Several private funders offer Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program for those with cancelled NSF education grants

Recent actions by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have led to terminations of many grants that supported STEM education initiatives, including at ASTC member organizations.

Now, a group of private foundations has stepped up to offer a rapid response bridge funding opportunity that is designed to mitigate some of the immediate impacts on scholars, projects, and project teams. Specifically, the Rapid Response program—offered by the Spencer Foundation, The Kapor Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation—will award grants of up to $25,000 to address “immediate needs following grant cancellations, including completing a wave of data collection, analyzing already collected data or writing, thoughtful project closure with community partners, or preparing grant proposals to continue the research.”

To be eligible, applicants must be working on research on STEM and education and have had a recently terminated or cancelled grant from NSF.

A completed application should include the following:

• The original NSF funded proposal
• The NSF termination letter
• A 2–3 page (up to 1,200 words) narrative memo describing the plan for activities to be completed over a six-month period
• A budget for a maximum of $25,000 (no indirect costs).

The foundations ask applicants to only request what they need—and to note access to other sources of bridging funds. The idea is to spread limited funds to as many scholars as possible.

Rapid Response requests can be submitted by 11:00 a.m. ET (12:00 p.m. CT) on either Friday, May 30, 2025 (for decisions by June 15) or Friday, June 13, 2025 (for decisions by June 30). Principal investigators may only submit for one of the deadlines.

Additional Information:

• Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program