What is a Limited Submission?

A limited submission solicitation places a cap on the number of proposals Auburn may submit to a sponsor. Auburn coordinates limited submissions with notifications via this newsletter and competitions created in the Auburn University Competition Space (InfoReady). To apply to any limited submission posted in this newsletter, click on the link within the announcement. Please refer to the Limited Submission Procedures page for a general list of requirements.

If you find an opportunity of interest contact the PSFS office sooner than later so that an internal competition can be created for a timely, university-wide, fair and equitable selection process that allows for ample time for review, feedback and revisions.

For a list of current and forcasted Limited Submission Opportunities in Pivot 
Click Here.

Helen Frankenthaler Foundation: Visual Arts & Education and Cultural Resilience

This program supports public engagement with the visual arts through philanthropic, educational, curatorial, and research initiatives.

• Visual Arts & Education: Project-based support for exhibitions, publications, public programs, and academic initiatives that advance the presentation, study, and interpretation of the visual arts. Priority is given to projects that offer rigorous and clearly articulated approaches to the study and presentation of artistic practice—particularly in relation to painting and printmaking across the 20th and 21st centuries—and that demonstrate meaningful collaboration and engagement across institutions, disciplines, collections, or publics. Projects must be clearly defined in scope, duration, and outcomes, and supported by appropriate institutional capacity.

• Cultural Resilience: The Foundation provides unrestricted support to organizations whose core work is centered in the visual arts. These grants are intended to sustain exhibitions, programs, and institutional activities; support staffing, operations, and organizational capacity; and to maintain continuity during periods of reduced public funding and broader pressures affecting the arts and culture sector. Cultural Resilience support is not project-based and does not require a defined initiative.

Institutional Limit: One (1) Application in either Visual Arts or Cultural Resilience
Internal Deadline: July 6, 2026, 4:45pm

Funder Deadline: September 11, 2026, 11:59pm ET

Funding Opportunities

DARPA: Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE)

DARPA is soliciting innovative proposals in the following technical areas: Artificial intelligence (AI), control theory, formal methods, and game theory to develop decentralized multi-agentic AI collectives.

This program aims to develop the theory and algorithms for decentralized coordination and local inference control to enable a scalable, adaptive, and resilient collective of heterogeneous AI agents that can autonomously execute sustained, long-time-horizon missions in contested environments while remaining under control. The goal is to transform the existing approach to solving complex problems that require multiskilled teams operating in dynamic environments, such as responding to natural disasters, advancing scientific discovery, or engineering complex systems.

Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

Optional (but encouraged) Abstracts Due: June 30, 2026, 2:00pm ET
Full Proposals Due: August 25, 2026, 2:00pm ET

Simons Foundation: Synthetic Plant Biology

The Synthetic Plant Biology program is intended to support research that applies engineering principles and techniques to advance our understanding of how plants function. These projects can tackle a variety of goals, including the development of sensors to study plant physiological responses, the engineering of plants capable of withstanding inhospitable environments, genetic modifications that reveal the trade-offs inherent in plant growth and development, and many others.

Proposals Due: July 30, 2026, 12:00noon ET

NSF: Mathematical Sciences Infrastructure Program

The primary aim of this program is to foster the continuing health of the mathematical sciences research community as a whole. The DMS Infrastructure program invites projects that support core research in the mathematical sciences, including: 1) novel projects supporting research infrastructure across the mathematical sciences community; 2) training projects complementing the Workforce Program, and 3) conference, workshop, and travel support requests that include cross-disciplinary activities or have an impact at the national scale. Submitted proposals must show engagement in developing or enhancing the mathematical sciences research infrastructure in the U.S., including, but not limited to, broadening participation activities; professional development training; or involvement of students and early career researchers.

Proposals Due: August 4, 2026 and February 2, 2027, 5:00pm CT

XPrize Foundation: Build with Gemini Hackathon

The XPRIZE Foundation invites applications for the Build with Gemini prize. This hackathon challenges applicants to come up with solutions to pre-defined problems with clear, verifiable goals that pull humanity and entire industries forward. There competition propososes are five categories:


• Education & Human Potential
• Entrepreneurship & Job Creation
• Small Business Services
• Money & Financial Access
• Professional Services Access

Entry Submissions Due: August 17, 2026, 1:00pm PT

NSF: Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE)

The PESOSE program supports the translation of open-source science and engineering-focused research products into safe and sustainable ecosystems that address national and societal challenges. Open-source tools such as software, hardware, machine learning models, languages, and data platforms are designed to be shared as they are publicly-accessible and modifiable. These tools spark innovation in critical fields as varied as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, banking, healthcare, research, education, next-gen manufacturing, mobility, and National security (including cybersecurity). This solicitation seeks three types of proposals:


