Funding Opportunities

On this page:

For students, please see How to Find Support to Do Student Research.

Extramural

The following external sources provide grants to higher education institutions. ORED's Government Funding Opportunities contains additional information.

Federal Funding Agencies

Major federal agencies that fund basic research are provided below. These agencies provide search engines or pages within their sites to assist you in finding appropriate divisions that may be interested in your research idea.

National Science Foundation (NSF)

NSF funds approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted at America's colleges and universities.

NSF Funding Search

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research

The primary funder of biomedical research related to human health and disease.

NIH Funding Search

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

NIFA is a federal agency within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and is part of USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics mission area. The agency administers federal funding to address agricultural  issues.

NIFA Funding Search

United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment. Every year, EPA awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants and other assistance agreements.

EPA Funding Search

Web-based Services and Search Engines

 In addition, there are several web-based services that summarize and catalog funding opportunities and provide useful search engines.

  • CAYUSE 424 is CSULB's web submission portal provides a search engine to find funding opportunities. Cayuse 424 is also the system used to electronically prepare and submit grant proposals.
  • Federal Register (Grants.gov) lists all current discretionary funding opportunities from 26 agencies of the United States government, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and many others.
  • Grants Resource Center (GRC) is a resource from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities that summarizes funding opportunities, rules and regulations, relevant to sponsored programs and research administration activities on Grants Resource Center (GRC) member campuses. Information is from Grants.gov, the Federal Register, and Federal Business in STEM disciplines.
  • SAM.gov Assistance Listings features a searchable database of federal assistance listings and subaward reports. You can find federally funded programs offering grants, loans, cooperative agreements, or subaward reports distributed on federal awards.
  • SPIN Grant Search Engine contains detailed and current information about government and private funding opportunities.

ORED's External Sponsor Resources may contain information about additional services that are available.

State and Regional Funding Agencies

The State of California has several research funding agencies.

California Air Resources Board (ARB)

The ARB offer California businesses a number of compliance resources including training courses, assistance with permitting, and referrals to financial assistance, including grant programs for early compliance with some regulations. Compliance assistance is sometimes offered through the enforcement division of a District or ARB.

California Department of Education

The California Department of Education operates a large number of programs that provide funds to schools and other organizations for a variety of educational purposes.

California Department of Education - Funding

California Energy Commission

As the state's primary energy policy and planning agency, the California Energy Commission is committed to reducing energy costs and environmental impacts of energy use - such as greenhouse gas emissions - while ensuring a safe, resilient, and reliable supply of energy.

Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)

The mission of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment is to protect and enhance public health and the environment by scientific evaluation of risks posed by hazardous substances.

California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA)

CalEPA's mission is to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality and economic vitality. It fulfills its mission by developing, implementing and enforcing environmental laws that regulate air, water and soil quality, pesticide use and waste recycling and reduction. Its departments are at the forefront of environmental science, using the most recent research to shape the state's environmental laws.

California Department of Food and Agriculture

The California Department of Food and Agriculture strives to support the tradition of innovation and agricultural diversity by working with private industry, academia and public sector agencies. These partnerships allow the department to adapt public policy to a rapidly changing industry - California agriculture.

Caltrans

Caltrans manages more than 50,000 miles of California's highway and freeway lanes, provides inter-city rail services, permits more than 400 public-use airports and special-use hospital heliports, and works with local agencies. Caltrans carries out its mission with six primary programs: Aeronautics, Highway Transportation, Mass Transportation, Transportation Planning, Administration and the Equipment Service Center.

California Department of Water Resources

The mission of the California Department of Water Resources is to manage the water resources of California in cooperation with other agencies, to benefit the State's people and to protect, restore and enhance the natural and human environments.

Intramural

The following internal funding sources support research, scholarship, and other activities.

CSULB Organizations

Most of the opportunities below are managed by CSULB's Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED).

Research and Scholarly Activity Awards (RSCA)

CSULB funding for RSCA (either assigned time or small faculty grants) is awarded through a competitive process at the college level. Proposals are generally due in November and submitted through InfoReady. See ORED's Internal CSULB Funding Opportunities for more information.

Mini-Grant and Summer Stipend (MGSS)

CSULB funding for MGSS is awarded through a competitive process managed by ORSP and dictated by the policy and regulations mandated by the legislature and the Chancellor's office. Proposals are generally due in November and submitted through InfoReady. See ORED's Internal CSULB Funding Opportunities for more information.

ORED Internal Grants

ORED accepts proposals for internal grants to help faculty prepare proposals for major external funding. ORED encourages multidisciplinary research collaborations and partnerships. This grant program is open to CSULB tenured or tenure-track faculty members. Past award recipients must have submitted both a final report and a full length, external grant application through ORED based upon the award in order to be eligible for funding. Proposals are due in February and submitted through InfoReady. See ORED's Internal CSULB Funding Opportunities for more information.

METRANS Transportation Center

The METRANS Transportation Consortium is a joint partnership of the University of Southern California (USC) and California State University Long Beach(CSULB). METRANS funds research on transportation issues within large metropolitan areas and contributes to our knowledge base through the development of improved technology, policies, operations, or management practices.

CSU System-wide Research Funding Initiatives

The opportunities below are managed by the CSU Chancellor's Office.

CSUBIOTECH

CSU Biotechnology (CSUBIOTECH) is a committed network of faculty, deans and presidents representing the CSU’s 23 campuses. Together, their work champions biotechnology innovation and helps students embark on life science careers through experiential learning opportunities.​

Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology (COAST)

COAST is the umbrella organization for marine, coastal and coastal watershed-related activities within CSU.