Grants for Individuals - Federal

This funding opportunity is designed to support U.S.-based researchers and institutions working on projects that enhance the detection, tracking, and mitigation of potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that could threaten Earth.

This funding opportunity supports creative projects that promote engagement, education, and collaboration between the United States and the communities of Mauritius and Seychelles.

This funding opportunity supports alumni of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs in Equatorial Guinea to implement community projects that address global challenges, focusing on areas like sustainable tourism, agriculture, and biodiversity.

This grant provides funding to eligible organizations and individuals for projects that improve and maintain the ecological health of military training lands in Alaska, ensuring sustainable environments for military operations.

The Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S Embassy in Azerbaijan is pleased to announce an open competition for Azerbaijani alumni of U.S. exchange programs to submit applications to implement a series of Alumni capacity building and networking events under the Alumni Outreach and Capacity Building Fund. The activities should take place over calendar years 2024 and 2025. Proposals should include the below components: Alumni Capacity Building: A series of training sessions, bootcamps, or seminars on soft skills development and community engagement. Youth Alumni Training: An in-person training and networking program in Azerbaijan for recently returned youth alumni to build their skills and remain engaged with Embassy and alumni network. Annual Alumni Reception: A large networking event for alumni. Alumni Summit: A two-day event to develop capacity while showcasing the work of our alumni through exhibits, panels, workshops, and speakers. Thematic meetups: A series of at least four engagements bringing together alumni in specific fields to build capacity, strengthen networks, and encourage them to collaborate across exchange program and age cohorts.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to local Philippine organizations to strengthen the country's capacity to prevent and respond to infectious disease threats through a collaborative, multi-sectoral approach.

This funding opportunity supports alumni of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs in Namibia to develop innovative community projects that address social challenges and promote shared interests between the U.S. and local communities.

This program provides funding for U.S. and Chilean non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and individuals to implement projects that strengthen ties between the United States and Chile in areas like combating disinformation, promoting economic growth, and supporting democratic institutions.

Regional Scale Collaboration to Facilitate a Domestic Critical Minerals Future: Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative The planned Research and Development will provide a regional scale understanding of critical minerals prospectivity and provides insight into the potential materials that may be sourced from domestic secondary and unconventional feedstocks across the United States. The work will contribute to the development of a framework that addresses economic and supply chain barriers, leads to pilot scale demos, and broaden scope to include advanced carbon or critical mineral bearing material products.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and individuals from the U.S. and Kyrgyz Republic to enhance STEM education and resources in Kyrgyzstan, addressing barriers to innovation and economic growth.

This funding opportunity is for individual U.S. citizens to design and create lifelike statues honoring notable Americans, celebrating the nation's heritage in preparation for its 250th anniversary.

This funding opportunity supports projects that strengthen U.S.-Poland relations by promoting mutual understanding and leadership development among emerging Polish leaders and professionals through workshops, seminars, and cultural exchanges.

This funding opportunity supports U.S. and Albanian organizations in developing cultural and educational exchange programs that strengthen U.S.-Albanian relations, focusing on democratic institutions, national security, and economic growth.

This funding opportunity provides financial support for researchers and organizations focused on studying earthquake hazards and developing safety measures to mitigate risks associated with seismic events in the U.S.

Abidjans Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) program seeks a cooperative agreement with one partner who will oversee a series of speaking engagements on a diverse range of topics. The program will bring together American and Ivoirian experts to engage the public on pressing issues which are priorities for both countries. The program topics will be chosen in tandem with PDS and can include but are not limited to:Coastal protection and climate change,Ethical Uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI)Entrepreneurship: developing and scaling a business across sectorsCivic Engagement: The Future of African Youth: encouraging youth participation

The U.S. Department of State provides funding for well-conceived projects that support U.S. Embassy Santiagos strategic priorities in Chile. All proposed projects should strengthen bilateral ties between the United States and Chile and include a clear U.S. element that will promote increased understanding of the United States among the Chilean public. They may include U.S. expert(s), organization(s), or institution(s) in a specific field that will promote increased understanding of U.S. policy and perspectives.Proposals should address one or more of the following priority program objectives: Bolster Free and Independent Media: Chilean journalists and students, acquire new skills and tools to recognize and mitigate the spread of disinformation and online violence, as well as reduce vulnerability to unreliable news sources. Advance Social and Economic Inclusion: Chilean civil society and government advance the rights of and opportunities for marginalized and vulnerable communities, including women, indigenous and African descendant Chileans, and immigrants, in order to promote more stable and sustainable social and economic conditions. Promote Partnerships for Climate Action: Strengthened partnerships among different stakeholders including civil society, academia, business, and government increase citizen participation in climate action, in order to build climate resilience and help Chile lead alongside the United States in the region.

