Physical Sciences & Engineering

Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 0 

B. Bash (Elecrical and Computer Engineering)
TBA

Limiting Language:
We welcome you to submit up to two nominations from University of Arizona. 

Eligibility Criteria:

• Have achieved tenure or an equivalent status prior to the nomination deadline and within the past three calendar years (between January 1, 2022 and August 10, 2025),
• Have a remarkable record of accomplishment in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and/or engineering,
• Have a demonstrated history of pursuing and publishing results in more than one field,
• Have a desire and plan to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary or methodological shift, but have not yet launched such shifts,
• Demonstrate a need for additional funding to enable new experiments, explorations, or shifts in research directions.

Overview
We are especially interested in supporting highly creative, original, and risky research that is clearly distinct from past areas and directions. We strongly encourage you to consider nominating not simply your most accomplished researchers, but specifically extraordinary researchers whose work and ideas are adventurous, bold, highly creative, and less likely to receive traditional funding or support. Successful applicants propose potential new projects that are wholly original and very different from any of their past work.
 

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 3 // Tickets Available: 3

The mission of The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation is to advance knowledge in the life sciences by sponsoring scientific research that will benefit mankind. The foundation’s grants program seeks to support basic science, ideally with potential translational applications. Immunology, microbiome, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology, neuroscience, etc., are some noteworthy examples of current research support.

For many years the Foundation has enjoyed special recognition in the research community for supporting “basic” scientific research, realizing that true transformative breakthroughs usually occur after a thorough understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying natural phenomena. More recently, and with the advent of newer investigative methodologies, technology, and tools, the Foundation now embraces innovative translational research proposals.

The grant duration must be three years. The budget should be reasonable based on the aims of the project. Indirect costs may not exceed 10%. Preliminary Budgets are required during the LOI phase. A detailed budget justification is not required until the proposal phase. The Foundation’s grant award is not intended to be utilized for purchasing capital equipment (“bricks-and-mortar”) for the lab and is intended only to support the actual investigation. The Foundation assumes and expects that capital equipment must be provided by the research institution or university.

Application Guidance:

• Grant budgets cannot exceed $600-750K
• The Foundation primarily supports basic science, ideally with potential translational applications.
• Immunology, microbiome, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology, neuroscience, etc., are some noteworthy examples of current research support.
• Covid-19-related research projects (aims or sub-aims) will not be considered for support.
• Medical imaging technology-related projects and/or electrical engineering technology development projects will not be considered for support.
• Plant Biology Research, Oceanography, Space Exploration. and Global warming-related research will not be considered for support.
• As technology continues to advance, it is apparent that investigations in the area of basic science and translational research may become more and more reliant on collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. It is important to note that any interdisciplinary project proposals may require additional information regarding the collaborator(s)’ achievements and relevant expertise.
• Feedback for declined LOI Requests will not be provided; LOIs or Formal Proposals that have been declined should not be resubmitted at a later date for consideration.
• Renewal applications for the same or related research will not be accorded priority consideration. It is strongly advised that any re-application for grant renewal consider a new direction based on prior research or emphasize some new potential translational aspects and not merely an extension of previously funded research.
• Requests for funding previously federally supported research and/or applications pending federal approval will not be accorded priority consideration.
• Requests for support of clinical trials or drug discovery will not be approved. The Foundation will not support projects which we consider pre-clinical drug development.

Fall 2025

Nominations and Portal Registration due date: September 19, 2025 (Friday, 8 PM EST (5 PM PST)
Nominations can be submitted beginning August 1, 2025.

Due date for LOI applications: October 3, 2025 (Friday, 8 PM EST (5 PM PST) 
Applicants notified of proposal invitation or LOI rejection within one month of the due date. 

Due date for invited formal proposals: December 12, 2025 (Friday, 8 PM EST (5 PM PST) 
Applicants are notified of proposal approval or rejection within 2 ½ months of the due date. 

 *Late nominations and/or registrations will not be approved.
 

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Program Overview
The Searle Scholars Program supports research of outstanding individuals who have recently begun their appointment at the assistant professor level, and whose appointment is their first tenure-track position at a participating academic or research institution. Today, 168 institutions are invited to participate in the Program.

The Program was established at The Chicago Community Trust in 1980 and has been administered by Kinship Foundation since 1996. The Program is funded from the estates of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Searle. Mr. Searle was the grandson of the founder of the world-wide pharmaceutical company, G.D. Searle & Company. It was Mr. Searle's wish that certain funds be used to support "...research in medicine, chemistry, and the biological sciences."

Each year 15 new individuals are named Searle Scholars. Awards are currently set at $100,000 per year for three years. Since its inception, 617 Scholars have been named and over $174 million has been awarded.

Eligibility
The Searle Scholars Scientific Advisory Board is primarily interested in the potential of applicants to make innovative and high-impact contributions to research over an extended period of time.

Applicants for the 2026 competition (awards which will be activated on July 1, 2026) are expected to be pursuing independent research careers in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences.

Applicants should have begun their appointment as an independent investigator at the assistant professor level on or after May 1, 2024. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position (or its nearest equivalent).

