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Grants for Women and Women-Owned Businesses

Women and women-owned businesses can access dedicated grant programs from federal agencies, state economic development offices, and private foundations. Programs range from SBA women-owned small business set-asides to foundation grants supporting women in STEM, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

Top Grants for Women

12 grants relevant to women

12 grants worth up to $1.5M match your search

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Cellular and Molecular Biology of Complex Brain Disorders (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

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National Institutes of Health

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) encourages research on the biology of high-confidence risk factors associated with complex brain disorders, with a focus on the intracellular, transcellular, and circuit substrates of neural function. For the purposes of this NOFO, the term complex can refer to a multifactorial contribution to risk (e.g., polygenic and/or environmental) and/or highly distributed functional features of the brain disorder. Studies may be either hypothesis-generating (unbiased discovery) or hypothesis-testing in design and may utilize in vivo, in situ or in vitro experimental paradigms, e.g., model organisms or human cell-based assays. While behavioral paradigms and outcome measures can be incorporated into the research design to facilitate the characterization of intracellular, transcellular, and circuit mechanisms, these are neither required nor expected. Studies should not attempt to model disorders but instead should aim to elucidate the neurobiological impact of individual or combined risk factor(s), such as the affected molecular and cellular components and their relationships within defined biological process(es). This can include the fundamental biology of these factors, components, and processes. The resulting paradigms, component pathways, and biological processes should be disseminated with sufficient detail to enrich common and/or federated data resources (e.g., those contributing to the Gene Ontology, Synaptic Gene Ontology, FAIR Data Informatics) in order to bridge the gap between disease risk factors, biological mechanism and therapeutic target identification. The present NOFO (R01 activity code) can be used for applications to further develop lines of inquiry where feasibility or proof-of-concept has been established. Applicants proposing exploratory research at the early and conceptual stages of project development should apply to the companion R21 NOFO PAR-24-025

2026-09-07
Health

Free to search & build · $99 one-time to unlock the application pack · No subscription

Research Projects to Enhance Applicability of Mammalian Models for Translational Research (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

open

National Institutes of Health

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites applications for projects to expand, improve, or transform the utility of mammalian cancer and tumor models for translational research. With this NOFO, the NCI intends to encourage submission of projects devoted to demonstrating that mammalian models or their derivatives used for translational research are robust representations of human biology, are appropriate to test questions of clinical importance, and provide reliable information for patients' benefit. These practical goals contrast with the goals of many mechanistic, NCI-supported R01 projects that employ mammals, or develop and use mammalian cancer models, transplantation tumor models, or models derived from mammalian or human tissues or cells for hypothesis-testing, non-clinical research. Among many other possible endeavors, applicants in response to this FOA could propose demonstrations of how to overcome translational deficiencies of mammalian oncology models, define new uses of mammalian models or their genetics for unexplored translational challenges, advance standard practices for use of translational models, test approaches to validate and credential models, or challenge current practices for how models are used translationally

Up to $499K
2026-09-07
EducationHealth

Free to search & build · $99 one-time to unlock the application pack · No subscription

Assay development and screening for discovery of chemical probes, drugs or immunomodulators (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

open

National Institutes of Health

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) solicits applications for identification of small molecules that function to elucidate the biology of disease as chemical probes or function as agonists or antagonists of disease target(s) for therapy or immunotherapy. The NOFO is intended to support discovery research for the identification of validated hits relevant to health-related outcomes of participating NIH Institutes. Stages of discovery research covered by this NOFO include: 1) assay development for specific biological targets and disease mechanisms relevant to the mission of participating NIH Institutes with the intent to screen for small molecule compounds that show potential as probes for use in advancing knowledge about the known targets, identifying new targets, or as pre-therapeutic leads; 2) screen implementation high throughput target-focused approaches or moderate throughput phenotypic- and fragment-based approaches to identify initial screening hits; 3) hit validation, including implementation of secondary assays that are orthogonal to the primary assay, advanced cheminformatics analysis and initial medicinal chemistry inspection to prioritize the hit set, and follow-up assays to characterize mode and mechanism of action of the validated hits; 4) hit-to-lead optimization, including SAR to optimize target engagement, selectivity and to minimize chemical liabilities, ADME, PK and PD studies, and, if appropriate, in vivo modeling to test efficacy or biological effects.

2026-09-07
HealthEducation

Free to search & build · $99 one-time to unlock the application pack · No subscription

Cellular and Molecular Biology of Complex Brain Disorders (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

open

National Institutes of Health

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) encourages research on the biology of high confidence risk factors associated with complex brain disorders, with a focus on the intracellular, transcellular and circuit substrates of neural function. For the purposes of this NOFO, the term complex can refer to a multifactorial contribution to risk (e.g., polygenic and/or environmental) and/or highly distributed functional features of the brain disorder. Studies may be either hypothesis-generating (unbiased discovery) or hypothesis-testing in design and may utilize in vivo, in situ, or in vitro experimental paradigms, e.g., model organisms or human cell-based assays. While behavioral paradigms and outcome measures can be incorporated into the research design to facilitate the characterization of intracellular, transcellular and circuit mechanisms, these are neither required nor expected. Studies should not attempt to model disorders but instead should aim to elucidate the neurobiological impact of individual or combined risk factor(s), such as the affected molecular and cellular components and their relationships within defined biological process(es). This can include the fundamental biology of these factors, components and processes. The resulting paradigms, component pathways and biological processes should be disseminated with sufficient detail to enrich common and/or federated data resources (e.g., those contributing to the Gene Ontology, Synaptic Gene Ontology, FAIR Data Informatics) in order to bridge the gap between disease risk factors, biological mechanism and therapeutic target identification. The present NOFO (R21 activity code) can be used for applications to develop early stage, high-risk, exploratory approaches or establish proof-of-concept where there is little or no preliminary data. Applicants proposing to develop lines of inquiry where feasibility or proof of concept has been established should apply to the companion R01 NOFO (PAR-xx-xxx).

2026-09-07
Health

Free to search & build · $99 one-time to unlock the application pack · No subscription

Grants by Audience

Frequently Asked Questions: Grants for Women

What federal grants target women-owned businesses?
The SBA's Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program provides federal contracting set-asides. SBIR/STTR programs track and encourage women-owned applicants. The Amber Grant awards $10,000 monthly to women entrepreneurs. State economic development agencies often have women-specific business grants.
Are there STEM grants specifically for women?
Yes. NSF has multiple programs supporting women in STEM including ADVANCE (institutional transformation), S-STEM (scholarships), and research supplements for underrepresented groups. Private foundations like the L'Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science program also provide direct funding.
Can women-led nonprofits access special grant funding?
Many foundations prioritize women-led organizations, particularly those serving women and girls. The Ms. Foundation, Global Fund for Women, and Mama Cash specifically fund women-led nonprofits. Federal programs focused on maternal health, gender equity, and women's economic empowerment are also available.

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