External Research Funding

Bridge safety: Using artificial intelligence to improve bridge inspections

SDSU study examines woodchip quality in bioreactors

Sunlight, titanium dioxide remove harmful compounds from wastewater

Fu using AI to predict traffic delay times

Metzger honored for contributions to power industry

Research spotlight: Semhar Michael / Statistician focuses on health data

SDSU prof to study palliative care, end-stage renal disease

Saikat Basu develop Nasal Spray and Oral Inhaler

SDSU team tabbed as NASA contest finalist

NSF project to analyze new battery material

• An excellent place to start is Candid, an independent non-profit information clearinghouse. Formerly called the Foundation Center, Candid provides information on and access to foundations, corporations and government institutions. Candid contains a number of invaluable research tools to help you identify prospective donors, including reports, directories and guides that profile over 10,000 major foundations and the grants they have provided.
• The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) is the recommended starting point if you are seeking federal funding. Programs in the CFDA are grouped into 20 categories and over 170 subcategories including science and technology, disaster prevention, transportation, energy and more. For each entry, there is further information on the agency administering the program, the types of assistance offered, the amount of grants they have awarded, and examples of funded projects to help you determine how closely your project matches up with previous grants.
• Grants.gov is the single access point for grant programs offered by 26 Federal grant-making agencies and your source to find and apply for federal government grants.
• GrantSelect is an extensive online grants database, containing more than 11,000 funding opportunities provided by more than 5,100 unique sponsoring organizations.
• Guidestar is a searchable database of more than 600,000 nonprofit organizations including public charities and private foundations.
• The Federal Register allows you to search for grant announcements by date range and to preview grants that are expected to be available in the near future.
• Sam.gov Contract Opportunities is the single government point-of-entry for active Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000.
• Fundsnet Services offers a variety of links to foundations and corporations.

E-mail alert services allow you to subscribe to daily and weekly automated listings of current funding opportunities. Funding alerts often allow you to limit the search to selected criteria related to research areas and programs. Examples are provided below:

• National Science Foundation Update - When you subscribe to this service, you will receive an e-mail message each time new content is added to the NSF website in the categories you select.
• NIH Guide Listserv - Each week, the National Institutes of Health transmits an e-mail with table of contents information for that week's issue of the NIH Guide, as well as links to each NIH Guide RFA, PA and Notice published.
• AAAS Resources - Includes a list of where to search for funding and how to get funding.
• Grants.gov - Subscribe and receive daily notifications of new grant opportunity postings and updates. Select notifications based on specific criteria such as funding instrument type, eligibility or sub-agency.
• Philanthropy News Digest – Sign up to receive RFP lists from the Foundation Center.

There are a number of federal agencies that fund a wide range of projects and programs for engineers:

• DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - Grants for research and development in Small Business Innovation (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR).
• DHS - Department of Homeland Security - Grants for scientific research leading to the development of new and innovative technologies.
• DOC - U.S. Department of Commerce - Grants for economic growth, job creation, improved living standards and sustainable development.
• DOE - U.S. Department of Energy - Grants for research in sciences and alternative technologies that facilitate energy conservation.
• DOL - U.S. Department of Labor - Grants for research and development on mine safety, disability employment, etc.
• DOT - U.S. Department of Transportation - Grants for state and local governments to assist in the planning, design and construction of transportation systems and improvements.
• EPA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Grants to address environmental issues; frequently for community groups and local projects.
• FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Administration - Grants that help states and communities respond to local disasters and emergencies.
• NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Grants that pertain to space exploration, research and education.
• NIH - National Institutes of Health - Grants to relieve the burden of disease or enhance human health.
• NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology - Grants for research in Small Business Innovation and precision measurement, fire research and materials science.
• NSF - National Science Foundation - Grants for innovative basic research in science, mathematics and engineering.
• USAID - U.S. Agency for International Development- Grants for creative new approaches to development problems.
• USDA - U.S. Department of Agriculture - Grants for rural development, i.e., housing, telecommunications and water needs.