Who funds literacy research?

We count 78 funded literacy projects, active between 2022 and 2031, from 8 funders. The most came from NSF · EDU (18 projects), EU · MSCA (16 projects) and Gates Foundation (12 projects). The median award is $500K, across the 77 of 78 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

78

Funders

8

Median award

$500K

Open calls now

3

Top funders of literacy research

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

Open literacy funding calls

3 open calls mention literacy today.

• NEWS - Media Literacy
  European Commission · Creative EuropeNot specifiedDeadline: January 20, 2027 ·
• Pillar III: Promoting public engagement in R&I and scientific literacy
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERAUp to €1,000,000Deadline: March 11, 2027 ·
• National Leadership Grants for Libraries (2027)
  Institute of Museum and Library Services$25,000 – $1,000,000Deadline: November 13, 2026 ·

Forecast: announced, not open yet

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

• ForecastComprehensive Housing Counseling (CHC) and the Housing Counseling Training (HCT) NOFO (FY2026)
  Department of Housing and Urban Development$1 – $3,000,000Expected to open September 30, 2026

Funded literacy projects

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

• CAREER: Teaching and Assessing Conversational Programming Skills
  NSF · EDU · $754,602 · ends 2031
• The congolese integration network (cin) will implement a five-year digital literacy and coding workforce development initiative to expand…
  NASA · $1,031,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Designing an AI Coach to Support Creative Thinking, Physics Learning, and AI Literacy in Middle School
  NSF · EDU · $1,665,900 · ends 2031
• The learning disability art of care – centring actors with learning disabilities to develop novel understandings of care
  Wellcome · £478,287 · ends 2031
• CAREER- The Dynamic Variables Project - Developing STEM Undergraduate Students' Dynamic Meanings for Variables
  NSF · EDU · $1,118,536 · ends 2031
• Using citizen science research to inform coastal and marine natural capital approaches
  UKRI · NERC · ends 2031
• The university of idaho coeur d'alene (cda) reservation extension program has provided culturally grounded, research-based educational…
  USDA · $102,000 · ends 2030
• This project is a collaboration between uw-madison extension and the bad river band of lake superior chippewa
  USDA · $102,000 · ends 2030
• Tackling Disparity with Sound: Audio-Recorded Patient-Clinician Communication for Early Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Black Older Adults
  NIH · NIA · $3,406,699 · ends 2030
• LitCog V: Health Literacy and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults
  NIH · NIA · $3,782,845 · ends 2029

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 “literacy”. 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.