The Office of Foundation Relations is pleased to share this open call for Letters of Inquiry from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
- UCSC Contact: Sarah Carle | sacarle@ucsc.edu
- Funder: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Opportunity: Early-Career Faculty Support for Interdisciplinary Energy System Research
- Deadline: Tuesday, March 17, 2026, by 2:00pm PT
- Informational Webinar: Tuesday, February 3, 2026, from 10-11am PT. Please register here. The webinar will be recorded and made available to share afterwards.
Overview
The Energy and Environment program at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supports research, training, networking, and dissemination efforts to inform the societal transition toward low-carbon energy systems in the United States by investigating economic, environmental, technological, and distributional issues. The program is inviting Letters of Inquiry from early-career faculty at the outset of their academic careers who are focusing on undertaking innovative interdisciplinary social science research related to the transition to a low-carbon economy in the United States. This Call for Letters of Inquiry is deliberately framed broadly to encourage submissions from a range of scholars drawn from different backgrounds and disciplines.
Prioritization will be given to submissions that approach these topics in new and creative ways:
- Energy system resilience and adaptation
- Energy markets and policy analysis
- Low-carbon innovation and next generation energy technologies
- Place-based energy transitions
- Transportation and mobility
- Industrial decarbonization
Submissions will be expected to combine a compelling research topic, a well-defined project structure, and a discussion of how the proposed effort will contribute to advancing the scholarly trajectory of the early-career faculty, with particular attention paid to the following characteristics:
- Topic and Scope
- Student Training
- Networking and Convening
- Additional Funding Sources and Opportunities
Award Amount & Terms
- $150,000 to $250,000 over a 2-3 year period
- Sub-awards to collaborating institutions provided as needed
Eligibility
- Eligible investigators must be a current or incoming Assistant Professor or Assistant Research Professor based at a university or college in the United States, with their first faculty appointment at their current or any previous institution having a start date of August 1, 2022, or later.
- Priority will be given to researchers who have not previously received funding from the Sloan Foundation’s Energy and Environment program.
- Submissions that involve the participation of a project advisory board drawing from senior researchers, practitioners, decisionmakers, community organization representatives, or industrial stakeholders are strongly encouraged, but not required.
- Submissions should feature and describe participation from one or multiple graduate students, and priority will be given to submissions that feature strong graduate student participation.
- Researchers are allowed one submission as the lead investigator.
For further information on the submission portal and submission components, please consult the guidelines.
Timeline
March 17, 2026: LOI due
Special Instructions
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (fr@ucsc.edu). For support developing your LOI, please contact the Research Development Specialist assigned to your unit or send a request to resdev@ucsc.edu. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu) to initiate notification and proposal support.
Call sent: January 21, 2026
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.