DELPHI Funding Opportunities
Internal Funding Opportunities
One-U RAI Distinguished Visitors Program
Application Deadline: July 1, 2025
Description: The overarching purpose of the Distinguished Visitors Program is to welcome an exchange of ideas and stimulate discussion and future research around responsible AI. The One-U RAI has an initial interest in supporting Distinguished Visitors in three thematic areas: 1) Environment, 2) Health and Wellness, and 3) Teaching and Learning. The activities of the Distinguished Visitor will inherently vary depending on the background of the visitor and the length of stay, which can be a short as a few days to as long as a calendar year; however, all visitors will be expected to give a Distinguished Lecture and engage with faculty and students during their visit. Opportunities for engagement include research collaborations, student co-supervision, consulting on curriculum, teaching or co-teaching a course, giving guest lectures, student group mentoring sessions, hosting office hours or luncheons, and much more. Please help spread the word about this exciting opportunity in your networks! Please direct questions to Penny Atkins (penny.atkins@utah.edu).
Utah CTSI Community and Academic Partnership Pilot (CAPP) Program
Deadlines: LOI (required) is due Friday, August 1, 2025. Full applications are due October 22, 2025.
Award: $60,000 over 1 year
Description: The CAPP program will support collaborations between community organizations located in Utah and adjacent states, and CTSI-affiliated academic partners. Successful applicants to the CAPP program are those who focus on community-led engagement pilots designed to support research and initiatives where local communities play a central role in defining research questions, implementing solutions, and leading the overall process.
University of Utah Health Philanthropic Partners Group RFP
Application Deadline: September 1, 2025. Award: Awards will be made up to $50,000. Description: The University of Utah Health Philanthropic Partners, a group comprised of ambitious philanthropists who wish to accelerate research at University of Utah Health, have been formed to ignite innovation in today’s challenging funding climate. Strategically targeting vital areas of need with pooled resources and motivated by the pursuit of discovery, the Philanthropic Partners will propel a straightforward idea that forms the bedrock of exceptional achievement: empowering the most brilliant minds to push the boundaries of their abilities and venture into uncharted territories will pave the way for a brighter and more promising tomorrow. They invite proposals from researchers with inventive and innovative ideas who are seeking seed funding to accelerate breakthroughs and test new ideas that are not yet viable for traditional funding mechanisms. The goal of this initiative is to ignite high-risk, potentially high-reward research programs that address critical societal issues and foster innovation, discovery, and collaboration. The Philanthropic Partners aim to enhance support for early-stage (Assistant/Associate professors) researchers’ efforts that have the potential to significantly impact their respective fields.
Q&A Sessions will be held on June 24th, July 30th, Aug 13th, & Aug 29th – Zoom links and times can be found at the end of the RFP.
You can learn more on the program's website. Please contact Emily Blake (Emily.Blake@utah.edu) and apply here.
External Funding Opportunities
Helen Hay Whitney Foundation: Postdoctoral Biomedical Research Fellowship
Deadline: June 16, 2025
Award: $225,000 in stipends over three years; $4,500 research allowance
The Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellowship provides independent postdoctoral research support to young biomedical scientists. The Foundation recognizes and encourages independent thinking, creativity, and passion for scientific discovery. The HHWF Fellowship Program has excelled at nurturing young scientists, who go on to contribute significantly to the advancement of biomedical research, in many cases with landmark discoveries recognized by major awards. Eligibility: (1) the applicant has received a Ph.D. (or D.Phil. or equivalent) degree no more than two years before the application deadline, or an M.D. (or M.D.-Ph.D.) degree no more than four years before the deadline AND (2) they have been employed in their postdoctoral laboratory for no more than one year before the application deadline. Please email Lynn Wong, JD, Senior Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations, at lynn.wong@hsc.utah.edu if you plan to apply for this award.
Michelson Medical Research Foundation: Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants in Immunology, Vaccine, and Immunotherapy
Deadline: June 22, 2025.
Award: $150,000 for one year
Description: The Michelson Medical Research Foundation seeks to unravel the complexity of the human immune system, accelerating the development of vaccines and therapies for some of the world’s most threatening diseases. The Michelson Prizes is seeking research proposals on human immunology and vaccine research. The committee will look for research that aims to tackle the current roadblocks to human vaccine development and expand our limited understanding of key immune processes that are fundamental to successful vaccine and immunotherapy development.
While the Michelson Prizes are focused on research in immunology, vaccine, and immunotherapy discovery, applicants from the full spectrum of related disciplines, including clinical research, biochemistry, molecular biology, protein engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence/machine learning, biophysics, nanotechnology, etc., are encouraged to apply.
Applications will be judged on innovation and potential impact. Research proposals must be on the topic of human immunology and vaccine development. Researchers 35 years of age and under are eligible to apply.
Please contact Lynn Wong if you are interested in applying to this opportunity.
