Who funds polymer research?

We count 255 funded polymer projects, active between 2019 and 2032, from 6 funders. The most came from EU · MSCA (65 projects), EU · ERC (64 projects) and NSF · MPS (28 projects). The median award is $1.5M, across the 246 of 255 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

255

Funders

6

Median award

$1.5M

Open calls now

2

Top funders of polymer research

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

Open polymer funding calls

2 open calls mention polymer today.

• US Production of Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic-Yielding Preceramic Polymers
  U.S. Department of Defense – Air Force (SBIR)Not specifiedDeadline: November 25, 2026 ·
• Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Northern Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
  Geological Survey$1 – $450,000Deadline: November 14, 2026 ·

Funded polymer projects

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

• Structural and mechanistic understanding of kinetochore-mediated control of microtubule dynamics
  Wellcome · £2,044,077 · ends 2032
• Center: Harvard Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
  NSF · MPS · $18,000,000 · ends 2032
• CAREER: Ultrafast Laser Manufacturing of Polymer-Derived Ceramics for High-Performance Ceramic Composite Materials
  NSF · ENG · $550,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Electrode-Macromolecule Interactions Influence the Selectivity of Electrolytic Polymer Transformation, Deconstruction, and Depolymerization
  NSF · MPS · $725,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Elucidating VopF-Mediated Pointed-End Actin Polymerization Mechanism and Leveraging it to Discover Novel Pointed-End Elongators
  NSF · BIO · $1,260,530 · ends 2031
• Career: Photopolymerization of cyclic disulfides
  NSF · MPS · $720,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: The causes and consequences of ribosome stalling in bacteria
  NSF · BIO · $1,500,000 · ends 2031
• Dissecting the mechanisms controlling basement membrane formation and stability with Drosophila genetics
  Wellcome · £2,747,199 · ends 2031
• Long wavelength oxygenic photosynthesis
  UKRI · BBSRC · £5,069,750 · ends 2030
• Programmable interfaces: towards reliable and recyclable composite materials via debonding on demand
  EU · ERC · €1,499,973 · ends 2030

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 “polymer or polymers”. 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.