Open nowCloses Dec 31, 2026Award: $0 – $15K
Communication and Public Engagement Skill Building Sessions
Science and SocietyPublic engagementScience communication
Who can apply: Open to Kavli Institutes.
Deadline: December 31, 2026
About Kavli Foundation
The Kavli Foundation concentrates on advancing fundamental scientific research by funding institutional Kavli Institutes and large-scale research initiatives at leading universities and research centers worldwide. Grants are targeted to fields such as neuroscience, nanoscale science/technology, and particle astrophysics/cosmology, with multi‑phase, named program support that builds research infrastructure and long-term centers of excellence.
Focus Areas
Establishment and sustained support of Kavli Institutes in neuroscienceKavli-supported nanoscale science and nanotechnology centers at major universitiesFunding for particle astrophysics and cosmology research programsLarge-scale institutional research infrastructure and center-building at elite research universities
Who They Fund
early-career researchers and postdoctoral fellowsacademic research centers/institutes and university departmentsscientists in neuroscience, nanoscience, and astrophysicsscience journalists and public-facing science communicators
About Kavli Foundation
The Kavli Foundation’s recent grants show a clear pattern of building named research institutes rather than making one-off project awards. One of its largest grants in the dataset is $9 million to Johns Hopkins University for Kavli Institute NDI Phase III, and another major award went to the University of California, San Francisco Foundation for the Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience. The foundation repeatedly backs multi-phase institutional support across neuroscience, nanoscale science, and astrophysics/cosmology, often through university-based centers that carry the Kavli name. That institute-building approach appears across several fields. The foundation funded the Kavli Institute for Nanoscale Discovery at Oxford, the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UC San Diego. It also supports particle astrophysics and cosmology through the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Chicago and related work at Stanford and MIT. Alongside long-term center support, the grants list includes exploration awards and frontier-science programs that connect researchers across institutions and disciplines.
What Kavli Foundation Funds
Neuroscience is a major thread in the foundation’s giving. It awarded $1.718 million to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies for the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind Phase III-B, and $1 million each in separate years to the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UCSD for Phase III. Nanoscale science and nanotechnology is another core area. The foundation gave $6.226 million to the University of Oxford for the Kavli Institute for Nanoscale Discovery at Oxford Phase I/II, and $4.2 million to Cornell University for the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science Phase III. In astrophysics and cosmology, it supported the University of Chicago with $5 million for KICP Phase III and gave MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research $922,200 for Science and Technology at Astronomy’s Frontier: the MIT Kavli Institute and the U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program. It also funds science-public programs, including $500,000 to UC Berkeley for the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public.
How Kavli Foundation Gives
Typical grant size sits at $49,600 at the 25th percentile, $85,000 at the median, and $162,683 at the 75th percentile, while the recent dataset also includes several multi-million-dollar institutional awards. The grant list shows repeated support to the same institutions across multiple years, including UC San Diego, the National Academy of Sciences, the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, and the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at MIT. That points to multi-year continuation funding rather than purely one-time grants. The foundation is classified as a regular funder, funds individuals, and does not make program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$25.2M
Total Assets
$604.1M
Total Revenue
$31.4M
Total Expenses
$41.9M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $50K and $163K, with a median of $85K.
25th Percentile
$50K
Median
$85K
75th Percentile
$163K
Geographic Reach
National28 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Kavli Foundation Funds
Top 10 recipient countries by grant volume for Kavli Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 236 | $61.8M | 67.4% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 24 |
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