Glossary: funding terms in plain English

Short, general definitions of terms that appear on this site. Funders use some of them differently, so the call text on the funder’s own page always takes priority.

BAA (Broad Agency Announcement)#: A US federal solicitation (common at the Department of Defense and some other agencies) that describes broad research interests rather than one fixed project. Many BAAs stay open for a long period and ask for a short white paper before a full proposal.
Beamtime / facility access#: Time on a shared large instrument, such as a synchrotron, neutron source or national-lab user facility, awarded through a proposal that is reviewed for scientific merit. It usually gives you instrument time and staff support rather than cash.
CAREER (NSF)#: The US National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Program, for early-career faculty who combine research with education. Eligibility rules are set in each year's solicitation.
Consortium#: A group of organisations, such as universities, companies and institutes, that work or apply together. In EU calls the consortium is the set of partners on one joint proposal; an industry consortium is a member-funded group that runs shared research.
Cooperative agreement#: A US federal award that works like a grant but with substantial involvement from the funding agency in carrying out the project.
Cost share (cost sharing, matching)#: The part of a project's cost that the applicant or its partners must cover themselves, in cash or in kind, instead of the funder. It is required only when the call says so.
Early-career / new investigator#: A researcher near the start of an independent career. Every funder defines it differently, usually by years since the PhD or since a first independent post, so check the definition in the call itself.
EIC (European Innovation Council)#: The European Union's programme for breakthrough technologies and innovative companies under Horizon Europe. Its schemes include Pathfinder (early-stage research on new technologies), Transition and Accelerator (start-ups and small companies).
ERC (European Research Council)#: The EU body that funds investigator-led frontier research in any field, judged on scientific excellence. Its main grants are Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy grants, plus Proof of Concept grants for ERC grant holders.
Fellowship#: Funding awarded to an individual, usually a student or early-career researcher, to cover their salary or stipend and sometimes research and training costs, often at a host institution they choose.
FOA / NOFO (Funding Opportunity Announcement / Notice of Funding Opportunity)#: The formal US federal announcement that a funding programme is accepting applications, with eligibility, deadlines, award sizes and how to apply. NOFO is the newer name; older notices say FOA. Both mean the same kind of document.
Forthcoming / opening soon#: A call that the funder has announced but that is not yet accepting applications. This site marks these “Opening soon”.
Grants.gov#: The US government website where federal grant opportunities are posted and where applications to many agencies are submitted. Some agencies also use their own systems, such as NSF's Research.gov.
Horizon Europe#: The European Union's research and innovation funding programme for 2021 to 2027. ERC grants, MSCA, the EIC and most EU Funding & Tenders calls on this site belong to it.
Indirect costs (overhead, F&A)#: Institutional costs that cannot be tied to one project, such as buildings, utilities and administration. They are usually charged as a percentage on top of direct costs. US universities call them facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, and some calls cap or exclude them.
In-kind contribution#: A non-cash contribution to a project, such as staff time, equipment, materials or facility use, that is given a value. It often counts towards cost share or consortium membership.
Limited submission#: A call that caps how many applications one institution may send. Universities then run an internal selection first, often weeks or months before the funder's deadline, so contact your research or grants office early.
LOI (letter of intent)#: A short notice that you plan to apply, sent before the full application. Depending on the call it may be required, optional, or used to decide who is invited to submit a full proposal.
MSCA (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions)#: The EU's programme for researcher training, careers and mobility. Its actions include Doctoral Networks, Postdoctoral Fellowships, Staff Exchanges and COFUND co-funding of institutional programmes.
MURI / DURIP / YIP (US Department of Defense)#: US Department of Defense research programmes: MURI (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) funds teams across disciplines, DURIP (Defense University Research Instrumentation Program) funds research equipment for universities, and the service research offices' Young Investigator Programs (YIP) fund early-career faculty.
PI / co-PI (principal investigator)#: The PI is the person who leads a funded project and is responsible for it to the funder. A co-PI shares that leadership. Some calls limit how many applications one person may submit as PI or co-PI.
Precompetitive research#: Research on shared, early-stage problems whose results are shared among partners or published, before companies compete on their own products. Many industry consortia work this way.
Pre-proposal / white paper / two-stage call#: A short first-stage proposal or concept paper. In a two-stage call, the funder reviews these first and invites only some applicants to send a full proposal.
R01 / R21 / K awards (NIH activity codes)#: Codes the US National Institutes of Health uses for types of award. R01 is the standard research project grant; R21 is a shorter exploratory or developmental grant with a smaller budget; K awards are career development awards, such as the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award for postdocs moving to a faculty post.
RFA (Request for Applications)#: A funding announcement for one defined topic, usually with money set aside for it and one or a few deadlines. NIH uses RFA numbers for such notices.
RFP (Request for Proposals)#: An invitation to submit proposals for a defined need, used by agencies, foundations and companies. In US federal use, an RFP often leads to a contract rather than a grant.
Rolling deadline#: Applications are accepted at any time, or reviewed in regular batches, instead of by one fixed date. This site lists these as “Rolling / any time”.
S10 / MRI (shared instrumentation grants)#: Grants for buying or building research instruments that several users share: the NIH S10 programmes and the NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program.
SBIR / STTR#: US federal programmes (Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer) that fund research and development at small businesses in phases, from feasibility (Phase I) to development (Phase II). STTR also requires a formal partnership with a research institution such as a university.
TRL (Technology Readiness Level)#: A 1 to 9 scale for how mature a technology is, from basic principles observed (TRL 1) to a system proven in its real setting (TRL 9). Many EU innovation calls state the TRL a project should start at or reach.
UKRI / EPSRC#: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the UK's national research funder. It brings together the research councils, such as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with Innovate UK and Research England.

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