Institutions which do not have tenure-track appointments should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding eligibility of selected applicants PRIOR to nominating such individuals.

The Searle Scholars Program does not ordinarily support purely clinical research but has supported research programs that include both clinical and basic components. Potential applicants who are unsure if their research is appropriate for our Program are encouraged to examine the research interests of present and former Searle Scholars on this website.

Applicants who were nominated for awards in the previous competition year but were not awarded may still meet the eligibility criteria for the current competition. Institutions should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding renomination of such individuals.

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L. Folks (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

The submission for this funding program is coordinated by the Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing. Please contact Dan Moseke, Projects Director, for more information.

Limiting Language
NATCAST will only accept one proposal per lead applicant. 

For the purposes of this CFP, Natcast defines a single applicant by its Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number. Although it is technically possible for multiple entities with separate UEI numbers from the same system to submit individual proposals, such a practice is discouraged.

The University of Arizona is not eligible to apply to the 2026 Beckman Scholars Program due to an existing award. 

If you have any questions, please contact RDS.

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Q. Hao (Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering) 

Eligibility 
One (1) per organization as lead institution.

The scientific focus of the MIP program is subject to change from competition to competition. Information about the existing MIPs, from two previous competitions in 2015 and 2019, can be found at mip.org. The third MIP competition, in 2025, will accept proposals on alloys, amorphous, and composite materials. Given that the second MIP competition included an emphasis on biomaterials and polymer research, proposals mainly on these topics will not be considered in the third MIP competition.

Limit: 8* // Tickets Available: 0

* U of A may submit eight (8) concept papers: four (4) in medical sciences and four (4) in science & engineering.

Medical Sciences: Limit: 4 // Available: 0
J. Rutherford (Nursing and Health Sciences)
S. Hamilton (Cellular and Molecular Medicine) 
R. Goyal (Obstetrics and Gynecology) 
M. Liang (Physiology) 

Science and Engineering -  Limit: 4 // Available: 0
R. Schomer (Plant Sciences)
E. Azimi (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
C. Cartmell (Pharmacology)
J. Green (Environmental Science) 

Program Description

Full sponsor guidelines https://www.wmkeck.org/research-overview/

Post selection as one of the pre-proposals, a concept review Zoom will be held with the W.M. Keck Foundation, RDS, and the UA Foundation in January will determine which one medical research and one science and engineering concept paper will be moved to a Phase 1 Submission.

The W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program uses a three-step process for this opportunity. The first step is a Concept paper. The next steps are by the foundation’s invitation. U of A review criteria reflect previous interactions with the W.M. Keck Foundation. Proposals should focus on basic, fundamental science with broad applications. Grants range from $1 million to $5 million and are typically $2 million or less, and more specifically in the $1.2 to $1.3 million range.

The proposed work should show a significant leap forward rather than an extension of existing work.

To be considered by Keck, applicants must have a statement expressing that the project is not a good fit due to risk (rather than technical or theoretical fit) or a decline from a federal program where the summary statement or individual reviews highlight the incredible novelty, but the high-risk nature that makes it difficult to fund at the federal level.

The Science and Engineering Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have been awarded to support pioneering science and engineering research and the development of promising new technologies, instrumentation, or methodologies.

The Medical Research Program seeks to advance the frontiers of medicine to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have supported pioneering biological research, basic research, and the development of promising new technologies. The Keck Foundation does NOT fund work that is clinical, applied, or translational; treatment trials; or research for the sole purpose of drug development.

Both senior and early career investigators are encouraged to apply. Team approaches, including interdisciplinary teams, are encouraged.

Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 0

M. Phillips (Optical Sciences)
B. Parent (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering)

Executive Summary
The FES Discovery Plasma Science: Plasma Science and Technology–General Plasma Science (GPS) program seeks new or renewal single-investigator or small-group applications to carry out hypothesis-driven frontier-level research in basic plasma science and engineering. This program aims to develop accurate descriptions of the complex behavior of the plasma state, to push it into new regimes that expand our concept of what constitutes a plasma, to design experiments and diagnostics to explore these states, and to validate theoretical models. 

For more information, see GPS program science drivers in the CPP Report: A Community Plan for Fusion Energy and
Discover Plasma Sciences, 2019-2020. This NOFO is focused on fundamental research involving plasma including astrophysical, dusty, and low temperature plasmas. Research toward developing plasma-based technologies is out of scope of this NOFO.

Limitations on Submissions 
Applicant institutions are limited to no more than two pre-applications (or lead applications), and PIs may only be named on no more than one pre-application (or lead application).

Individuals named as DOE/NNSA National Laboratory PIs, Co-PIs, or senior/key personnel must be an indispensable part of the laboratory with their effort closely integrated into the laboratory’s current plasma science research program and supported at least 50% of their time by the laboratory.

If a multi-institutional team is submitting collaborative applications, only the lead institution should submit a pre-application that should include all institutions, institutional Co-PIs, and all other personnel and relevant information.

DOE will consider the latest received submissions to be the institution’s intended submissions.
• Pre-applications in excess of the limited number of submissions will be discouraged.
• Applications in excess of the limited number of submissions will be declined without review.