NSF awards rapid response grants to support COVID-19 research

The National Science Foundation is working closely with the scientific research community to bolster the national response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The agency is funding dozens of research projects on COVID-19 to mobilize the scientific community to better understand and develop measures to respond to the virus.

NSF has issued a letter to researchers inviting proposals for rapid response research grants related to the virus. The letter welcomes studies to help understand COVID-19, inform and educate the public about virus transmission and prevention, and develop effective strategies for addressing this challenge at the local, state and national levels.

Support for these efforts is made through NSF's Rapid Response Research (RAPID) funding mechanism, which enables the agency to quickly process and support research that addresses an urgent need.

Previous RAPID awards have helped advance our understanding of Ebola and Zika disease outbreaks and measures to contain them. RAPID funds have also enabled research to improve our response to natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey and unexpected events like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Critical challenges like these require input from a variety of scientists, engineers and educators. As the only U.S. federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, NSF is uniquely positioned to gather a spectrum of scientific input, bringing to bear the best research on our most complex national concerns.

A list of the NSF COVID-19 RAPID grants, continually updated as they are awarded, may be found at
NSF COVID-19 RAPID Awards.