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Many of the largest grant programs are open to people in various fields of the sciences. The National Science Foundation provides funding to researchers in many fields of the sciences, from computer science to geoscience. The Community of Science also lists a number of awards, from a variety of sources, on its website. It claims to be the largest database of funding for scientific research, listing more than $33 billion in funding.
Countless organizations, from extremely well-known ones to smaller foundations, support research in the biological sciences. These include funding sources such as the American Chemical Society, the National Physical Science Consortium and the American Academy of Neurology. An extensive list of funding opportunities for researchers can be found on the Michigan State University Libraries website (see References). These databases provide information about funding for other branches of the sciences as well. - The National Institutes of Health has allotted at least $200 million to sponsor research in the health sciences during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. It titles this grant program the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research. On its website, the NIH lists high-priority topics in the biomedical and behavioral sciences that it wishes to fund. Many other opportunities, like the funding provided by the American Association for Cancer Research and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, can be found on the Michigan State University (MSU) grant database.
- The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science awards funding to researchers studying nuclear physics or using advanced computing methods, as well as related areas of study. The American Nuclear Society offers grants as well. These opportunities and many more can be found on the MSU database and other sources listed below.
- The International Foundation for Science provides grants to younger researchers in developing countries to study conservation, sustainable agriculture and similar areas of interest (http://www.ifs.se/). MSU's grants database lists numerous environmental science funding opportunities, from organizations such as the National Water Research Institute, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Various foundations, such as Autism Speaks, list funding opportunities for researchers in the behavioral sciences. The Social Science Research Council offers fellowships and grants as well (http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/). The American Psychological Association offers funding for all levels of scholars, from the undergraduate to the postdoctorate.
- The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) provides numerous grants for large technology research projects. Such programs fund studies in network science and engineering, studies at the interface of mathematics and computer science and nanoelectronics.
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The American Association of University Women offers research grants to women postdoctoral candidates and women conducting postdoctoral research in the arts and humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Excellence in Science Lecture and Award awards up to $10,000 to a woman in the biological sciences, to honor an exceptional achievement. (See the University of California, Berkeley, Sponsored Projects Office website for more information.) The American Institute of Physics, and many other organizations, offer funding opportunities for researchers as well.
To find the best grants for you, bookmark your favorite grants databases (like those listed below) and check them regularly. Also, talk to your university's grants office, learn whether your department offers funding, look in the Chronicle Guide to Grants and find out whether any other professional organizations in your specific field sponsor scientific research.
