Who funds sleep research?

We count 125 funded sleep projects, active between 2019 and 2034, from 6 funders. The most came from Wellcome (40 projects), EU · ERC (27 projects) and EU · MSCA (15 projects). The median award is $2.6M, across the 115 of 125 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

125

Funders

6

Median award

$2.6M

Open calls now

4

Top funders of sleep research

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

Open sleep funding calls

4 open calls mention sleep today.

• Interventions to Reduce Sleep Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: September 7, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• NHLBI Early Phase Clinical Trials for Therapeutics and/or Diagnostics for HLBS Disorders (R33 CT Required)
  National Institutes of HealthUp to $1,515,000Deadline: February 3, 2027 ·
• NHLBI Early Phase Clinical Trials for Therapeutics and/or Diagnostics for HLBS Disorders (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: February 3, 2027 ·
• NHLBI TOPMed: Omics Phenotypes of Heart, Lung, and Blood Disorders (X01 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: May 8, 2028 ·

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.

Funded sleep projects

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

• How do African trypanosomes evade the complement system?
  Wellcome · £2,638,121 · ends 2034
• Out of the dark, how daytime light influences sleep and supports circadian rhythms
  Wellcome · £3,700,000 · ends 2034
• How do CNS border-derived B-cells shape brain immunity and behaviour during chronic infections?
  Wellcome · £2,490,754 · ends 2033
• BioData Catalyst Data Management Core Program
  NIH · NHLBI · $4,691,810 · ends 2031
• NHLBI TRANS-OMICS FOR PRECISION MEDICINE (TOPMED) FOR THE CENTRALIZED OMICS RESOURCE (CORE) - 2026 TASK ORDER
  NIH · Office of the Director · $4,487,190 · ends 2030
• Examining Unique Markers and Risk Factors for AD/ADRD in Foreign- and Native-born Older Chinese Americans: A Study of Social Determinants of Health, Sleep Patterns, Neuroimaging, and Plasma Biomarkers
  NIH · NIA · $4,035,962 · ends 2030
• ICF Understanding the link between sleep and Alzheimer’s
  UKRI · MRC · £4,326,301 · ends 2030
• Cell therapy for Alzheimer's disease
  NIH · NIA · $3,174,899 · ends 2030
• Minimizing ICU Neurological Dysfunction with Dexmedetomidine-induced Sleep (MINDDS II)
  NIH · NIA · $3,779,978 · ends 2029
• ICF Sleep as a therapeutic target for enhancing resilience to traumatic experience
  UKRI · MRC · £1,226,432 · 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 “sleep”. 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.