Find Funding
Virginia Tech offers a number of ways to identify sources of support for researcher’s groundbreaking work, including identifying research opportunities and connecting researchers with the right sponsor. With searchable databases and expert contacts focused on the federal government, industry, or private foundations, Virginia Tech provides tools to help researchers reach their goals.
Searchable Databases
Find information on more than 100,000 foundations, corporate giving programs, and grant-making public charities, or for information about nearly half-a-million grants. This subscription service requires that you connect to a Virginia Tech network or VPN in order to access the directory.
Funding Institutional is a searchable database of funding organizations, funding opportunities and awarded grants, including extensive coverage of governmental and private sources. It is available to anyone on the Virginia Tech network.
The Grants.gov program management office was established in 2002 as a part of the president's management agenda.
Managed by the Department of Health and Human Services, Grants.gov is an e-government initiative operating under the governance of the Office of Management and Budget. Under the president's management agenda, the office was chartered to deliver a system that provides a centralized location for grant seekers to find and apply for federal funding opportunities.
Today, the Grants.gov system houses information on over 1,000 grant programs and vets grant applications for federal grant-making agencies.
The Commonwealth of Virginia provides grants for research, development, commercialization, tech transfer, and local economic development. For example, the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority houses several organizations that support research and commercialization in areas like health, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, and manufacturing.
The Office of the Governor of Virginia provides regularly updated list of grants offered by Virginia’s agencies of federal, state local, and private grants, in addition to customized information for students and small businesses. A variety of funding opportunities are available for localities, organizations, and individuals.
The Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority houses several organizations that support technology development and tech transfer projects, including:
- Commmonwealth Research Commercialization Fund, which accelerates innovation and economic growth in Virginia by advancing solutions to important state, national, and international problems through technology research, development, and commercialization.
- Commonwealth Health Research Board, established in 1997 to provide financial support for human health research in the Commonwealth. Internal deadlines can be found on the limited submissions website in early July, annually.
- Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation, known as the VIRGINIA CATALYST, has a vision of advancing life sciences throughout Virginia as a means of addressing large unmet medical needs to improve human health. Funded by the Virginia General Assembly’s General fund, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, Eastern Virginia Medical School, George Mason University, William & Mary, and Old Dominion University, the CATALYST has funding opportunities to support collaborative projects in the Commonwealth and is home to the Neuroscience Initiative.
- GoVirginia provides grants to regions across the Commonwealth for economic development, entrepreneurship, and training initiatives.
- Verge Virginia leads regional efforts for innovation-catalyzed economic development in southwest Virginia.
Seed Funding Opportunities
Several organizations across Virginia Tech offer seed funding opportunities for faculty to develop preliminary data, plans, or other necessary steps to prepare to pursue external funding.
Faculty Research Incentive Plan
Faculty members are encouraged to support academic year research programs through sponsored projects. Faculty on regular appointments who are principal or co-principal investigators and whose base salaries are supported by E&G funds may receive an incentive for doing so.The research incentive payment is a one-time annual supplement to the recipient’s regular annual compensation.
Limited Submission
Limited Submission funding opportunities refer to projects for which the sponsor has requested that an institution only submit a limited number of proposals, typically one. The sponsors expect the university to internally select their best proposal and ensure that it is the only one submitted. When identified, opportunities with limited submission requirements are placed into the limited submission calendar, and plans for internal competitions, as necessary, are developed. See the Limited Submission tool for more information.
If a researcher is interested that is believed to be a limited submission, but has not been placed on the internal calendar, work with Janet Webster and your contact in Office of Sponsored Programs Pre-Award to have it incorporated into the limited submission calendar.
Finding Extramural Funding Faculty Workshop
The Virginia Tech Faculty Activity Support Team (VT-FAST) hosted a virtual workshop for Virginia Tech faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students to showcase how researchers can find governmental and foundation funding opportunities.
Undergraduate Research
The mission of the Office of Undergraduate Research is to help undergraduate students find research opportunities. The office has multiple avenues to help students find such opportunities through databases, resource blogs, ambassador office hours, and through strategic partnerships with Virginia Tech’s research institutes and research faculty.
Foundation Funding Opportunities
With its rich tradition of public and private support, Virginia Tech has established an excellent reputation in working with foundation partners to realize breakthrough discoveries and innovative solutions to society’s most pressing issues. Virginia Tech’s Foundation Relations team works closely with the Office of Research and Innovation and the Office of Sponsored Programs to secure philanthropic support for university research and to strengthen foundation partnerships.
International Travel Supplement Grant discontinued
Virginia Tech strives to be an internationally recognized land-grant university, encouraging and supporting international collaborations and presentations at international conferences. These activities are critical to increasing the impact, influence, and recognition of Virginia Tech scholarship and innovations.
Unfortunately, due to budget cuts necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Travel Supplement Grant has been discontinued. Research and Innovation is collaborating with Outreach and International Affairs to reinvigorate the university’s international research strategy. Other models to provide strategic support and promote international collaboration and speaking engagements are being explored.