Primary Database for Finding Funding

SPIN (the Sponsored Programs Information Network) is a comprehensive database of federal government departments, agencies, and institutes; private foundations; and corporate grantmakers. Run by InfoEd Global, SPIN aggregates over 40,000 funding opportunities from more than 10,000 global sponsors.

Anyone connecting via the Carleton network has access to the search service.

Contact Christopher Tassava for an account that allows you to save searches, OR you can follow the steps below to create a profile and save searches.

Create a SPIN profile:

  • Step 1: Create your SPIN profile while on campus, step-by-step instructions are available (compliments of OSU, so ignore the contact given at the bottom).
  • Step 2: Watch for an email with login instructions from spinsupport@infoedglobal.com. (Access may take up to one business day; the user-validation process requires an overnight administrative process.)
  • Step 3: Login to SPIN and create and save searches that generate customized funding alerts.

Some simple search suggestions when using SPIN:

  • Place quotation marks around a key phrases within your research topic/discipline, e.g., “word recognition”
  • Use “AND” to search for multiple words, e.g., psychology and adolescent will return results with both terms in the record
  • Use “NOT” to exclude terms, e.g., STEM not “stem cell*” will return results with only STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)
  • Use ~ before any word to search throughout a funding opportunity record, e.g., ~cancer – will search all sections of the funding record not just the abstract

Additional resources

  • Grants.gov – Grants.gov provides organizations with the ability to search for federal grant opportunities by topical category, by granting agency, and in other ways. It is the key federal resource for grantseekers, creating a centralized, online means to find and apply for hundreds of grant programs from the 26 federal grant-making agencies.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) – an independent federal agency, the U.S. National Science Foundation funds approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted at America’s colleges and universities. This Find Funding page allows you to search by key terms, browse opportunities by title, check recent funding opportunities or upcoming due dates, and explore by directorate or special programs.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research – the largest funder of biomedical research in the world, NIH funds research in just about every area that’s remotely related to human health and disease.
    • NIH has an advanced search page, which offers a wide range of search options.
    • Especially helpful is NIH’s RePORTER‘s nifty Matchmaker tool, where you can enter abstract text and will get a return list of similar projects funded by NIH, with program official name and institute or center identified.
  • National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) – an independent federal agency created in 1965, NEH is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States.
  • Newton’s List – Newton’s List seeks to facilitate international science cooperation by providing a forum for grantseekers and funders. The site is a free resource open to individuals searching for international funding and organizations looking to market their grants to an international audience. Established in 2013 and co-sponsored by CRDF Global and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Newton’s List is a user-driven aggregate of current international funding opportunities for students and researchers working in natural and social science fields.
  • Federal Register
  • Duke’s Research Funding Database – Duke University’s publicly available grant opportunity database