is ineligible; recipients commit to sharing outcomes via blog posts or webinars.

Eligibility: Early-career professionals and those transitioning into dRTP roles, primarily UK-based; must show career benefit, plans to share outcomes locally, and have explored other funding sources first.
Geography: UK
Focus area: Professional development for dRTPs
Website: https://drtp-skills.ac.uk/funds-prof-dev/

Open Science Infrastructure Programme

Grant

Open Science NL

€17,000,000 total; up to €1,700,000 per proposal

Deadline: Letter of intent: 2026-11-03 14:00 CET · Mandatory workshop: 2026-12-02 · Full proposal: 2027-04-13 14:00 CET

The next round of the Open Science Infrastructure programme, supporting improvement and further development of existing digital infrastructures that enable open science, with a greater focus on collaboration and consortium formation. Now open for letters of intent.

Geography: Netherlands
Focus area: Digital infrastructure for open science
Website: https://www.openscience.nl/en/calls/open-science-infrastructure

NSF State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs

Grant/Cooperative Agreement

National Science Foundation (NSF)

$4,000,000 – $12,000,000 per award over 5 years; ~$100,000,000 available, up to 10 awards anticipated

Deadline: Full proposal: 2026-11-04

Funds state and regional consortia (governments, institutions, industry, and philanthropy) to expand researcher access to the compute needed for AI-enabled scientific discovery. NSF supports consortium coordination, workforce development, and faculty training, while consortia arrange funding for the underlying computing resources.

Eligibility: Limited submission: one award per state or multi-state region; one proposal per institution; individuals may serve as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel on at most one proposal per deadline. See solicitation NSF 26-513 for eligible organization types.
Geography: USA
Focus area: AI research computing infrastructure
Website: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/us-national-science-foundation-state-regional-artificial

FAIR Research Outputs Call

Grant

Open Science NL

€2,850,000 total; €1,400,000 available for first call; up to €50,000 per project

Deadline: Continuous, first-come-first-served until 2027-02-23 14:00 CET, with an interim submission deadline on 2026-12-01 14:00 CET. The Life Sciences and Health category's budget ran out on 2026-10-08.

A new funding instrument supporting researchers in making non-traditional research outputs — such as datasets, software, and creative works — open and FAIR-compliant, including development of guidelines, standards, or tools that improve findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability.

Geography: Netherlands
Focus area: FAIR non-traditional research outputs
Website: https://www.openscience.nl/en/calls/fair-research-outputs

Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining)

Grant

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Pilot: up to $300,000 over 2 years · Small Implementation: up to $500,000 over 4 years · Medium Implementation: up to $1,000,000 over 4 years; ~18 awards anticipated

Deadline: Full proposal: 2027-01-21 (third Thursday in January, annually thereafter)

Supports training and education that prepares the research workforce to create, use, and support advanced cyberinfrastructure — computation, large-scale data handling and analytics, networking, and security — and promotes broad adoption of CI tools and methods, including integrating computational skills into undergraduate and graduate education.

Eligibility: An individual may serve as PI, co-PI, or Senior Personnel on only one Pilot or Implementation proposal per competition. See solicitation NSF 23-520 for eligible PI types.
Geography: USA
Focus area: Research workforce training for advanced cyberinfrastructure
Website: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/training-based-workforce-development-advanced

Citizen Science Hubs 2026

Grant

Open Science NL

€2,400,000 total; material costs capped at 30% of the grant

Deadline: Full proposal: 2027-01-08 14:00 CET

Funds the establishment of citizen science hubs to strengthen knowledge, expertise, and support for citizen science (including science communication) within Dutch research organisations.

Eligibility: At least two applicants from different Dutch research organisations (universities, university medical centres, KNAW/NWO institutes, RIVM, KNMI) with contracts covering the project duration; at most one application per organisation.
Geography: Netherlands
Focus area: Citizen science support within research organisations
Website: https://www.openscience.nl/en/calls/citizen-science-hubs-2026

MIT Solve 2027 Global Challenges

Prize

MIT Solve

$10,000 grant to every selected Solver team (~$40,000 average after selection); $1M+ prize pool with individual prizes up to $150,000

Deadline: 2026-11-02 12:00 EST

MIT Solve’s open innovation challenges seek tech-based solutions from anyone, anywhere. The 2027 cycle has four challenges: Global Health, Global Climate, Global Learning, and Global Economic Prosperity. Selected Solvers receive a grant from Solve and are eligible for sponsor prizes.

