Grants for Small businesses - Science and Technology

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.

The Juneau Affordable Housing Fund (JAHF), established by the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ), aims to increase affordable (0% to 80% area median income (AMI)) and middle-income (80% to 120% AMI) housing in Juneau. This initiative aligns with the CBJ's broader mission to address housing needs within the Capital City. The JAHF directs financial resources towards various activities including funding capital costs for rental and ownership housing, supporting capacity-building efforts for non-profit housing developers, and leveraging CBJ investments with other funding sources to maximize the creation and preservation of quality affordable and middle-income housing units. The primary beneficiaries of the JAHF are households within the affordable (0-80% AMI) and middle-income (80-120% AMI) ranges, as well as non-profit housing developers, public housing authorities, tribal governments, and for-profit developers who contribute to the creation of such housing. The impact goals include increasing the number of available affordable and middle-income housing units, fostering long-term affordability, and encouraging downtown housing development. The JAHF prioritizes the use of capital to develop housing units, specifically funding for acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable, middle-income, and senior housing, as well as homeowner opportunities. A key focus is on long-term affordability, with a preference for units created with affordability covenants or that are permanently affordable. Additionally, the fund prioritizes housing development within the boundaries established by the Downtown Juneau Residential Tax Abatement Map. Expected outcomes include a significant increase in the supply of affordable and middle-income housing units in Juneau. Measurable results will be tracked through the number of housing units created or preserved, the proportion of units designated for long-term affordability, and the geographic distribution of new developments, particularly in the downtown area. The CBJ’s strategic priority, as reflected in the JAHF, is to implement its Housing Action Plan by directing financial resources and incentives to address the critical need for diverse housing options across different income levels, thereby enhancing the overall livability and economic stability of the community.

This funding opportunity is designed for researchers and organizations focused on advancing ocean science and technology to enhance national security, economic development, and environmental protection.

Please note that this program requests optional Notices of Intent, which are due via NSPIRES by April 26, 2024. See the full posting on NSPIRES for details. Proposers must retrieve the instructions document (zip file) associated with the application package for this opportunity as there is at least one required form that must be attached to the submitted proposal package. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD) released its annual omnibus Research Announcement (NRA), Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2024 (OMB Approval Number 2700-0092, CFDA Number 43.001) on February 14, 2024. In this case "omnibus" means that this NRA has many individual program elements, each with its own due dates and topics. All together these cover the wide range of basic and applied supporting research and technology in space and Earth sciences supported by SMD. Awards will be made as grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and inter- or intra-agency transfers, depending on the nature of the work proposed, the proposing organization, and/or program requirements. However, most extramural research awards deriving from ROSES will be grants, and many program elements of ROSES specifically exclude contracts, because contracts would not be appropriate for the nature of the work solicited. The typical period of performance for an award is three years, but some programs may allow up to five years and others specify shorter periods. In most cases, organizations of every type, Government and private, for profit and not-for-profit, domestic and foreign (with some caveats), may submit proposals without restriction on teaming arrangements. Tables listing the program elements and due dates (Tables 2 and 3), a table that provides a very top level summary of proposal contents (Table 1), and the full text of the ROSES-2024 "Summary of Solicitation", may all be found NSPIRES at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2024. This synopsis is associated with one of the individual program elements within ROSES, but this is a generic summary that is posted for all ROSES elements. For specific information on this particular program element download and read the PDF of the text of this program element by going to Tables 2 or 3 of this NRA at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2024table2 and http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2024table3, respectively, click the title of the program element of interest, a hypertext link will take you to a page for that particular program element. On that page, on the right side under "Announcement Documents" the link on the bottom will be to the PDF of the text of the call for proposals. For example, if one were interested in The Lunar Data Analysis Program (NNH24ZDA001N-LDAP) one would follow the link to the NSPIRES page for that program element and then to read the text of the call one would click on C.8 Lunar Data Analysis Program (.pdf) to download the text of the call. If one wanted to set it into the context of the goals, objectives and know the default rules for all elements within Appendix C, the planetary science division, one might download and read C.1 Planetary Science Research Program Overview (.pdf) from that same page. While the letters and numbers are different for each element within ROSES (A.12, B.7, etc.) the basic configuration is always the same, e.g., the letter indicates the Science Division (A is Earth Science, B is Heliophysics etc.) and whatever the letter, #1 is always the division overview. Frequently asked questions for ROSES are posted at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs. Questions concerning general ROSES-2024 policies and procedures may be directed to Max Bernstein, Lead for Research, Science Mission Directorate, at [email protected], but technical questions concerning specific program elements should be directed to the point(s) of contact for that particular element, who may be found either at the end of the individual program element in the summary table of key information or on the web list of topics and points of contact at: http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/program-officers-list. Not all program elements are known at the time of the release of ROSES. To be informed of new program elements or amendments to this NRA, proposers may subscribe to: (1) The SMD mailing lists (by logging in at http://nspires.nasaprs.com and checking the appropriate boxes under "Account Management" and "Email Subscriptions"), (2) The ROSES-2024 blog feed for amendments, clarifications, and corrections to at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/solicitations/roses-2024/, and (3) The ROSES-2024 due date Google calendars (one for each science division). Instructions are at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/library-and-useful-links (link from the words due date calendar).

