1,000+ Opportunities
Find the right grant
Search federal, foundation, and corporate grants with AI — or browse by agency, topic, and state.
The USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) 2026 provides $175 million in annual funding for research addressing the needs of the specialty crop industry, with a groundbreaking new $20 million set-aside for mechanization and automation research.
For the first time, the SCRI Notice of Funding Opportunity explicitly funds AI-driven automation technologies to help specialty crop growers reduce labor costs, which have been among the most persistent financial pressures in fruit, vegetable, tree nut, and horticulture production.
Priority areas include data-driven predictive tools using artificial intelligence, robotics, sensor technologies, precision agriculture, improved mechanization technologies that delay or inhibit ripening, decision support systems, management of quarantine pests, and cybersecurity for agricultural systems.
The funding increase was enabled by the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation, more than doubling the previous SCRI budget from $80 million to $175 million per year. Applications are due by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on June 15, 2026. This represents the largest federal investment specifically targeting AI and automation in specialty crop agriculture.
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: U.S. colleges and universities, USDA agencies, state agricultural experiment stations, and industry organizations focused on specialty crops. Applications must address specialty crop research priorities. Competitive merit review process. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows total program funding of $175 million per year, more than double the previous $80 million. At least $20 million set aside specifically for research into mechanization, automation, and AI technologies for specialty crops. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
The published deadline was June 15, 2026, which has passed. Check the official notice for any future application windows before investing time in a proposal.
USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative 2026 with AI Automation and Precision Agriculture Set-Aside is funded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). 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 Department of Energy's Office of Technology Commercialization has opened the FY26 Genesis Mission SBIR/STTR Phase I opportunity, funding small business research across four AI-for-science topic areas tied to DOE's Genesis Mission. Scaling the Biotechnology Revolution seeks advanced AI applications for biochemicals and bioproducts, including AI tools to support biomolecular design and to accelerate bioreactor design and biomanufacturing. Realizing Quantum Systems for Discovery covers AI for quantum computing and networking, specifically qubit decoherence mitigation, quantum error correction, and automating and optimising quantum resource estimation tools. Designing Materials with Predictable Functionality seeks AI frameworks enabling inverse design, where materials are engineered backwards from specific required properties, for energy and manufacturing applications. Achieving AI-Driven Autonomous Laboratories covers integration of AI into experimental workflows using advanced robotics, AI for network operations, diagnostics and remote handling. Phase I awards are up to 250,000 dollars over six to 12 months, with approximately 40 awards totalling 10 million dollars and lifecycle funding up to 44 million dollars. The defining feature of this cycle is a mandatory pitch-first process: companies submit a 700-word pitch answering four equally weighted questions covering summary, technical promise, commercialisation potential and team qualifications, and only accepted pitches are invited to submit a full application. Pitches were due 10 September 2026 at 2:00pm ET. A company may submit a maximum of three pitches.
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.
USDA-NIFA-HEP-011737 puts $14 million behind roughly 28 awards of up to $705,000 for graduate fellowships in food and agricultural sciences. No match is required. But two eligibility rules — the new-graduate-student definition and the citizenship requirement — disqualify most of the students a department would naturally nominate.
Read articleNIFA's Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program (USDA-NIFA-HSI-011903) posted September 10, 2026 with $30.6 million, 40 anticipated awards, and a December 3 deadline. It uses the same 25 percent enrollment definition the Justice Department has declined to defend at the Department of Education. Here is the structure, the three grant types, and the caps that decide who wins.
Read articleNIFA's FY2026 Higher Education Challenge program closes October 15, 2026 with $5.7 million and roughly 18 awards. Standard grants cap at $150,000, Collaborative Type 1 at $300,000, and Collaborative Type 2 at $750,000 — all from the same pool, all scored against each other. No match is required. Here is how the tier structure actually determines your odds.
Read article