Eligibility: Teams with tech-based solutions at the prototype, pilot, growth, or scale stage (concept-stage solutions are eligible only for the Indigenous Communities Fellowship); previous Solvers may apply with new solutions only. Some prizes are restricted to US-based teams.
Geography: Global
Focus area: Tech-based solutions to global challenges in health, climate, learning, and economic prosperity
Website: https://solve.mit.edu/challenges

Rapid Response Fund Vendor RFP

Contract

Open Technology Fund (OTF)

Paid vendor services; rates proposed by the vendor per the RFP

Deadline: 2026-11-23 23:59 EST (questions due 2026-10-28 23:59 EST)

OTF’s Rapid Response Fund gives recipients either direct financial support or technical services from trusted vendors. This RFP is looking for vendors who can provide emergency digital security support in selected service categories, helping independent media, civil society, and at-risk individuals or organizations hit by state-sponsored digital attacks stay safe, get back online, prevent future attacks, and respond to sudden censorship events.

Eligibility: Service providers, organizations, and individuals, mostly digital security practitioners, with technical, thematic, or regional expertise in responding to digital emergencies. Submissions go to rapidresponse@opentech.fund and must follow the RFP’s “Proposal Submission” guidelines.
Geography: Global
Focus area: Emergency digital security support for independent media and civil society facing state-sponsored digital attacks or censorship
Website: https://www.opentech.fund/news/open-technology-fund-requests-proposals-for-the-rapid-response-fund/

Restack (Open Internet Stack)

Grant

NLnet

€5,000 – €50,000 per project, with possible scale-up for proven potential (~€7 million total through 2030)

Deadline: 3 November 2026 12:00 CET

Part of the Open Internet Stack initiative, funded by the European Commission through Horizon Europe. Restack supports projects that deliver, mature, and scale internet commons, from libre chips and secure devices to middleware, local-first infrastructure, and end-user applications. In scope: core internet infrastructure and open alternatives to widely used closed technologies, full-stack security, software supply chain, reproducibility, decoupling of infrastructure layers, and interoperability standards. Grantees can also get accessibility scans, security audits, reproducible packaging, licensing and governance help, and standardisation support.

Eligibility: No categorical exclusions of persons. Projects need a strong European dimension, usually met by team members based in Horizon Europe-eligible countries receiving at least 60% of the funds; exceptionally strong proposals from outside those countries may be considered. Results must be released under a recognised free or open source license. AI-related projects are out of scope unless they already have more than 1 million active human users.
Geography: EU / Horizon Europe associated countries
Focus area: Operational internet commons across the full technology stack
Website: https://nlnet.nl/restack/

Catalyst Fund: Research Software in the Age of AI (Exploratory Fund)

Grant

Catalyst Fund (fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation)

Up to $50,000 per project (most expected between $15,000 and $50,000); no overheads or indirect costs

Deadline: Single deadline in late October 2026 (exact date not yet announced; applications not yet open as of 2026-10-21). A larger Impact Fund (up to $200,000, 9–12 months) is planned to open late 2026 or early 2027.

Funds people building, verifying, and teaching research software, and the norms, tools, methods, and training that support good use of generative AI in research software. Each project should leave something others can use, such as a tool, curriculum, dataset, document, or report. Example projects include agentic verification tools for testing and review, agent workflows for routine maintenance like issue triage and dependency updates, a searchable collection of AI-assisted project case studies, and a playbook for research team leaders on AI adoption. Applications are a two-page plain-language proposal with a simple budget and a three- to six-month schedule, reviewed by the community. Programme chair: Karthik Ram (UC Berkeley).

Eligibility: Individuals, informal teams, institutions, and non-profits anywhere in the world; no institutional affiliation required, and no connection to the Edinburgh workshop needed. Work must start now and finish within three to six months. Software outputs must be released under an OSI-approved license; other outputs under CC BY or CC0.
Geography: Global
Focus area: Research software and the responsible use of generative AI
Website: https://researchsoftwarecatalyst.fund/