NIH: Research Opportunity Announcement (ROA): Autism Data Science Initiative
Deadline: June 27, 2025
Award: Up to $5,000,000 award (total costs) per 24–36-month project period
Description: The purpose of this ROA is to invite applications from eligible organizations to support the Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI). ADSI will bring together diverse data resources and community members with lived experience to explore novel contributors and/or to characterize the collective contributions of numerous factors to the causation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), hereafter referred to as autism, and their potential role in increasing the prevalence of autism. ADSI will also seek to identify how existing treatments/interventions are used and better understand their outcomes to inform the design of future clinical studies. This initiative will achieve these goals through four strategic aims: 1) to create new integrated data resources, by applying innovative approaches across existing data from research studies or other valid sources, with rigorous privacy protections, for use by the autism research community; 2) to identify and address gaps in available data through targeted data generation; 3) to support the analysis of these integrated data resources that link data on genetic and nongenetic factors (e.g., diagnostic, clinical, behavioral, neurophysiological, pharmaceutical and environmental exposures, complications of pregnancy and peri-natal events) to explore contributors to the causes of autism and/or to identify patterns associated with treatment/intervention outcomes and the use of services for autism; and 4) to provide a venue for replication of these analyses by independent teams to validate findings and increase transparency in the conduct of science.
NVIDIA’s Academic Grant Program
Deadline: June 30, 2025
Award: Compute resources
Description: NVIDIA’s Academic Grant Program has an open call for research proposals to advance work in three new interest areas: 1) Generative AI training and model development, 2) Generative AI alignment and inferencing, and 3) Simulation and modeling. The call for proposals for each interest area includes eligibility information, compute resources available to request (including DGX Spark, RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, and A100 GPU hours), and submission instructions, including a required proposal template.
Vilcek Foundation: 2026 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science
Deadline: June 9, 2025
Award: $50,000 of unrestricted funds
Description: The Vilcek Foundation's mission is to raise awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and foster appreciation of the arts and sciences. The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise support emerging to mid-level immigrant professionals who have demonstrated exceptional early career achievements in Biomedical Science. Please review the call for the full list of eligibility requirements.
Please contact Gwen Allouch if you are interested in applying to this opportunity.
Human Islet Research Network (HIRN) Data Scholars Initiative
Deadlines: November 1, 2025
Description: The Human Islet Research Network (HIRN) announces a new funding initiative to support the use of existing HIRN datasets and resources to explore unique and innovative hypotheses designed to accelerate breakthroughs and advances in type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. The Human Islet Research Network (HIRN) Data Scholars Award (DSA) Program provides:
- Funding for data-science-centered projects submitted via a streamlined process to the HIRN Human Islet Research Enhancement Center (HIREC). Projects will use existing datasets from HIRN and related T1D partner programs and/or resources to design studies or create resources that are responsive to specific initiatives.
- Opportunities to collaborate with HIRN investigators and efficiently exchange ideas and resources to accelerate innovation in T1D research.
LSO: Burroughs Wellcome Fund: Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers Program
Deadlines: LSO Applications (1.5 pages) are due by June 11, 2025, via InfoReady. Full applications to the funder are due on August 7, 2025.
Award: Up to three $10 million institutional awards will be made
Description: This new institutional initiative aims to stimulate new discovery toward defining the health impacts of climate change, developing potential interventions and translating discovery science into practical application. It will also support outward-facing work that can help public understanding of Climate + Health or strengthen connections between research and communities whose health has been harmed by climate change. In general, this award will support institutions or consortia that are already moving toward establishing themselves as centers of excellence for understanding climate change’s impact on human health and for leadership in climate education OR public communication around climate and health. Please contact Lynn Wong (lynn.wong@hsc.utah.edu) with questions.
LSO: Searle Scholars Program
Deadline: LSO Applications (1.5 pages) are due by June 30, 2025, via InfoReady. Full applications to the funder are due on September 30, 2025.
Award: Grants are $300,000 for a three-year term with $100,000 payable each year of the grant
Description: The Searle Scholars award program makes grants to selected academic and research institutions to support the independent research of outstanding early-career scientists who have recently been appointed as assistant professors on a tenure-track appointment. The University of Utah may nominate TWO candidates to apply for the Searle Scholars program. All applicants must apply through the internal competition. Searle supports high-risk, high-reward research across a broad range of scientific disciplines. Applicants are expected to pursue independent research careers in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences. You can review the research interests of present and former Searle Scholars here.
NIH: Request for Information on Responsibly Developing and Sharing Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools Using NIH Controlled Access Data
Deadline: Responses will be accepted through July 16, 2025
Description: NIH is requesting input on effective strategies for mitigating controlled-access human genomic data leakage when developing and sharing generative AI tools and applications. Importantly, these strategies should still promote and enable widespread innovation and adoption of responsible AI for biomedical research. Learn more and submit your responses here.