In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rapid response bridge grant opportunity for impacted scholars, in collaboration with The Kapor Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This rapid response bridge funding opportunity is for scholars and teams whose grants have recently been cancelled by NSF. While it is impossible for private philanthropy to close the gap left by federal funders, we can provide modest grants to mitigate some of the impact on scholars, projects, and project teams. These $25,000 grants are for activities 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 for these grants, scholars must: (1) be working on research on STEM and education (including AI and CS, graduate education and MSIs, and scholarship that aims to reduce inequality), and (2) have had a recently terminated or cancelled grant from NSF. Where possible, we will prioritize early-career scholars.
Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program
Application Deadlines:
Applications Open
May 2, 2025
Full Proposal Deadline
May 30 and June 13
Program contact:
RapidResponse@spencer.org
We are asking that PIs provide:
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The original funded proposal
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Your NSF termination letter
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A 2–3-page (no more than 1200 words) narrative memo describing the plan for activities to be completed over a 6-month period.
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A budget for a maximum $25,000 (no indirect costs). We ask that scholars ask for only what they need within this limit, and to note if they have access to bridging funds at their university. Our goal is to fund as many people as possible with our limited funds.
Please send these materials to RapidResponse@spencer.org with Rapid Response in the subject line.
There will be two deadlines for requests: May 30, 2025 and June 13, 2025 (12:00 p.m. Central). Principal Investigators may only apply once. Decisions for the May cycle will be made by June 15. Decisions for the June cycle will be made by June 30.
Q: Are teams with terminated, education-related NSF grants the only ones eligible to apply?
A: Yes. While we know that there is great need across the field and that there have been many terminated projects funded by other federal agencies, this rapid response program is related only to terminated, education-related NSF grants.
Q: Can each PI/Co-PI on a terminated, education-related NSF grant apply for a rapid response grant?
A: No – Each application should be tied to one terminated, education-related NSF grant versus each PI/Co-PI being able to submit applications separately. This also applies to NSF collaborative grants.
Q: Is it possible to apply for a rapid response grant and still apply to another one of Spencer’s grant programs (e.g., Small Grants, Large Grants)?
A: Yes – we are waiving our usual restrictions. People may submit a proposal to the rapid response program and submit a Large Grant proposal, for example. In addition, those who currently have a funded Spencer grant can apply to the rapid response program (if eligible).
Q: Is it possible to submit an application to the rapid response program without a termination letter from NSF?
A: No – applications must include a termination letter from NSF to be considered for rapid response funding.
Q: Can individuals apply outside of or independently from their institutions?
A: No – The Spencer Foundation makes grants to institutions and not individuals.
Applications Open
May 2, 2025
Full Proposal Deadline
May 30 and June 13
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