Who funds democracy research?

We count 284 funded democracy projects, active between 2020 and 2032, from 6 funders. The most came from EU · ERC (100 projects), EU · Culture, creativity and inclusive society (67 projects) and EU · MSCA (56 projects). The median award is $2.1M, across the 282 of 284 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

284

Funders

6

Median award

$2.1M

Open calls now

15

Top funders of democracy research

Projects whose title or summary mentions democracy. Median award: of the projects that list an amount, in US dollars; “—” when fewer than 3 do.

Open democracy funding calls

15 open calls mention democracy today; the 12 most on-topic are listed.

• Luce/ACLS Civic Education for Democratic Life Program (CEDLife) Grants
  American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)Not specifiedDeadline: December 1, 2026 ·
• Remembering democratic transitions, the (re-)building of democratic institutions, and strengthening society based on the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights.
  European Commission · Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values ProgrammeNot specifiedDeadline: February 24, 2027 ·
• Open topic on reinvigorating and shielding European democracy
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€2,000,000 – €3,700,000Deadline: May 4, 2027 ·
• Addressing the impact of artificial intelligence, cyberviolence, and deepfakes on equality, democracy and inclusive societies
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,500,000 – €4,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• Development aid and democratic governance
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,500,000 – €4,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• The role of private companies in democracy
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,500,000 – €4,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• 2026 International Joint Initiative for Research Harnessing Disruptive Technologies to Address Global Challenges
  Research Council of NorwayNot specifiedDeadline: November 3, 2026 ·
• Advisory support and network for countering and preventing radicalisation, extremism, hate speech and polarisation
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,000,000 – €3,500,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• Women’s, LGBTIQ and minority rights in a context of autocracy, conflict and geopolitical shifts
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,500,000 – €4,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• Student and family engagement for developing a culture of democratic/civic participation
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,500,000 – €4,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,500,000 – €4,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• Global Human Rights and EU values
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€3,500,000 – €4,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·

Forecast: announced, not open yet

1 forecast call on democracy. Funders publish forecasts before a call opens; you can't apply to these yet, and dates can change.

• ForecastThe NIA Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open September 1, 2026

Funded democracy projects

A sample, latest start first, at most three per program.

• CAREER: Democratizing the Pretraining of Vision Foundation Models: A Developmentally Plausible Framework
  NSF · CISE · $599,999 · ends 2031
• Climate Citizens: Integrating citizen voices into energy and climate governance
  UKRI · UKRI FLF · £597,377 · ends 2029
• Category II: Transitioning the National Science Data Fabric Pilot into a National Operational Cyberinfrastructure and Service for Democratized, AI-Driven Scientific Discovery
  NSF · CISE · $9,000,000 · ends 2029
• Epicentre — Vaccine Delivery
  Gates Foundation · $4,500,750 · ends 2029
• Ghent University — Pneumonia & Pandemic Preparedness
  Gates Foundation · $296,926 · ends 2029
• Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking — Pneumonia & Pandemic Preparedness
  Gates Foundation · $5,000,000 · ends 2028
• Measuring Impact and Effectiveness of Cholera Vaccines in Uvira, Democratic Republic of the Congo
  Wellcome · £2,595,290 · ends 2028
• Funding request for EBO-PEP response to Bundibugyo outbreak in DRC
  Wellcome · £6,451,758 · ends 2028
• E-LIEU : A unique Energy resource in the face of naturaL rIsks: LakE KivU (Rwanda)
  UKRI · ISPF · £494,469 · ends 2028
• Computational complexity of popularity in hedonic games
  UKRI · EPSRC · ends 2028

How we count

Funded projects come from public award records (NIH RePORTER, NSF, EU CORDIS, UKRI Gateway to Research, Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, DOE, NASA and USDA NIFA) whose title or summary matches “democracy or democratic”. NIH lists each budget year separately; one project counts once. Amounts are as the funder lists them; medians use only projects that list one, in US dollars. Open calls and forecasts are from our listings of October 28, 2026. A project can mention a topic without being mainly about it, so treat the counts as a guide to who funds the area.