Grants for Science Research
Learn more about grants for science research by exploring Inside Philanthropy’s list of top science research nonprofits below. Subscribers can also explore funders using our Grantfinder Search Tool. Become a member.
Key Funders
- Paul G. Allen Foundation
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
- Gates Foundation
- Heising-Simons Foundation
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Kavli Foundation
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement
- Eric and Wendy Schmidt / 11th Hour Project
- Simons Foundation
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- John Templeton Foundation
Funding trends in science research
Grants for science research flow to many areas of science, including basic science, biomedical research, environmental science and cutting-edge quantum research. Philanthropy in this area includes direct support of research through grants to universities and scientists, as well as grants, awards and fellowships for science journalism and media meant to increase popular understanding of science.
It was long assumed that government funding supports large-scale science research, while philanthropy supports early-stage research or takes risks on projects that might be too edgy for government grants. And while it’s true that philanthropy bears a unique flexibility to support new, long-term or innovative research on which government grants might not take risks, philanthropy for science research is now on par with federal funding in volume and scope.
Federal funding for basic science research has been on the decline for decades, from accounting for more than 75% of support for science research in the 1960s to about 50% in 2021, the Science Philanthropy Alliance reports. Philanthropy was already filling the gap, playing a substantial role in overall science research funding. Now, the Trump administration’s freezes and likely enormous cuts to federal funding will have a major impact on science research. It remains to be seen how much philanthropy can or will step in to keep research going in the face of federal disinvestment.
What is known is that there are some major players with vast resources in this philanthropic space, including some of the nation’s largest private foundations and major donors. As in many philanthropic sectors, we’re seeing increasing funding support for cross-disciplinary and collaborative projects, as well as more partnerships among funders.
Grantmaking for science research overlaps with grantmaking for higher education, neuroscience research, diseases and climate, additional philanthropic spaces for which IP has dedicated Grant Finder pages.
Where science research grants are going
Philanthropy for science research includes direct support of research through grants to universities, scientists and nonprofits, as well as grants, awards and fellowships for science journalism and media meant to increase popular understanding of science.
Most grantmaking for science research is directed to the life sciences, the Science Philanthropy Alliance found. Biological, biomedical and health sciences received 72% of philanthropy for science research and development at universities in 2021, and 83% of science R&D funding at nonprofits outside higher education, SPA reports.
Most grants for science research go to established scientists and big institutions like universities. But there are some grantmakers, such as the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and the Rita Allen Foundation, that make grants to early-career scientists. It’s common for funders to engage in long partnerships with institutions and scientists through multiyear funding. Funders often support researchers by paying their salaries at a university and/or providing their research budgets. While many donors prioritize funding science research that can be applied to pressing concerns like health or the environment, some philanthropies make grants for basic science research. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, for example, supports telescope projects, quantum research and more. The John Templeton Foundation makes grants for underfunded fields such as physics. And the Simons Foundation is one of the nation’s biggest funders devoted entirely to science and math research.
Gaps in science research funding
Science research as a whole (including both basic and applied research) receives far less funding than development, with development receiving about 67% of science R&D funding, according to Science Philanthropy Alliance. Yet basic research is a critical part of R&D that could use more funding.
More funding is also needed for research into climate impacts and adaptation. Members of the Science Philanthropy Alliance have highlighted basic climate science as an “overlooked area” where more funding is urgently needed. Looking at one particular example, IP’s Paul Karon explains that funding is needed for research into “how wildfires behave, methods to predict where and when fires will occur, and how building materials and design can make structures more fire resistant.”
The Science Philanthropy Alliance also found that ocean and climate science research receives less funding than the life sciences. Ocean and marine sciences account for less than 2% of all science research spending at universities, SPA reports.
As mentioned above, freezes, pauses, or cuts in federal funding by the Trump administration will leave an enormous gap in science research funding, and it remains to be seen how much of that gap philanthropy will fill, and how fast, given the slow pace at which institutional philanthropy tends to move.
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