Who funds soil research?

We count 449 funded soil projects, active between 2021 and 2032, from 8 funders. The most came from EU · Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment (96 projects), USDA (96 projects) and EU · MSCA (90 projects). The median award is $825K, across the 444 of 449 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

449

Funders

8

Median award

$825K

Open calls now

8

Top funders of soil research

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

Open soil funding calls

8 open calls mention soil today.

• Living labs to enhance soil health in Continental, Black Sea, Pannonian and Steppic biogeographical regions
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €12,000,000Deadline: April 8, 2027 ·
• Agroforestry for soil health at landscape level
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €8,000,000Deadline: April 8, 2027 ·
• Participatory research on the health of communities in contact with polluted soils
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €5,500,000Deadline: April 8, 2027 ·
• Innovative biotechnologies to restore soil health and improve agricultural competitiveness and resilience
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €6,400,000Deadline: April 8, 2027 ·
• Long-term drivers and consequences of soil degradation: learning from the past to improve future soil health
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €7,000,000Deadline: April 8, 2027 ·
• Reducing soil sealing through sustainable urban and territorial design in the New European Bauhaus
  European Commission · Horizon EuropeUp to €7,500,000Deadline: September 15, 2027 ·
• Living labs to monitor and mitigate carcinogenic substances in and originating from soils: Evaluating their effects on human cancer risks
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €12,000,000Deadline: September 21, 2027 ·
• Living Labs for co-creating solutions to reduce eutrophication from agriculture
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €12,000,000Deadline: April 8, 2027 ·

Forecast: announced, not open yet

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

• ForecastHealthy soils and water for a sustainable environment
  Innovate UKUp to £28,000,000Expected to open November 19, 2026

Funded soil projects

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

• Healthy Soil Communities: Understanding the Biosocial Relations of Health through Soils, Stomachs and Society
  Wellcome · £419,810 · ends 2032
• CAREER: Leveraging Protein Engineering for Geotechnical Applications: Protein-Enhanced Biocementation for Soil Stabilization
  NSF · ENG · $582,543 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Soil SWELL-SMART: Soil SWELLing Solutions through Materials that Adapt, Respond, and Transform
  NSF · ENG · $599,940 · ends 2031
• Agricultural drainage systems help farmers improve crop production by removing excess water from poorly drained soils
  USDA · $2,940,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Tracking carbon cycling dynamics in river networks following terrestrial enhanced weathering
  NSF · GEO · $631,745 · ends 2031
• CAREER: DroughtRx - forecasting drought at decision-relevant scales for agricultural resilience
  NSF · GEO · $938,299 · ends 2031
• Rural agricultural communities across the texas panhandle and neighboring states face a widening skills gap
  USDA · $715,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Understanding Soil Moisture Variability
  NSF · GEO · $1,182,557 · ends 2031
• Research Infrastructure: Robust software infrastructure for bioBakery microbial community analyses in diverse environments
  NSF · BIO · $1,732,918 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Integrating the Next Generation into Investigating Cross-kingdom Interactions between Mycorrhizal Fungi and Hyphosphere Bacteria
  NSF · BIO · $869,052 · 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 “soil”. 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.