This funding opportunity supports projects that strengthen cultural ties between the U.S. and Myanmar, focusing on education, entrepreneurship, media literacy, and English language learning, particularly for disadvantaged communities.

The "Earth and Environmental Systems Science in the Southeast U.S." grant aims to fund collaborative research that enhances understanding and modeling of ecosystems, atmospheric processes, and regional phenomena in the Southeast U.S., with a focus on vegetation, land-atmosphere interactions, spatial heterogeneity, convection, clouds, precipitation, biogenic aerosols, and extreme events.

To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. Agency Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260): (A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies. ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. 16538. The FOA and any cooperative agreements or grants made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on, and the development of, transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established learning curves where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive improvements to the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. In contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly better than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines applied research as an original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledgedirected primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective and defines experimental development as creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes. Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts)1 should contact the DOEs Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity). Program Overview: The Nuclear Energy Waste Transmutation Optimized Now (NEWTON) program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel (UNF) to alleviate the impact of storage in permanent disposal facilities. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies that increase the overall capacity factor, power output, and efficiency of particle generation systems (including but not limited to proton, neutron, and/or photon), by reducing beam trip magnitude and duration (referred to as loss of beam). Additional technologies will focus on increasing the throughput of transmutation by developing target materials that maximize transmutation rates and are easily processible to remove the transmuted material. The United States does not currently have an active facility for the permanent disposal of used nuclear fuel derived from the civilian nuclear sector. Used nuclear fuel comprises several classes of isotopes that could be processed in different ways due to their economic value. Firstly, uranium (U), which comprises greater than 95% of the mass of UNF, can be reprocessed and converted back into fuel for light-water reactors through the addition of small amounts of uranium-235 (U-235). Secondly, plutonium (Pu) and minor actinides (MAs), such as neptunium (Np), americium (Am), and curium (Cm), which together comprise roughly 1.5% of UNF by mass, are produced from nuclear fission. Many of these isotopes are fissionable and could be incorporated into fuels designed for advanced reactor concepts. Intermediate-lived fission products (ILFPs) including strontium-90 (Sr-90) and caesium-137 (Cs-137) have relatively short half-lives of roughly 30 years and have applications in radioisotope thermoelectric generators for space applications. However, ILFPs are largely destined for permanent disposal in a deep geological repository. The major long-lived fission products (LLFPs) have half-lives exceeding 200,000 years and have few commercial applications. LLFPS include selenium-79 (Se-79), technetium-99 (Tc-99), tin-126 (Sn-126), iodine-129 (I-129), and caesium-135 (Cs-135). The last class of isotopes are the stable isotopes produced from nuclear fission and resulting decay. These isotopes could be extracted from UNF, but no commercial processing of these have been undertaken. A deep geological disposal facility for the disposition of UNF in the U.S. has been estimated to cost $96.18 billion over the 150-year lifetime, after which the facility would cease to accept new waste. This facility would be able to store 70,000 metric tons (MT) of unprocessed UNF, which is insufficient for the existing volume of civilian waste. Densification of the waste can be accomplished through removal of the plutonium, minor actinides, and ILFP components of the UNF. Removal of 99.9% of these components would allow a densification factor of 225, based on current disposal requirements, thus allowing a single repository to store upwards of approximately 16 million MT of UNF. The LLFPs are responsible for many of the engineered barriers that are required to be built in the repository due to their long half-lives and environmental mobility. Removal of these LLFPs could decrease the capital expenditure of a permanent geological repository while also improving safety. To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

Purpose of Public Diplomacy Grants: The PDS invites proposals for programs that strengthen ties between the United States and the Kyrgyz Republic and support a priority program area (see below) in order to highlight shared values and promote bilateral cooperation. All proposed programs must include an American element, either through a connection with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s, usage of American educational/informational resources, or any other activities that promote or contribute to increased mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of the Kyrgyz Republic. Competitive proposals will promote continued/sustainable cooperation between the people of the United States and the Kyrgyz Republic even after the project concludes.Special consideration will be given to proposals which include partnership with Kyrgyz governmental bodies, and to organizations that have a demonstrated track record of implementing these types of partnerships.PDS invites proposals for programs that support one of the following U.S. Embassy priority program areas:Sustainable Economic GrowthAccountable Governance and StabilityEnglish Language ProgrammingClimate Change Resilience and Environmental ProtectionCombating Transnational Threats.