Open call: Carnegie Corporation of NY – Grants to Support Reducing Nuclear Dangers

May 4, 2026 | Awards & Funding, Faculty

To: Science Faculty
From: Office of Foundation Relations
Subject: Funding Opportunity

The Office of Foundations Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from The Carnegie Corporation of New York.   

 

 

Overview

The consortium invites applications that address at least one of the following three focus areas. Projects may build on existing work but must represent a meaningful advance in scope, reach, or approach.

  1. Escalation, Crisis Instability, and Multi-Domain Risk
  • Projects in this area should address core drivers of nuclear risk, which may include regional proliferation (particularly where it could trigger broader arms racing or great power entanglement), nuclear strategic stability, conflict mitigation, misperception and deterrence ambiguity, crisis communication, escalation dynamics, command and control vulnerabilities, the stability implications of disruptive technologies, and cross-domain entanglement across nuclear, space, AI, cyber, and other arenas.

 

  1. Verification, Monitoring, and Risk Transparency
  • Projects in this area should strengthen the ability to detect, assess, forecast, or monitor nuclear-relevant developments in ways that improve decision-making and reduce uncertainty.

 

  1. Governance, Institutional Capacity, and Expert Talent
  • Projects in this area should strengthen governance mechanisms, institutional capacity, and the expertise required to manage nuclear risks effectively over time. The consortium will prioritize efforts designed to produce lasting changes in policy and institutional capacity strengthening, rather than short-term or one-off outputs.
  • We also encourage proposals that translate technical nuclear policy analysis into politically actionable strategies or that build rapid-response legislative education capacity, provided such efforts are tied to clearly identified decision points.

 

Please find examples and further details in the full guidelines.

 

Eligibility

  • Current grantees of consortium partner organizations are eligible to apply
  • Collaborative applications are strongly encouraged when they are well-aligned and complementary
  • Collaborative proposals should clearly designate a lead organization responsible for grant delivery and reporting
  • Early-career and mid-career applicants are encouraged to apply

 

Award Amount & Terms

  • Small Grants: $50,000–$200,000 (up to two years)
  • Large Grants: $200,000–$1,000,000 (up to three years)
  • IDC up to 15 percent (must be included in pre-proposal draft budget)

 

Timeline

  • May 29, 2026, 8:59 PT Pre-Proposal due
  • TBD Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal
  • Late fall/ winter 2026 Final decisions are likely to be announced

 

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 pre-proposal, please contact the Research Development team at resdev@ucsc.edu. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu), within the Arts Division, please contact Hannah Jasper (hannahjasper@ucsc.edu).

 

Call sent: April 28, 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 and corporations 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.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact caroline@ucsc.edu
Back to the Message Center