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Funding opportunities

The below funding opportunities are regularly updated from the listing in CURIOSS funding site.

DisCouRSE Flexible Fund - Round 2 — UKRI/DisCouRSE Network+

£15,000

Deadline: 5th June 2026, 16:00 BST

“The DisCouRSE Network+ project aims to encourage and support the development of leaders of all kinds across all digital Research Technical Professional (dRTP) roles, primarily within the UK, resulting in an empowered and connected community equipped to shape the future of digital research. We have a twin focus on leadership training and dRTP career pathways – preparing the next generation of leaders and ensuring roles exist for them to lead within.

Our flexible fund supports community-led projects aligned with this goal, enabling aspiring leaders to trial approaches to enhancing skills and career opportunities within their local contexts, build new connections through joint initiatives, and strategically assess options for future investment and activity.”

Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) — Phase 2 — National Science Foundation (NSF)

Up to \$1,500,000 for projects with durations up to 2 years

Deadline: Full proposal: 2026-09-01 · Full proposal: 2027-03-02

Supports transition of promising open-source research products with small existing user and contributor communities into sustainable, robust open-source ecosystems. A POSE Phase I award is not required to apply to Phase II.

Open Source for the Life Sciences — Open Source for Science Fund

\$250,000 over 2 years (Track 1: Domain-specific Tools); \$1,000,000 over 2 years (Track 2: Foundational Libraries and Ecosystem Initiatives)

Deadline: Letters of intent due June 8, 2026 (2 pm PDT / 9 pm UTC); Full proposals due July 21, 2026 (2 pm PDT / 9 pm UTC)

The Open Source for Science Fund invites letters of intent from developers and maintainers of open source software projects that underpin AI and data-intensive research in the life sciences. This program will fund technical advances and address significant bottlenecks in software tools with demonstrated community adoption in the life sciences, allowing them to unlock new capabilities for scientists worldwide and evolve functionality to meet the demands of AI-native research environments.

TechAccess: AI-Ready America — NSF

Each Coordination Hub Award will receive support of \$1M/year for three years, with the possibility for one additional year of support if the Coordination Hub can demonstrate a compelling need as it phases out or transitions to other sources of funding.

Deadline: Letter of intent required; Due June 16, 2026

TechAccess: AI-Ready America is a national-scale initiative to accelerate Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness and adoption across the U.S. by strengthening coordination, leveraging partnerships and resources, filling gaps, and scaling what works — so local and state priorities can lead in shaping an AI-driven economy that benefits all Americans. Unlike initiatives centered around K – 16 education, AI-Ready America additionally reaches businesses, public-serving organizations, and individuals, among others, expanding access to AI knowledge, tools, and resources. The program also emphasizes practical implementation through hands-on assistance and workforce up-skilling, including experiential learning such as internships, project-based work, and apprenticeships, to ensure stakeholders can effectively apply and innovate with AI.

The program supports:

  1. State/Territory Coordination Hubs (Coordination Hubs) – one in every state, the District of Columbia (DC), or territory in the United States – connecting partners, strengthening planning and deployment, and rapidly scaling approaches;
  2. A National Coordination Lead (National Lead) – facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing among Coordination Hubs, coordinating priority economic sectors, and informing national AI strategies; and
  3. AI-Ready Catalyst Award Competitions – a series of topic-driven competitions issued over the course of the program to pilot and scale innovative approaches that address critical national AI readiness needs.

This funding opportunity focuses on Coordination Hubs. The National Lead will be funded as an Other Transaction (OT) offered through an Other Transaction Agreement Solutions Offering. AI-Ready Catalyst Award Competitions will be announced through an NSF-approved mechanism, with proposals submitted according to the instructions provided at the time of announcement.

NIH Research Software Engineer (RSE) Award — National Institutes of Health (NIH)

\$300,000 for up to three years; no more than \$200,000 for one year

Deadline: Letter of intent: 2026-05-04 · Full proposal: 2026-06-04

Salary support via the NIH Research Specialist (R50) mechanism for Research Software Engineers contributing to NIH-funded biomedical, clinical, behavioral, or health-related research software, tools, and algorithms. Targets RSEs outside a traditional independent-investigator career path.

Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) — Phase 1 — National Science Foundation (NSF)

Up to \$300,000 for projects with durations up to 1 year

Deadline: Full proposal: 2026-09-01 · Full proposal: 2027-03-02

Funds scoping activities to help existing open-source research products with small user communities transition into sustainable, robust open-source ecosystems. Phase I supports early formation of managing organizations and training for teams building such ecosystems.

Open Science Meetings — Open Science NL

€15,000

Deadline: 10 December 2026 14:00 CET

Both researchers and research support staff may submit an application for financial support for organising an open science meeting.

NGI Fediversity — NLnet

€5,000 – €50,000 per project (€450,000 total across the call)

Deadline: 1 June 2026 12:00 CEST

Small grants for projects that are somehow relevant to the Fediversity ecosystem. Priority areas include deploying fediverse services (PeerTube, Mastodon, Lemmy), email servers, VPN solutions, private cloud storage, wikis, and similar web services that enhance reliability, security, confidentiality, integrity, and resource efficiency.