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 [email protected] (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 [email protected]. 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.

The Rise Prize is an initiative created by Imaginable Futures (a venture of The Omidyar Group) and Lumina Foundation, in collaboration with leading partner organizations. Its core mission aligns with the foundations' goals of fostering economic mobility and well-being, specifically by leveraging direct investments in innovative solutions that support student parents. This program seeks to accelerate the postsecondary success of student parents, recognizing the critical role education plays in their economic advancement and overall well-being. The primary beneficiaries of the Rise Prize are student parents in the US, across all states and counties. The program targets impact-driven changemakers, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies (such as edtech solutions), and higher education institutions (including departments, teams, academic institution associations, or alternative career pathways programs like workforce programs, credentialing programs, and bootcamps). The overarching impact goal is to increase the number of innovative solutions that directly drive postsecondary success for this demographic, ultimately leading to greater economic mobility and improved well-being. The Rise Prize prioritizes solutions that will have a direct impact on the postsecondary success of student parents. This includes a wide array of solution types, such as flexible courseware, original outcomes-based financing solutions, innovative childcare support models, community building, and completion coaching. The program also highlights key areas of focus like Childcare, Community of Support, Completion Time, Convenience First, Cost, and Credential/Connection to Career. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate how their solutions address these critical areas to accelerate student parent success. The program is structured to achieve several expected outcomes, measured through a three-tiered award system. Early stage applicants, those with new ideas anchored in initial customer validation, are eligible for $50,000 awards, with 8 winners expected. The "Risers’ Choice" awardee receives $100,000. Mature stage applicants, defined by organizations with strong conviction and demonstrated product/market fit, are eligible for $200,000 awards, with 5 winners anticipated. In total, 14 awards totaling $1.5M will be distributed. Beyond direct funding, the program also aims to raise awareness of solutions, provide exposure to funders and partners, strengthen ideas through mentorship, foster community among innovators, and offer advisory support for product pitches to finalists.

This funding opportunity supports innovative research projects aimed at developing new treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, targeting both new and established researchers in the field.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to innovative technology startups in Minnesota for research, development, and business expenses, helping them grow and succeed in their early years.

