Catalyst to Independence Award (Discontinued)

The FFAR New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research Award supports early-career tenure-track faculty conducting innovative research in food and agriculture, including AI, precision agriculture, and computational approaches. The award provides up to $150,000 per year for up to 3 years ($450,000 total), making it one of the most substantial early-career grants available in agricultural sciences. FFAR's research priority areas include agroecosystems, food systems, production systems, and scientific workforce development — all of which increasingly involve AI and data-driven technologies. Research must directly benefit U.S. agricultural interests. The program follows a nomination-based application process: the nomination period opened February 11, 2026, with nominations due March 18, 2026, and full applications due April 29, 2026. FFAR was established through the 2014 Farm Bill and builds public-private partnerships to match congressional funding with private sources. The foundation supports research addressing major food and agriculture challenges including precision agriculture technologies, crop monitoring systems, and data-driven farm management tools. Note: This award is contingent on funding availability as FFAR has limited programmatic funds remaining.

Healthy School Awards Program is sponsored by Blue Cross & Blue Shield Of Mississippi Foundation. Recognizes and rewards public K-12 schools in Mississippi that encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors and implement exemplary school health and wellness initiatives. Awards are given in categories based on school enrollment size, with one school designated as the Healthiest School in Mississippi. Geographic focus: Mississippi Focus areas: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, Staff Wellness, Tobacco-Free Lifestyles

Schmidt Sciences invites proposals for the 2026 Science of Trustworthy AI RFP, funding technical research that advances the science of building trustworthy AI systems. The program addresses three interconnected research aims: understanding why frontier AI systems develop misaligned goals that fail under distribution shift or pressure (Aim 1), creating valid evaluations and interventions to control what AI systems learn (Aim 2), and developing oversight mechanisms for superhuman AI capabilities and managing multi-agent risks (Aim 3). Beyond direct funding, awardees receive computing resources including GPUs and CPUs, software engineering support, API credits with frontier model providers, and access to a research community. The program is open globally and encourages cross-institutional and cross-geographic collaborations. Indirect costs are capped at 10% of total direct costs.

The Survival and Flourishing Fund (SFF) supports organizations working on long-term survival and flourishing of sentient life, with a strong focus on AI safety, AI governance, biosecurity, and institutional resilience. Founded by Jaan Tallinn (co-founder of Skype), SFF has distributed approximately $152 million since 2019, with $34.9 million in 2025 alone. The 2026 round is estimated at $20-40 million. SFF uses the S-Process evaluation method involving multiple independent assessors and offers three funding mechanisms: Speculation Grants (rolling basis, smaller amounts for quick-turnaround projects), full S-Process grants (annual competitive round), and Initiative Committee funding. Individual grants range from $10,000 to $4,000,000. Assessors may fund proposals across AI safety, pandemic preparedness, governance, and other existential risk areas.

Capital Grant Program is sponsored by Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation. Grants for specific, large projects such as construction or major technology purchases that are outside of regular operating budgets. Capital requests are for projects over $50,000 and the process begins with a mandatory Letter of Intent (LOI). Geographic focus: Greater Los Angeles (primarily Los Angeles County) Focus areas: Infrastructure, Technology, Capital Improvements