External Funding Sources

The following list of grant giving organizations has been created for the purpose of assisting faculty in locating possible funding sources. They have been grouped according to the six categories listed below.

PLEASE NOTE: The grant giving organizations listed here are not necessarily organizations that are endorsed by Westmont and, depending on the timing, may not be available for pursuit. If one area of the college is outreaching to a particular foundation, it is important that a second outreach attempt is not made until the first has been concluded. It is of utmost importance that faculty submit an "Intent to Apply for External Funding" form before applying to any eternal funding sources so that we can be sure that one area of the college does not unwillingly subvert the efforts of another. Please contact the Faculty Grant Coordinator at extension 6851 if you have any questions.

Related Links: For additional external funding sources check out those listed on the John Brown University website.

Natural and Behavioral Sciences

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund
An independent private foundation dedicated to advancing the medical sciences by supporting research and other scientific and educational activities. Within this broad mission, BWF seeks to accomplish two primary goals: to help scientists early in their careers develop as independent investigators, and to advance fields in the basic medical sciences that are undervalued or in need of particular encouragement.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Fund
This foundation was founded with the purpose "to advance the science of chemistry, chemical engineering and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances around the world."

The National Academies of the Sciences
The Academy presents a number of awards - spanning a range of scientific disciplines - to recognize outstanding achievements in science.

Waksman Foundation for Microbiology
Its purpose, as expressed in its Certificate of Incorporation is "to promote, encourage, and aid scientific research in microbiology; to provide and assist in providing the funds and facilities by which scientific discoveries, inventions, and processes in microbiology may be developed...all to the end that the science of microbiology shall progress in the service of mankind."

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Support of science and technology is a major component of the Foundation's program. Fellowships, direct support of research in selected fields, and work in the history of science and technology are basic parts of this program.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program provides grants to selected undergraduate institutions.

Petroleum Research Fund
Fundamental research is currently supported in chemistry, the earth sciences, chemical engineering, and in related fields such as polymers and materials science.

Research Corporation
Aids basic research in the physical sciences (astronomy, chemistry, and physics mainly). It supports ideas independently proposed by college and university faculty members and carries on activities related to science advancement.

National Science Foundation
The NSF organizes its activities through nine Directorates, each of which has a number of divisions. Prospective applicants should contact the directorate or division most related to their field.  Details of the programs, including closing dates for applications, tend to change frequently. The best source for up-to-date information is the NSF web site.

NSF Programs for Undergraduate Research: Within the Division of Undergraduate Education is the Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program (CCLI). Annual January deadlines, details are available on the web. The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports active research experience for undergraduates.  Project proposals typically fall into one of two categories: REU Sites and REU supplements. Each NSF disciplinary area has a program for Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI). The objectives of this program are to strengthen the research environments in primarily undergraduate departments, and to promote the coupling of research and education at private undergraduate institutions.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Department of Energy - Offices of Science

Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi awards grants annually to promising young researchers, holds forums on critical issues at the intersection of science and society and sponsors a variety of programs supporting honor in science and engineering, science education, science policy and the public understanding of science.

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Office of Research and Development
In part, the mission is to perform research and development to identify, understand, and solve current and future environmental problems. In this vein, the current identified areas of research are: Air, Drinking Water, Ecosystem Assessment and Restoration, Global Change, Human Health Protection, Water Quality, Pollution Prevention and New Technologies, and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs).

National Geographic
The National Geographic Society awards grants for scientific field research and exploration through its Committee for Research and Exploration. All proposed projects must have both a geographical dimension and relevance to other scientific fields and be of broad scientific interest.

American Society of Plant Biologists

The Ann & Erlo Van Waveren Foundation
The Foundation fosters the knowledge of Jungian and Jungian-related psychology.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
This is the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense (DoD). It manages and directs selected basic and applied research and development projects for DoD, and pursues research and technology where risk and payoff are both very high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions.

Humanities

United States Institute for Peace

The American Council of Learned Societies
The mission of the ACLS, as set forth in its Constitution, is "the advancement of humanistic studies in all fields of learning in the humanities and the social sciences and the maintenance and strengthening of relations among the national societies devoted to such studies."

The Earhart Foundation
Research grants to professionally established individuals associated with educational or research institutions, and whose research will lead to the advancement of knowledge through teaching, lecturing, and publication. Emphasis placed on: Economics, Philosophy, International Affairs, Government and Politics.