This funding opportunity provides up to $75,000 to early-stage clean tech and clean energy companies in New Jersey to support research and development projects that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Disability Inclusion Fund (DIF) at Borealis Philanthropy is actively seeking applications from organizations dedicated to advancing disability inclusion, rights, and justice. This grant program is deeply aligned with Borealis Philanthropy's broader mission to foster a more vibrant, just, and joyful world for people with disabilities. The fund's strategic priorities are rooted in intersectional cross-movements and collaborative efforts, supporting initiatives ranging from arts and culture to policy and advocacy that dismantle ableism and promote authentic representation of disabled people. The primary beneficiaries of DIF grants are organizations whose work is driven by and accountable to the disability justice movement, with a particular emphasis on those most impacted by injustice and exclusion. This includes disabled people with multiple and intersecting social and political identities, such as race, gender identity, class, and sexual orientation. The fund prioritizes organizations led by disabled people, specifically Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), queer, gender non-conforming, and women with disabilities, where over 50% of the leadership (management staff, advisory committees, or governing boards) identify as disabled. DIF's core focuses include promoting radical inclusion by removing barriers and ensuring access, valuing lived experience, and emphasizing the leadership of those most impacted. The program also fosters cross-movement solidarity, encouraging collaboration and bridge-building among disability justice activists and across various social movements like Black lives, climate change, immigration rights, labor rights, racial justice, and queer and trans liberation. This approach reflects a theory of change that believes systemic change occurs through interconnected movements and the empowerment of marginalized communities. Expected outcomes include strengthening grassroots disabled-led organizations, expanding their operational capacities for ongoing movement building, and driving narrative change that dismantles ableism in policy, society, and culture. Measurable results will stem from work that moves practices of disability inclusion and justice forward through community organizing, mutual aid, advocacy, and policy work, as well as strategies that celebrate and elevate the authentic representation of disabled people in arts, media, and literature. This two-year grant opportunity provides $75,000 per year, totaling $150,000, for eligible U.S.-based or U.S. territory-based 501(c)3 organizations or fiscally sponsored entities with an annual budget under $1 million.

The Women's Foundation of Minnesota (WFM) has launched the Innovators Program, a microgrant initiative aligned with its mission to support the leadership and ideas of young women and gender-expansive leaders. This program directly contributes to the foundation's strategic priorities by empowering youth (ages 16-24) to address gender and racial equity and justice within their communities. Through microgrants, cohort-based learning, and individual leadership coaching, WFM aims to fuel these leaders' ideas and support their development, ultimately advancing key recommendations outlined in the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota’s (YWI MN) Blueprint for Action. The primary target beneficiaries of the Innovators Program are young women and gender-expansive individuals aged 16-24 who reside in Minnesota. Priority is given to those who identify with priority communities of the YWI MN, including Black/African American, African Immigrant, American Indian, Hispanic/Latina, Asian/Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+, Disabilities, and Greater/Rural Minnesota communities. The program's impact goals are focused on three core areas: building pathways to economic opportunity, improving safety and well-being, and promoting young women's leadership. The Innovators program prioritizes projects that advance gender and racial equity and justice, led by visionary leaders from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Projects can be varied, including starting or continuing social change initiatives, designing personal learning plans, attending conferences to share learnings, organizing events for impact, supplying resources for advocacy, conducting research, or undertaking travel for learning purposes within Minnesota. The program emphasizes creative thinking in how microgrants can uniquely help move leadership and ideas forward, and how they can increase effectiveness in desired impact. Expected outcomes and measurable results include the successful implementation of grant-funded projects within a 12-month period, demonstrating an advancement in gender and racial equity and justice. Participants are expected to engage in mandatory online and/or in-person convenings for leadership development, advocacy, and community building. This includes direct professional coaching to support their projects and deepen their long-term leadership skills. The foundation's theory of change posits that by investing directly in young women and gender-expansive leaders, providing financial support, leadership development, and a supportive cohort, it can foster impactful projects and cultivate a new generation of leaders capable of driving systemic change.

This grant provides financial support to nonprofit organizations focused on empowering low- and moderate-income communities and underserved populations in New England and parts of New York.

This funding opportunity provides financial support for small businesses, property owners, developers, and nonprofit organizations to undertake renovation or new construction projects in specific areas of South and North Minneapolis.

This funding opportunity supports clinical trials aimed at improving treatments and care for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), encouraging collaboration with patients and caregivers in the research process.