• Track 1: Scoping and planning an OSE
• Track 2: Establishing and expanding a sustainable OSE based on a robust, promising open-source product that meets an emergent societal or national need
• Track 3: Improving the safety, security, and privacy of an existing OSE and its products
  

Proposals Due: September 1, 2026, 5:00pm CT

William T. Grant: Institutional Challenge Grant

This program supports university-based research institutes, schools, and centers in building sustained research-practice partnerships with public agencies or nonprofit organizations in order to reduce inequality in youth outcomes. The Institutional Challenge Grant asks grantees to pursue four goals:

• Grow an existing institutional partnership with a public agency or nonprofit organization.
• Pursue a joint research agenda to reduce inequality in youth outcomes.
• Create institutional change to value research-practice partnerships within research institutions.
• Enhance the capacity of both partners to collaborate on producing and using research evidence.

Applications Due: September 9, 2026, 3:00pm ET

Important Updates

NASA Research Security Training Update

In accordance with Grant Information Circular 26‑02, Research Security Training Requirements, all covered individuals named on NASA grant and cooperative agreement proposals will be required to attest that they have completed research security training prior to proposal submission beginning August 5, 2026. This attestation will be made by signing a certification included in the NASA biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support forms.

CCTS Tiers Webinar
Crafting Your Specific Aims and Abstracts in Grantwriting
June 26, 2026
12:00noon - 1:00pm


Learn how to make one of the most important parts of your grant application work harder for you in this CCTS TIERS session. The presentation will focus on creating specific aims pages and abstracts that clearly convey the importance, approach, and potential impact of your proposed work. 


Register Here.

Hanover Research Webinars

Roundtable: Sustaining Research Growth in Today’s Funding Environment ​

Thursday, June 25, 2026

11:00am CT

Organizations striving to grow their funding portfolios inevitably face critical questions about how to strategically build the infrastructure required to seek, manage, and sustain grant funding over time. This webinar will explore comprehensive best practices and key considerations for developing this capacity—whether you are in the early stages of establishing a grants function or looking for proven strategies to strengthen and expand your existing efforts. ​

Register Here.

• 2026 Calendar of Webinars
• Recently Uploaded to the Archives: Building Grantseeking Capacity & Culture

SimplerGrants.gov Demonstration Webinar

Tuesday, June 30, 2026
10:00am CT


The Council on Federal Financial Assistance (COFFA) and Simpler Grants.gov teams will share highlights from newest features and functionalities for the next generation of Grants.gov, including new ways to collaborate with your organization on saved opportunities, improvements to the application experience, and exciting budget form prototypes. The team will also share user research insights, and showcase feedback received from open source contributions, the Co-Design Group, and the broader grants community on future development.


Register Here.

Hanover Research Queue Proposal Review Availability

Slots available after October 19


Auburn University has partnered with Hanover Research for a number of grant development solutions including Pre-proposal Support; Proposal Development; and Capacity Building. Hanover's full-service grant development solutions are available to set goals, build strategies to achieve key grant-seeking objectives, and develop grant proposals that are well-planned, researched, and written. 

For information regarding Hanover’s core capabilities and project timelines, click here. If you are interested in a slot in the queue, please e-mail Christine Cline.

Hanover GLC Modules for NIH, NSF-CAREER & Grant Development


The Hanover Research Grants Learning Center (GLC) on-demand grant development training portal offers faculty enrollees the unique opportunity to receive targeted training through self-paced, interactive modules with step-by-step guidance and templates for prospective applicants to develop compelling proposals. In addition to NIH, NSF-CAREER and Non-Federal funders, AU faculty now have access to a variety of new modules on grant seeking, development and revisions.

Auburn faculty interested in signing up for this training should contact Christine Cline for registration information.

Free CITI Training Modules

Auburn subscribes to several training modules via the CITI Program website that may be of interest to researchers and research administrators. Each module is self-paced and can be finished in one or multiple sessions. Click on the link above to read descriptions.



• Essentials of Grant Proposal Development
• Essentials of Research Administration

Our editorial team is keeping abreast of the current status of federally funded opportunities. Such opportunities advertised here, to our knowledge at time of publication, are active. However, please continue to check solicitation websites for updates to U.S. Government opportunities of interest.

When perusing a solicitation, 1) make sure you are viewing the latest version, 2) read all notes in the headers and margins, and 3) follow provided links to ensure a solicitation is still active and accepting applications.