Fall Institutional Nominations and Portal Registrations deadline is Sep 19th.

Applying for the Mathers Grant Awards Program

Philip Kranzusch with Lab Staff

The Application Process

The Mathers Grant application process involves several key steps, each requiring specific information and documentation to meet the Foundation’s requirements. If approved, grants are typically awarded within three months of LOI submission. All program-related activities must be managed through the portal.

Institutional nomination is required before submitting a Letter of Intent.

 

1

Eligibility

Grants are awarded to U.S.-based, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) independent and educational institutions.
2

Registration

Registration and Institutional Nominations are required at least two weeks before the current cycle’s registration / Institutional Nomination due date.
3

LOI Application

Applications include a project summary, related work, and a three-year budget describing major expense line items.
4

Formal Proposal

All invited formal proposals must include a project summary, detailed scientific aims, and a budget justification for all project costs.

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Eligibility

Medical research universities and scientific institutions that are 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to apply. Please note that we do not provide advice on project ideas or specific areas of interest.

Eligible for Funding

  • Institutions that directly support their own investigators
  • Principal Investigators with their own fully equipped labs
  • All levels of professorship
  • Collaborative research projects with other U.S.-based organizations

Ineligible for Funding

  • Institutions based outside the United States
  • Institutions that do not employ their own investigators
  • Private Foundations or third-party organizations that provide funding to other organizations
  • Grants to individuals

Research Areas We Support

  • Immunology
  • Microbiome
  • Structural Biology
  • Cellular Physiology
  • Cancer Biology
  • Genetics
  • Genomics
  • Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
  • Stem Cell Biology
  • Neuroscience

Research Areas We Do Not Support

  • Covid-19
  • Plant Biology (including plant microbiome)
  • Oceanography
  • Space Exploration
  • Global Warming
  • Agriculture and Herbicide Research
  • Clinical Trials or Drug Discovery
  • Vaccine Development
  • Ecology
  • Environment
The list is not exhaustive and may be subject to change or interpretation by the Board.

Registration

Registration in the portal is required to access the Mathers Foundation grants application and instructions. All new registrations must be completed by the grant cycle registration due date. Returning applicants do not need to register again. For the best user experience, we recommend using Google Chrome or Safari browsers.

Image credit:  Wendy Garrett Lab Staff

LOI Application

The Mathers Foundation Grants Program is a limited competition, where eligible organizations may submit up to three (3) institute-nominated Letter of Inquiry (LOI) applications per grant cycle. The LOI application due dates can be found here. Nominations must be submitted at least two weeks before the registration due date. There are a total of seven fields that must be completed, some of which have character limits.

Please note the Foundation does not provide feedback for declined LOIs.

Required Information:

  • Title of Project

    • Enter the project title as provided in your Institution’s Nomination by the Secondary Contact two weeks before the due date.
    • If your project title changes, send an email to grants@mathers.com by the grant cycle deadline.

  • Project Summary

    • Write the Project Summary so that a highly educated lay audience and a scientific review board can understand the project’s nature and scope.
    • Collaborators should be mentioned in the summary, along with their contributions to the project.
    • Budget categories should be briefly explained in the Project Summary or uploaded as a separate document in the Documents Section (7,000-character limit, spaces are included).

  • Preliminary Budget

    • Enter the total cost of the project for three (3) years. 
    • The total project budget cannot exceed $600,000-700,000, inclusive of 10% indirect costs. To calculate the indirect costs at 10%, multiply the total project costs by 0.10.
    • Major budget categories such as personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses should be included when calculating the preliminary budget figure field. 
    • Student tuition and/or fees will not be funded. Benefits and fringe rates, including health insurance, may be approved on a case-by-case basis, regardless of agreements with other agencies (e.g., DHHS).
    • Requests for equipment costs over $5,000 will not be approved.

  • Project Aims

    • Include Experimental Aims and sub-aims.
    • Write for a scientific audience (2,000-character limit, spaces are included).

  • Proof of Concept, Previous or Related Work

    • Include proof of concept evidence/validation for the project.
    • Include whether the evidence for the project is “preliminary”.
    • Include whether proof of concept has been published in any scientific journals (2,000-character limit, spaces are included).

  • Category of Research

    • Provide a summary of your assessment of the project’s primary focus.
    • Responses help the Foundation compare similar LOIs (examples of research areas of interest are available here). There is no drop-down menu for this field.

  • Discoveries/Publications

    • Briefly describe your most impactful discoveries and/or best publications.
    • This information does not have to be directly related to the proposed project (2,500-character limit, including spaces).

  • Documents

    • C.V.s or NIH biosketches for each team member contributing 30% or more of their time to the project.
    • Include the PI, collaborators, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.
    • C.V.s/Biosketches for the PI and collaborators should include both active and pending support, as well as recent support from the past three (3) years.
    • C.V.s should not exceed five (5) pages.

  • Supplementary Information

    • Should be uploaded as an additional document(s) in the Documents section of the application.
    • Examples include budget justifications, references, proofs, collaborators, CVs, letters of support, additional comments, figures, and Other Support. 

    If you wish to add a document after the LOI has been submitted, it can be emailed to grants@mathersfoundation.org, and we will upload it to the application.

Formal Proposal

Invitation Only

The proposal narrative, written for a scientific audience, must follow the required sections, be no longer than 7 pages, and include updated supplementary materials. A detailed budget, with a maximum amount of $700,000 over three years, is also required.

Image credit: Deblina Sarkar
Cover photo provided by Jimmy Day, courtesy of MIT

Grant Timeline & Due Dates

Grant schedules and submission deadlines are fixed annually. 

No exceptions will be made for late submissions.

CycleInstitutional Nominations and
Portal Registration		LOI ApplicationInvited Formal Proposals
Spring 2025 Feb 28th, 2025
8pm EST		Mar 14th, 2025
8pm EST		May 23rd, 2025
8pm EST
Fall 2025Sep 19th, 2025
8pm EST		Oct 3rd, 2025
8pm EST		Dec 12th, 2025
8pm EST

Please read through our FAQ’s for any questions you may have.

The Secondary Contact is responsible for coordinating Institutional Nominations and assisting with the submission of applications. If a grant is awarded, they will manage grantee responsibilities with the Foundation. This person is typically from the development/foundation relations office or the grants/OSP office.

We do not have a preference regarding the researcher’s experience or seniority, as long as they are independent investigators with fully functional and equipped labs.

We cannot provide definitive guidance since each project is unique. The NIH human subject research decision-making tool can be used to evaluate your project.