The ERP seeks to solicit Faculty members to join the Virtual Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Research Center (P-TERC) in order to advance PTE research through development of early-career investigators and investigators new to the PTE field. The ERP Virtual P-TERC is a unique, interactive virtual research center providing intensive mentoring, national networking, collaborations, and a peer group for new PTE investigators. The overarching goal of the Virtual P-TERC is to develop successful, highly productive PTE researchers in a collaborative research and career development environment to enhance quality and expand quantity of the PTE research field. The Virtual P-TERC is a multi-institutional career development and research training platform that consists of Faculty and their Career Guides (primary mentors) and is managed by a Director and Deputy Director. The Virtual P-TERC Leadership (the Director and the Deputy Director) serve as a resource for the Faculty and Career Guides, assessing the progress of Faculty and facilitating communication and collaboration among all of the Faculty and Career Guides, as well as with national research societies and representatives from the community with lived PTE experience. In addition to fostering scientific development, the Virtual P-TERC, through its Leadership, provides for professional and leadership development of the Faculty to include skills and competencies needed to fund and manage a productive PTE research laboratory.

The FY24 PRMRP Impact Award supports applied research, defined as use-inspired and practice-oriented science that brings together outcomes from basic research, and insights from the real-world environment, to foster clinical applicability. The intent of the Impact Award is to translate the fundamental understanding of underlying mechanisms toward practical applications that have the potential for major near-term impact on patients affected by one of the diseases and conditions included in the FY24 PRMRP Topic Areas.Proposed research should refine mature concepts and ideas into translatable solutions with a view toward evaluating technical feasibility of promising new pharmacological agents, knowledge products, behavioral and rehabilitation interventions, diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, clinical guidance, and/or emerging approaches and technologies. The FY24 PRMRP Impact Award is not intended to support basic research.For the purposes of this funding opportunity, basic research is defined as exploratory science directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena or outcomes, without specific applications toward process and products. Examples include, but are not limited to, high-risk/high-gain approaches, mechanistic studies, and preliminary data generation/validation. Applicants seeking funding for research that meets this definition should consider one of the other FY24 PRMRP program announcements being offered. For information about these award mechanisms, see Section II.A.1, FY24 PRMRP Research Development Pipeline.Pre-Application (Letter of Intent) Submission Deadline: 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (ET), May 13, 2024

The SCIRP IIRA is intended to support studies that have the potential to make an important contribution to SCI research, patient care, and/or quality of life.Important aspects of this award mechanism include: Impact: Applications should articulate the short- and long-term impact of the proposed research on both the SCI research field as well as the SCI community. Projects must address one or more of the FY24 SCIRP Focus Areas. Relevance to Military Health: Projects should be relevant to spinal cord-injured military Service Members, Veterans, and/or their Family members and care partners. Collaboration with military and VA researchers and clinicians is encouraged. Preliminary Data: Observations that drive a research idea may be derived from laboratory discovery, population-based studies, a clinicians first-hand knowledge of patients, or anecdotal data. Applications must include preliminary and/or published data that are relevant to the mission of the SCIRP and support the proposed research project.IIRA applications may focus on any phase of research from basic through translational, though studies focused exclusively on target identification are discouraged. Permitted research includes preclinical studies in animal models (except where otherwise specified), research with human subjects or human anatomical substances, as well as ancillary studies associated with an existing clinical trial.

This program provides funding to expand high-speed internet access in underserved areas of Pennsylvania, targeting households and businesses lacking adequate broadband service.

This program provides competitive funding for community organizations and local governments to build or improve public facilities that support work, education, and health monitoring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The California Public Utilities Commission will give preference to programs and projects in communities with demonstrated low broadband access, including low-income communities, senior citizen communities, and communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption. Eligible Projects: Digital Literacy Projects- Digital inclusion projects may include digital literacy training programs and public education to communities with limited broadband adoption, including low-income communities, senior citizen communities, and communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption. Broadband Access Projects- may include those that provide free broadband access in community training rooms or other public spaces, such as local government centers, senior citizen centers, schools, public libraries, nonprofit organizations, and community-based organizations. It can also include funding community outreach, such as analysis, comparison of Internet plans with the community, and call centers that will increase broadband access and adoption.