Who funds ecology research?

We count 531 funded ecology projects, active between 2020 and 2032, from 8 funders. The most came from EU · ERC (161 projects), EU · MSCA (152 projects) and EU · Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment (45 projects). The median award is $1.6M, across the 515 of 531 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

531

Funders

8

Median award

$1.6M

Open calls now

10

Top funders of ecology research

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

Open ecology funding calls

10 open calls mention ecology today.

• FAPESP/CONFAP/Biodiversa+: “Novel ecosystems: biodiversity, socio-ecological consequences and future trajectories (BiodivFuture)”
  São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)Not specifiedDeadline: November 10, 2026 ·
• Novel ecosystems: biodiversity, socio-ecological consequences and future trajectories (BiodivFuture)
  Dutch Research Council (NWO)Up to €400,000Deadline: November 10, 2026 ·
• Novel ecosystems: biodiversity socio-ecological consequences and future trajectories
  Research Council of FinlandNot specifiedDeadline: Not listed
• Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
  Geological Survey$1 – $450,000Deadline: November 14, 2026 ·
• Developing novel theory and methods for understanding the genetic architecture of complex human traits (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: January 7, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 9 funded (11% · NIH R21 (exploratory/developmental), all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• SICB Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship
  Society for Integrative and Comparative BiologyNot specifiedDeadline: February 14, 2027 ·
• ASM Latin American Student Field Research Award (mammalogy)
  American Society of MammalogistsNot specifiedDeadline: March 1, 2027 ·
• ASM African Research Fellowship (mammalogy)
  American Society of MammalogistsUp to $1,500Deadline: April 15, 2027 ·
• Readiness and Recreation Initiative (RARI) – Recurring 5 Year Notice
  National Park Service$250,000 – $3,000,000Deadline: Rolling (no fixed deadline listed)
• Long Term Research in Environmental Biology
  U.S. National Science FoundationUp to $600,000Deadline: Not listed
  Real odds: About 1 in 4 funded (24% · NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), all proposals, FY2024)

Real odds

• About 1 in 9 funded · 11% · NIH R21 (exploratory/developmental), all NIH institutes, FY2025 · NIH Data Book, report 202
• About 1 in 4 funded · 24% · NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), all proposals, FY2024 · NSF funding rates (directorate page)

Published success rates for the programs behind the open calls above: the share of applications the funder funded, program-wide, not for this topic.

Forecast: announced, not open yet

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

• ForecastASN Student Research Awards
  American Society of NaturalistsUp to $2,000Opening date not announced
• ForecastSICB Fellowship of Graduate Student Travel (FGST)
  Society for Integrative and Comparative BiologyNot specifiedOpening date not announced
• ForecastSICB Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAR)
  Society for Integrative and Comparative BiologyNot specifiedOpening date not announced

Funded ecology projects

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

• Using an integrated One Health approach to eliminate rabies
  Wellcome · £837,465 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Cognitive and Affective Pathways of Children's Ecological Science Learning
  NSF · EDU · $1,370,486 · ends 2031
• LTREB Renewal: Baltimore Urban Watershed Studies
  NSF · BIO · $600,000 · ends 2031
• LTER V: Coastal Oligotrophic Ecosystems
  NSF · BIO · $6,375,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Understanding the history of grasslands in the southern Appalachians
  NSF · GEO · $945,086 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Evolution of Diets and Landscapes in Tropical Ecosystems
  NSF · GEO · $1,084,304 · ends 2031
• Collaborative Research: RUI: A longitudinal study of hybridization in Mimulus: revealing the ecological, phenotypic, and genetic determinants of porous species boundaries.
  NSF · BIO · $986,241 · ends 2031
• Harnessing complex sparse data for the phylodynamics of RNA virus emergence and elimination
  Wellcome · £767,534 · ends 2031
• LTER: Georgia Coastal Ecosystems V
  NSF · GEO · $7,542,000 · ends 2031
• This coordinated agricultural project uses a transdisciplinary systems approach to addressbacterial leaf spot (bls) caused by a variety of…
  USDA · $7,750,051 · ends 2031

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 “ecology or ecological”. 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.