External Funding
The following is a non-exhaustive list of external funding sponsors, along with a brief description of the types of projects they support...
Federal Agencies
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Supports research to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans.
Agency for International Development (USAID)
Supports research that is intended to produce knowledge that will offer solutions to specific development challenges including broad-based economic growth; environment; population, health and nutrition; democracy; and providing humanitarian assistance and aiding post-crisis transitions.
Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Provides funding to help promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. Grants assist health-related and research organizations that contribute to CDC's mission through health information dissemination, preparedness, prevention, research, and surveillance.
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Supports food and agriculture research, including biotechnology, genomics, pest management, biofuels, and childhood obesity.
Department of Commerce
Supports projects that foster economic growth and the creation of new American jobs to ensure sustainable economic opportunities.
Department of Defense
Supports basic and applied research related to the mission of each service. In addition to physics, materials, mathematics, computer science, etc., they may fund life science and psychology (e.g., human cognitive and behavioral modeling).
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
- Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
- Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Department of Defense Research Engineering Enterprise (DDREE)
- Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Department of Education
Supports research on education from pre-school through higher education and adult education.
Department of Energy
Supports basic research related to energy, including advanced computing, biological and environmental research, basic energy sciences, high energy physics, nuclear physics, and more.
Department of Transportation
Supports research to bring advanced technologies to the transportation systems and funds university transportation centers.
Economic Development Administration (EDA)
Supports projects to create jobs and advance global competitiveness.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Supports research that will improve the scientific basis for national environmental decisions.
Housing and Urban Development
Supports research on housing, urban issues and policy analysis.
Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA)
Invests in high-risk, high-payoff research programs to tackle some of the most difficult challenges of the agencies and disciplines in the Intelligence Community.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Seeks to develop innovative technologies, knowledge, and infrastructures to support decisions for human exploration and to promote international and commercial participation in U.S. exploration efforts.
National Endowment for the Arts
Supports artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Provides funding to strengthen teaching and learning in schools and colleges, facilitate research and original scholarship, provide opportunities for lifelong learning, preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources, and strengthen the institutional base of the humanities.
National Institute of Justice
Provides grants for research, development and evaluation projects relating to criminal justice and forensic laboratory enhancement. Also funds research fellowships.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Supports research that increases our fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Supports research on the structure and behavior of the ocean, atmosphere, and related ecosystems.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Supports education and research on nuclear materials safety and other nuclear-related issues.
State Department - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Supports academic, cultural and professional exchange and training programs.
Pivot-RP is a searchable database of external funding opportunities for all disciplines and project types.
UCI employees may access Pivot while on the UCI network (i.e. on campus or by using the campus full-vpn) without logging in. To access the database over another network, and to customize searches, users need to first create an account while connected to the UCI network.
Private Foundations
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Funds research in science and technology, standards of living and economic performance, education and careers in science and technology, and selected national issues.
American Cancer Society
Supports cancer research.
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Offers grants in higher education, scholarly communication, museums and art conservation, performing arts, information technology, and the environment.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Supports research in global development and health, and education in the United States.
Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation
The purpose of the Foundation is to advance the science of chemistry, chemical engineering and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances throughout the world.
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Offers grants in conservation and science, population, children, families and communities.
Ellison Medical Foundation
Supports research in aging and global infectious diseases.
Ford Foundation
Supports programs that strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Supports research and teaching in the biomedical sciences.
Human Frontier Science Program
Research grants and fellowships in the Life Sciences.
James S. McDonnell Foundation
Supports scientific research in mind/brain/behavior, complex systems, and brain cancer.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Funds research through four programs: global security and sustainability, human and community development, public interest media, and the MacArthur Fellows program.
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
Programs fund research into the prevention and treatment of birth defects and prematurity, including genetics, development, and social, behavioral, and environmental hazards.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Supports education, training and research aimed at improving health and health care in the United States.
Rockefeller Foundation
Funds research in agriculture, arts and culture, health, employment, housing, education, and globalization in eastern and southern Africa, southeast Asia, and North America.
Smith Richardson Foundation
Funds research in international security, foreign policy, and domestic public policy.
Spencer Foundation
Funds research that investigates ways in which education, broadly conceived, can be improved around the world.
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Supports programs in education, environment, global development, performing arts, philanthropy, and population.
W.M. Keck Foundation
The Foundation focuses on Science and Engineering Research, Medical Research, Undergraduate Education, and Southern California. Each of our grant programs invests in people and programs that are making a difference in the quality of life, now and for the future.