Federal Funding Opportunities Matched to Your Science
INSTAR Lab helps researchers and citizen scientists discover relevant federal funding — grants, contracts, and SBIR/STTR programs — and connects them with grant-writing resources and support. Our Source Now database aggregates opportunities across more than 50 federal funding sources, filtered by INSTAR's core research domains.
Connecting Researchers to Federal Funding
Federal research funding is distributed across dozens of agencies — the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, DARPA, and many others — each with distinct program requirements, review cycles, and eligibility criteria. Navigating that landscape takes time and domain knowledge that researchers and small teams cannot always spare.
INSTAR Lab's funding discovery resources help researchers and citizen scientists identify opportunities aligned with their work, understand funder requirements, and connect with grant-writing support. Our Source Now database monitors federal opportunity feeds across more than 50 sources and filters them by INSTAR's core research domains — AI, quantum science, energy, health, HPC, and the broader sciences.
FIND FUNDING
The categories below represent the types of federal funding opportunities surfaced through INSTAR's Source Now database. These are illustrative program categories — visit the authoritative federal sources linked below each to explore current open solicitations.
NSF Research Grants
The National Science Foundation funds fundamental research across all fields of science and engineering. Programs include standard research grants, CAREER awards for early-career investigators, and cross-disciplinary initiatives.
NIH Research Grants
The National Institutes of Health funds biomedical, behavioral, and health sciences research through mechanisms including R01 investigator-initiated grants, R21 exploratory grants, and numerous institute-specific programs.
SBIR / STTR Programs
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs provide competitive funding for small businesses and research partners to develop and commercialize innovation. INSTAR has direct experience with STTR partnerships.
DOE Research Programs
The Department of Energy's Office of Science funds research across basic energy sciences, nuclear and high energy physics, advanced computing, and fusion energy — with special vehicles for early-career researchers.
Grants.gov — Federal Search
Grants.gov is the central repository for all federal grant opportunities. Search by agency, program area, eligibility, and deadline to identify opportunities across the full spectrum of federal funders.
NASA & Defense Programs
NASA's Space Technology and Science Mission Directorates, DARPA, and the Office of Naval Research fund advanced research at the frontier of aerospace, autonomous systems, sensing, and national security science.
HOW INSTAR HELPS
Beyond discovery, INSTAR provides guidance and resources to help researchers prepare competitive proposals and manage funded awards.
Grant Writing Guidance
Structuring a competitive proposal — from the Specific Aims page through the Research Strategy — requires domain knowledge and strategic clarity. INSTAR connects researchers with guidance resources and review support to strengthen proposals before submission.
Funder Landscape
Understanding which federal agencies fund which types of research — and how their review criteria differ — is essential to targeting the right opportunity. INSTAR's resources map the landscape by research domain so investigators can direct their efforts efficiently.
Compliance & Management
Managing a funded award — reporting requirements, budget management, and regulatory compliance — is a distinct discipline. INSTAR's grant management resources help researchers fulfill award obligations and stay focused on the science.
Authoritative federal grant resources: Grants.gov • NIH Grants • NSF Funding • SBIR.gov
Grant Writing & Management
Write & Manage Your Grant with Dream Maker
INSTAR's Dream Maker program provides a structured environment for writing and managing grant proposals — from initial Specific Aims through budget submission and award management. Dream Maker is available to INSTAR researchers and Consortium fellows. Contact us to learn how to access it.