1,000+ Opportunities
Find the right grant
Search federal, foundation, and corporate grants with AI — or browse by agency, topic, and state.
MFAI is the program to target if the research question is why modern AI works rather than what it can be made to do.
NSF funds mathematical and theoretical foundations of artificial intelligence here, explicitly including the capabilities and limitations of foundation models, generative models, deep learning, statistical learning and federated learning, alongside the development of mathematically grounded design principles for current and next-generation AI systems.
That framing has become considerably more consequential than it was when the solicitation first appeared: the empirical success of large language and diffusion models has outrun theoretical understanding of them, and a program funding rigorous accounts of foundation model behavior - expressivity, generalization, scaling, sample complexity, the mechanics of in-context learning - sits directly on that gap.
Awards are $500,000 to $1,500,000 over 36 months with up to 15 awards per competition against roughly $8,500,000 in annual new-award funding, which puts the effective success rate in ordinary NSF core-program territory rather than the long odds of a center competition.
This is a joint MPS and CISE program, and proposals that are genuinely bilingual - mathematically serious and connected to real machine learning practice - do better than those legible to only one of the two communities.
A practical eligibility constraint catches some applicants off guard: PIs, co-PIs and senior/key personnel must hold a tenured or tenure-track position, or a primary full-time paid appointment in a research or teaching position, at an eligible U.S. organization, which excludes many postdoctoral and soft-money researchers from leading proposals.
The October 9, 2026 deadline continues an established annual cycle on approximately October 10, so groups that miss it have a predictable next opportunity, and the recurring schedule makes MFAI worth building a multi-year strategy around rather than treating as a one-off.
Get a weekly digest of new grants like this
A free weekly digest of new foundation and federal funding opportunities as they're added to Granted. Unsubscribe anytime.
Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Proposals may be submitted by accredited U.S. institutions of higher education, including two-year and four-year institutions and community colleges, and by U.S.-based non-profit non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories and professional societies directly associated with educational or research activities. PIs, co-PIs and senior/key personnel must hold either a tenured or tenure-track position, or a primary, full-time, paid appointment in a research or teaching position at an eligible U.S.-based organization - a requirement that excludes many postdoctoral researchers from serving as PI. Proposals must address mathematical and theoretical foundations of AI, including the capabilities and limitations of foundation models, generative models, deep learning, statistical learning and federated learning, or mathematically grounded design principles for AI systems. Awards are $500,000 to $1,500,000 total over a 36-month duration, with up to 15 awards per competition. The full proposal deadline is October 9, 2026, continuing an annual cycle. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows awards range from $500,000 to $1,500,000 in total for a 36-month project period. NSF expects to make up to 15 awards in each annual competition, with up to $8,500,000 per year expected for new awards, subject to the availability of funds. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Applications for NSF 24-569 Mathematical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence (MFAI) for Theory of Foundation Models and Generative AI are due October 9, 2026. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, and final submission checks.
NSF 24-569 Mathematical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence (MFAI) for Theory of Foundation Models and Generative AI is funded by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
The NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering: Future Computing Research (Future CoRe) program (NSF 25-543) supports foundational computing research and education with a strong emphasis on AI and machine learning. The program funds research that advances the foundations of computing including AI/ML theory, algorithms, systems, and applications. Future CoRe supports small to medium-sized research projects that can have significant impact on computing foundations. The program has target dates of February 5, 2026 and September 10, 2026 for proposal submissions (note: these are target dates, not deadlines, meaning proposals may be submitted at any time but will be reviewed in batches around these dates). Investigators may not serve as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel on more than two proposals submitted within any consecutive 12-month period across all Future CoRe programs. This is one of NSF's primary mechanisms for funding fundamental AI and machine learning research at U.S. academic institutions, covering areas such as machine learning theory, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics foundations, and human-AI interaction.
The ONR Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (N00014-25-S-B001) is the Office of Naval Research's primary mechanism for soliciting research proposals across all naval science and technology priority areas. The BAA accepts proposals on a rolling basis through September 30, 2026 and covers ONR's full spectrum of research interests with particular emphasis on AI-related topics including autonomous maritime systems, human-machine teaming, machine learning for sensor fusion, cooperative autonomous swarm technology, undersea autonomy, and AI-enabled decision superiority. Proposals can be funded through multiple mechanisms including individual investigator grants, the Young Investigator Program (~$510K over 3 years for early-career faculty), and Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) awards ($1.5M/year for 3-5 years for research teams). ONR recommends contacting relevant program officers before submitting to discuss alignment with current research priorities. The BAA supports basic research (6.1), applied research (6.2), and advanced technology development (6.3) across the full range of naval-relevant science and engineering disciplines.
DE-FOA-0003600 is the DOE Office of Science's FY 2026 open, rolling solicitation for financial assistance, providing roughly $500 million across seven program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, and Isotope R&D and Production. AI and machine learning research is supported directly through Advanced Scientific Computing Research, while Biological and Environmental Research funds atmospheric process research, environmental systems process research, and earth-energy systems modeling — making this a major channel for AI-enhanced climate and earth system modeling work. DOE anticipates 200 to 350 new awards ranging from $5,000 to $5 million each, with project periods from six months to five years. The FOA opened September 30, 2025 and accepts applications on a rolling basis through the end of FY 2026.
RET Sites close October 14, 2026 — about nine awards from $5.8 million, capped at $600,000 over three years, with a PI eligibility rule that disqualifies most of the people who write outreach proposals. RET Supplements reach the same money for $15,000 a teacher and are not a competition.
Read articleNSF's Arctic Research Opportunities solicitation funds roughly 75 awards a year — up to $50 million — across six program areas from natural sciences to social sciences to the Arctic Observing Network. The July 15, 2026 target date is not a hard deadline, and understanding that distinction is the first strategic decision an Arctic researcher makes. Here is how the six doors differ and how to choose the right one.
Read articleNSF 26-523 folds 12 core physics programs and three cross-cutting ones into a single solicitation with $180 million and roughly 300 awards. Proposals are accepted anytime, but AMO-Experiment and Gravitational Physics still target November 25 and QIS targets December 8. Cost sharing is prohibited, indirect cost rates are now a tiebreaker, and NSF reserves the right to phase out long-duration efforts after comparative review.
Read article