Limited Submission Funding Opportunity: W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program
Introduction
Internal concept paper deadline: April 21, 2026 by 5:00 PM CT
Sponsor counseling call scheduling deadline (optional): June 15, 2026
Sponsor Phase I application deadline (required): November 1, 2026 by 4:30 PM PT
Sponsor Phase II application deadline (by invitation): February 15, 2027 by 4:30 PM PT
Any eligible institutions may submit one Phase I application per grant cycle to each of the applicable grant areas: Medical Research, and Science & Engineering Research.
The W. M. Keck Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting Medical Research and Science & Engineering projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach, question the prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their field.
Past grants have been awarded to major universities, independent research institutions, and medical schools to support pioneering biological and physical science research and engineering, including the development of promising new technologies, instrumentation or methodologies.
Funding is awarded to universities and institutions nationwide for projects that are consistent with the Research Program’s funding priorities.
We Fund Projects That:
- Focus on important and emerging areas of research
- Have potential to develop breakthrough technologies, instrumentation, or methodologies
- Are innovative, distinctive, and interdisciplinary
- Demonstrate a high level of risk due to unconventional approaches or challenge the prevailing paradigm
- Have potential for transformative impact such as the founding of a new field of research, enabling of new observations, or altering perception of a previously intractable problem
- Fall outside the mission of public funding agencies
- Demonstrate that W. M. Keck Foundation support is essential to the project’s success
Funding amount: $1M to $1.3M
See more information here.