Who funds rural development research?

We count 353 funded rural development projects, active between 2021 and 2034, from 8 funders. The most came from USDA (84 projects), EU · Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment (54 projects) and EU · MSCA (25 projects). The median award is $1.6M, across the 350 of 353 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

353

Funders

8

Median award

$1.6M

Open calls now

7

Top funders of rural development research

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

Open rural development funding calls

7 open calls mention rural development today.

• BJA FY 2026 Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative
  Bureau of Justice AssistanceUp to $2,637,041Deadline: October 30, 2026 ·
• Affordable Rural Cooperative (ARC) Energy Program
  Rural Utilities Service$100,000 – $20,000,000Deadline: November 20, 2026 ·
• Strengthening rural communities' resilience to shocks
  European Commission · Horizon EuropeUp to €5,000,000Deadline: September 23, 2027 ·
• Enhancing Mobility for All: affordable, reliable, and accessible multimodal transport for inclusive rural and urban connectivity – Societal Readiness pilot
  European Commission · Horizon EuropeUp to €7,000,000Deadline: October 7, 2027 ·
• BJA FY 2026 Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance
  Bureau of Justice AssistanceUp to $600,000Deadline: November 6, 2026 ·
• Inspire Grants for Small Museums (2027)
  Institute of Museum and Library Services$5,000 – $75,000Deadline: November 13, 2026 ·
• Accelerating Solutions to Improve Access and Quality of Empirically-Supported Practices for Youth Mental Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: January 7, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)

Real odds

• About 1 in 8 funded · 13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025 · NIH Data Book, report 29

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

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

• ForecastRural Residency Planning and Development Program
  Health Resources and Services AdministrationUp to $750,000Expected to open December 18, 2026
• ForecastRural Communities Opioid Response Program - Overdose Response
  Health Resources and Services AdministrationUp to $300,000Expected to open January 11, 2027
• ForecastRural Health Network Development Program
  Health Resources and Services Administration$300,000 – $500,000Expected to open January 14, 2027
• ForecastRural Health Value Program
  Health Resources and Services AdministrationUp to $650,000Expected to open January 19, 2027
• ForecastRural Communities Opioid Response Program - Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health
  Health Resources and Services AdministrationUp to $1,000,000Expected to open January 22, 2027
• ForecastRural Health Network Development Planning Program
  Health Resources and Services AdministrationUp to $100,000Expected to open January 23, 2027
• ForecastRural Communities Opioid Response Program - Evaluation
  Health Resources and Services AdministrationUp to $5,000,000Expected to open January 23, 2027
• ForecastRural Communities Opioid Response Program - Community Systems Development
  Health Resources and Services AdministrationUp to $500,000Expected to open February 5, 2027

Funded rural development projects

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

• Behavioural and resistance genomics in an invasive urban malaria vector in Africa.
  Wellcome · £1,939,522 · ends 2034
• Supporting the Success of Physical and Quantitative Sciences Scholars in Rural Appalachia
  NSF · EDU · $2,000,000 · ends 2033
• Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute
  NIH · NCATS · $3,946,222 · ends 2033
• Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science
  NIH · NCATS · $4,004,255 · ends 2033
• STEM Teacher Leadership through Action Research in Rural Communities
  NSF · EDU · $2,999,999 · ends 2032
• Temporary Childbirth Migration and Reproductive Justice: Reconceptualising Continuity of Maternal and Child Healthcare in Rural India
  Wellcome · £480,305 · ends 2031
• AI-Driven Professional Learning to Strengthen Pre-Service Teachers' Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and Mathematical Creativity
  NSF · EDU · $1,989,298 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Reliable and Communication-aware Ad-hoc Teaming and Collaborative Computing for Cloudless AI at the edge
  NSF · CISE · $490,204 · ends 2031
• West Virginia Rural Roots to Research
  NIH · Office of the Director · $3,697,994 · ends 2031
• African swine fever is a highly contagious and often fatal disease of domestic and wild pigs
  USDA · $10,000,000 · 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 “rural”. 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.