The J. Paul Getty Foundation
All grants promote the understanding and conservation of the visual arts.

The Flintridge Foundation
The Flintridge Foundation is committed to nourishing individualism, honoring diversity in society and nature, supporting creativity, and promoting just and cooperative partnerships so that human beings may evolve more effectively toward wholeness and the natural environment toward sustainability.

The Wilbur Foundation
To enhance, preserve and protect the transcendent and permanent values of civilization and our temporary society through support of the humanities.

The J.W. & Ida M. Jameson Foundation
Emphasis on theological education including general operating support and research.

Social Sciences

SSRC: Social Science Research Council
The SSRC sponsors fellowship and grant programs on a wide range of topics, and across many different career stages. Most support goes to pre-dissertation, dissertation, and postdoctoral fellowships, offered through annual competitions. Some programs support summer institutes and advanced research grants.

Earhart Foundation
Research grants to professionally established individuals associated with educational or research institutions, and whose research will lead to the advancement of knowledge through teaching, lecturing, and publication. Emphasis placed on: Economics, Philosophy, International Affairs, Government and Politics.

The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The foundation is dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition.

The Russell Sage Foundation
This foundation is the principal American foundation devoted exclusively to research in the social sciences.

Interdisciplinary

American Philosophical Society
The Society promotes useful knowledge by maintaining five major grant or fellowship programs in a wide range of fields. The Franklin, Phillips, and Library Fellowship programs award small grants ($1000 to $6000) for modest research purposes. The Daland and Sabbatical Fellowship programs award much larger grants ($30,000 to $50,000) in highly selective competitions.

Awards are made for research only. The Society makes no grants for academic study or classroom presentation; for travel to conferences or workshops; for non-scholarly projects; for assistance with translation or the preparation of materials for use by students.

The Spencer Foundation
The Foundation is intended to investigate ways in which education, broadly conceived, can be improved around the world. From the first, the Foundation has been dedicated to the belief that research is necessary to the improvement of education.

National Humanities Center

The Fulbright Scholar Program
International Education Exchange for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.

Henry Luce Foundation
Topics of interest include the interdisciplinary exploration of higher education; increased understanding between Asia and the United States; the study of religion and theology; scholarship in American art; opportunities for women in science and engineering; and environmental and public policy programs.

Earhart Foundation
Research grants to professionally established individuals associated with educational or research institutions, and whose research will lead to the advancement of knowledge through teaching, lecturing, and publication. Emphasis placed on: Economics, Philosophy, International Affairs, Government and Politics.

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
The Foundation sponsors scholarly research on problems of violence, aggression, and dominance.

The Louisville Institute
The Louisville Institute is a Lilly Endowment program for the study of American religion based at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary. The fundamental mission of the Louisville Institute is to enrich the religious life of American Christians and to encourage the revitalization of their institutions, by bringing together those who lead religious institutions with those who study them, so that the work of each might stimulate and inform the other.

General

Carnegie Corporation of New York : The Carnegie Scholars Program
The Corporation promotes the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding among the people of the United States. The Corporation has instituted the Scholars Program to support research by scholars and experts related to the program areas and a Special Opportunities Fund to support programs outside the main foci of the Corporation but related to its history. This latter program also allows for one-time funding opportunities. Currently, it has four primary programs: Education, International Peace and Security, International Development, Strengthening U.S. Democracy.

Smithsonian Institution

American Association for University Women
One of the world's largest sources of funding exclusively for graduate women. The AAUW supports aspiring women scholars around the globe, teachers and activists in local communities, women at critical stages of their careers, and those pursuing professions where women are underrepresented.

The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts serve the public interest by providing information, policy solutions and support for civic life.

Three Major Areas of Work:

Santa Barbara County Community Projects

The Fund for Santa Barbara
The Fund directs a local grant-making program that supports organizations working for social, economic and environmental justice in Santa Barbara County.

The Santa Barbara Foundation
The Foundation awards approximately $3 million in grants each year to nonprofit organizations for projects serving the people of Santa Barbara County. An additional $1 million is awarded through specific grant programs established by donors who restrict their gifts for certain purposes. All grants go through a competitive process that requires submittal of a formal application.