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  • Identifying Possible Funding Sources
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Identifying Possible Funding Sources

There are four basic types of funding sources:

• Government;
• Private industry;
• Foundations; and
• Professional organizations

Many government agencies provide funding to individuals and teams of researchers to work on specific types of research projects. Examples of government agencies that provide financial support include:

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) (science, engineering, and education);
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) (health related projects in science and engineering);
• The Department of Energy (DOE) (energy-related research); and
• The National Aerospace Agency (NASA) (research related to aerospace science and engineering)

Many private companies provide grants and/or materials and supplies in support of research. Examples of companies that provide targeted support include:

• Honda (e.g., fuel cells and robotics);
• DuPont; (e.g., polymer science broadly defined); and
• L’Oreal (personal care products)

Privately funded foundations are another good source of funding for research. Examples of foundations that provide financial support to researchers include:

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
• Research Corporation (RC); and
• The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation

Finally, professional organizations represent still another possible source of funding for your research project. Examples of professional organizations that provide support for research include:

• Sigma Xi;
• The American Association of University Women (AAUW); and
• The American Cancer Society

There are a number of useful tools that you can use to identify possible funding sources. A number of these can be freely accessed via the world-wide-web:

• The American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Grants Net
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Grants.gov; and
• The U.S. Department of Education’s e-Grants

However, the majority of the above provide support to scientists and engineers who have completed advanced degrees. That said, there are a number of associations and agencies that provide support for undergraduate research. To this end, Web-GURU has a search engine that will assist you in identifying possible funding sources specifically targeted to undergraduate researchers.