Biswas Family Foundation Fast Grants Program 2026
The Biswas Family Foundation Fast Grants Program is now accepting applications for its 2026 funding cycle. This program is designed to provide fast-turnaround funding for researchers exploring ideas at the intersection of AI and health.
📝 About the Program
Fast Grants are lightweight, quick-turnaround gifts aimed at researchers who lack the seed capital to explore innovative ideas. The program addresses challenges such as obtaining compute resources, model-training credits, dataset access, or coding-agent tokens through traditional grants.
The Biswas Family Foundation aims to close this gap by offering funding opportunities to researchers at various career stages.
🎁 Benefits of the Program
The Biswas Family Foundation will sponsor two funding cycles per year, deploying up to $3M annually in total gifts. Each cycle will support:
- 20 projects with $25K for small curiosity sprints (open to undergraduates).
- 10 projects with $50K for pilot experiments.
- 5 projects with $100K for more ambitious projects.
✅ Eligibility Criteria
Researchers at any career stage across academic institutions worldwide are eligible. The program particularly welcomes:
- Early-career faculty.
- Postdoctoral scholars.
- Graduate students.
- Undergraduates (with faculty sponsorship; eligible for the $25K tier only).
Institutional Requirements
Applicants must be affiliated with an institution eligible to receive a charitable gift from a US private foundation:
- US Institutions: Any 501(c)(3) public charity in good standing (e.g., universities, non-profit research institutes, academic medical centers, qualifying hospitals, or state/federal government instrumentalities).
- Non-US Institutions: Must be a foreign equivalent confirmed via active equivalency determination (e.g., NGOsource) or received via a US-based fiscal sponsor that is a 501(c)(3).
Not Eligible:
- For-profit companies.
- Individual researchers receiving funds personally.
- OFAC-sanctioned institutions.
📅 Application Date and Process
The application process is designed to be low-friction and concise. Applicants must provide the following information:
- Project Title.
- One-sentence summary: A plain-language description of your project (≤200 characters).
- The question/idea: What you want to explore and why it matters (3–5 bullet points, ~50 words, 275 characters).
- What you'll do: The experiment/approach (3–5 bullet points, ~50 words, 275 characters).
- Why now/why this team: Relevant background (2–3 bullet points, ~30 words, 200 characters).
- Budget: Line items totaling $25K, $50K, or $100K; single payment; 12-month project period; indirect costs ≤15% (~50 words, 275 characters).
- Outputs: What you intend to release publicly (1–2 bullet points, ~20 words, 125 characters).
- Brief bio: Your role and institution, plus 2–3 representative pieces of work (3–4 bullet points, ~80 words, 400 characters).
📌 Application Deadline
15 June, 2026
🌐 Opportunity Application
For more details and to apply for the Biswas Family Foundation Fast Grants Program, visit the official website:
This program is an excellent opportunity for researchers to secure funding for innovative projects at the intersection of AI and health. Don't miss the chance to apply!
- Up to $3M deployed annually in total gifts
- 20 projects with $25K for small curiosity sprints
- 10 projects with $50K for pilot experiments
- 5 projects with $100K for more ambitious projects
