Updated November 5, 2026
AI Research Grants 2026
Open AI research grants and funding opportunities for 2026, from NSF, DOE, and NIH to Schmidt Sciences and Sloan. A live list, updated daily.
AI is the clearest funding priority of 2026. NSF officials have said openly that artificial intelligence now drives agency grantmaking, backed by the AI Institutes network and major new initiatives. The Department of Energy stood up a dedicated AI office, and philanthropic funders including Schmidt Sciences, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Sloan Foundation have all launched substantial AI research programs. While most fields are fighting over a shrinking pool, AI funding is growing on both the federal and private side.
Featured grants
Updated automatically from Atom's grant database. Summaries are AI-generated.AI for Science program
AI for Science program supports researchers with API access for AI-enabled scientific work, emphasizing biology and life sciences to accelerate discovery and contribute to positive real-world impact.
Advancing Research at the intersection of Biology and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML)
Advancing Research at the intersection of Biology and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) supports researchers using AI/ML for biological discovery and biology-informed methods to advance both fields.
Artificial Intelligence in Materials Science
Artificial Intelligence in Materials Science supports researchers combining AI and physical theories for materials discovery, simulation, inverse design, and autonomous experiments to advance scientific discovery.
The opportunity is much broader than core machine learning. A large share of new funding targets AI for science: applying modern models to problems in biology, chemistry, materials, medicine, agriculture, and the social sciences. There is also growing investment in trustworthy and safe AI, in AI infrastructure and benchmarks, and in training the research workforce. Researchers whose work touches AI from any direction, whether building methods or applying them, have more doors open than the traditional program lists suggest.
This collection tracks open grants supporting AI and machine learning research across funders. It updates automatically as new programs are announced, so it reflects the current cycle rather than last year's landscape. Forecasted opportunities are labeled, which matters in a field where agencies are announcing programs faster than they open them.
Data sharing to support the training and development of AI foundation models in the energy sector - European Commission
Funds projects to develop, test, and deploy AI foundation models for the energy sector, with a focus on secure data sharing, real-world validation, and open-source, ethical practices.
Technology in the Public Interest
Supports research and networks to improve oversight, evaluation, and accountability in AI governance, prioritizing public interest, equity, and transparency in high-impact sectors.
Emerging Algorithms and Mathematical Paradigms for Reliable Next-Generation AI
A workshop by IPAM exploring new mathematical and algorithmic methods to ensure reliable, interpretable, and robust next-generation AI systems.
AI for Privacy, Safety, and Security Academic Research Awards
Google's AI for Privacy, Safety, and Security Academic Research Awards fund interdisciplinary research using AI to tackle digital privacy, safety, and security challenges.
Artificial Intelligence in Communication Sciences and Disorders Research Grant
Artificial Intelligence in Communication Sciences and Disorders Research Grant supports interdisciplinary teams studying clinically grounded AI to improve care and life for people with communication impairments.
IMA Research Foundation 2026 Call for Research Proposals
IMA Research Foundation 2026 Call for Research Proposals supports academics and doctoral students studying management accounting, especially AI, to guide practice and adaptation to emerging technologies.
New approaches for decentralized, federated and sustainable AI data processing (RIA)
Funds research into decentralized and sustainable AI processing using distributed cloud and edge resources, with emphasis on energy efficiency, privacy, and real-world applications.
Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity applications
Funds research on advanced and trustworthy AI for real-time cyber threat detection, adaptive defense, and secure deployment in cybersecurity, emphasizing transparency, robustness, and EU regulatory compliance.
EU Frontier AI Initiative: Developing frontier AI solutions that are safe and computationally efficient within Apply AI (RIA)
Funds research to develop safe, efficient, and advanced frontier AI models in Europe, focusing on robust safety, computational efficiency, and collaboration within the EU AI research community.
Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology
Supports early-stage research and technology projects in science, with a focus on AI and automation, to clarify needs and inform future strategies where other funding is scarce.
Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare supports researchers and graduate students attending a conference to examine AI tools and their potential to help or harm healthcare quality and efficiency.
AI Safety Fund
AI Safety Fund supports independent researchers studying frontier AI safety and security to reduce public risks, mitigate malicious use, and enable standardized, independent evaluations of AI systems.
Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowship Program
Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowship Program supports postdoctoral researchers bridging AI, social sciences, and humanities to bring ethical and humanistic principles into AI development and use.
Technical PhD Fellowships
Technical PhD Fellowships support PhD researchers studying AI existential risks and developing technical approaches to reduce them, strengthening the research community working on AI existential safety.
Researcher Access Program
Researcher Access Program supports researchers and research nonprofits with OpenAI API access to study responsible AI deployment, mitigate risks, and examine AI’s effects on people and society.
AI Opportunity
AI Opportunity supports Chicago youth, communities, and nonprofits through work on AI, the economy, and workforce, community-centered development, and nonprofit uses to expand equitable participation in AI.
Targeted Grants to Math+AI Institutes
Targeted Grants to Math+AI Institutes supports institutes and centers with workshops, research exchanges and AI tool adoption to advance mathematics research and shape community standards for AI use.
Frequently asked questions
Federal agencies fund the largest share: NSF through the AI Institutes and programs like Mathematical Foundations of AI, NIH through AI-focused initiatives and the National Library of Medicine, and the Department of Energy. Private funders include Schmidt Sciences, the Sloan Foundation, the Simons Foundation, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and AI companies such as Anthropic and Google run their own academic research programs.
Yes. Much of today's AI funding supports applying AI to other fields, such as biology, chemistry, materials science, medicine, agriculture, and the social sciences. Several programs explicitly prefer interdisciplinary teams that pair domain scientists with machine learning researchers, so a strong scientific question can matter as much as AI expertise.
Yes. Beyond standard faculty grants, AI funding includes PhD and postdoctoral fellowships, industry-sponsored fellowship programs, and early career awards. Eligibility varies by program, so check each listing for career stage, citizenship, and institutional requirements.
AI research grants cover the full field, from new methods to AI for science. AI safety grants focus on making advanced AI systems reliable and beneficial: alignment, interpretability, evaluations, security, and governance. Atom keeps a separate AI Safety Research Grants collection for those programs.