Currently 15 active tech and infrastructure grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in Worldwide. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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The third round of Project Tech4Dev's AI Cohort, a hands-on implementation programme for NGOs designing, building and deploying responsible AI solutions inside their own programmes. Cohort 2.0 worked with seven NGOs across education, civic engagement, youth development and nonprofit technology, who built and piloted AI teaching assistants, volunteer coaches, mentoring tools and decision-support systems; the organisers' stated lesson was that adoption turns on understanding user needs, testing rapidly, measuring impact and building responsibly rather than on the technology itself. Cohort 3.0 is aimed at organisations ready to move past exploration into solutions that can be deployed in real-world settings. STRUCTURE (three sprints over roughly six months): Discovery Sprint (months 1 to 2) covering problem discovery, use-case prioritisation, data-readiness assessment, user research and solution design; Build Sprint (months 2 to 5) covering prototype development, implementation sprints, user testing, mentorship and responsible AI evaluations; and Activation Sprint (month 6) covering pilot deployment, impact assessment, operationalisation planning and a final showcase with peers and ecosystem partners. SELECTION CRITERIA: NGOs must show some in-house technical or data capability, ideally a dedicated person who can anchor the work (not necessarily an AI expert, but able to manage workflows, communicate operational requirements and work with mentors and experts); must commit one person's full bandwidth for the whole programme, including aligning leadership, adapting operations and making room to test, monitor and refine; and preference goes to problems involving multi-modal input, especially Indic languages, and to use cases built on LLMs. Applications are open to nonprofits across sectors, with priority to climate-focused organisations whose AI use cases could improve programme delivery, decision-making or community outcomes. Apply via the Google Form linked from the announcement before 10 August 2026.
The inaugural Kennan Institute Digital Fellowship promotes original scholarship and quality non-fiction writing about Russia and the former Soviet Union, with an emphasis on work that has policy relevance. Ten fellowships are awarded per year, and AT LEAST FOUR POSITIONS ARE RESERVED FOR RESEARCHERS PURSUING TOPICS IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES, MEDICINE, TECHNOLOGY OR RELATED FIELDS, which is the route by which a technology-focused project fits this call. The programme aims to give participants time, professional resources and support while bringing their work to a wider public and to the Washington-based policy community, and to build a cohort network that continues into the alumni body. Each fellow receives a monthly stipend of USD 2,000, mentorship and consultation from the Kennan community of experts where applicable, six virtual webinars tailored to the cohort's needs, and membership of the alumni network. ELIGIBILITY: intended for individuals with several years of experience working on, studying or otherwise examining Russia and/or broader Eurasia; applicants must have a good working knowledge of English, as the fellowship is conducted only in English and any publications produced for the Kennan Institute appear first in English with possible later translation into regional languages. The programme runs entirely virtually from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027; the Institute does not cover travel-related expenses including visas. Supported by the Lounsbery Foundation and the U.S. Russia Foundation. Deadline 14 August 2026, 17:00 EST. NOTE: 'digital' here describes the virtual format, not the subject matter, so this fits the desk only if your project is itself about technology, data or science.
A $5,000 fellowship to spend six weeks turning a very large Canadian public archive into something new. THE MATERIAL: Internet Archive Canada's Government Publications collection, part of the Democracy's Library project, holding over 104,000 text items, roughly 22.1 million scanned pages and about 48.25 TB of Canadian public-record material, browsable at archive.org/details/governmentpublications. WHAT TO BUILD: deliberately open-ended. The call names a search tool that answers a real question with page-level citations, a timeline tracing one policy across decades of government language, and a sonic or visual piece built from archival material, but explicitly invites work nobody has thought of yet. The requirements are that it is useful, that it is imaginative, and that the code is open source when it is done. ORIGIN: the fellowship came out of conversations between BC + AI's Kris Kruger and IAC executive director Andrea Mills about treating a public archive as material for new work rather than only something to preserve. IAC brings the archive, BC + AI brings a community of builders used to working in public. ELIGIBILITY: anyone, anywhere in the world; one builder is selected. APPLICATION: a specific project description grounded in the collection, a phase-by-phase work plan for the six weeks, and a success metric, submitted at bc-ai.ca/fellowship/apply. KEY DATES: applications close 21 August 2026 at 11:59pm Pacific; fellow selected by 31 August; build runs 1 September to mid-October; showcase at Futureproof Festival in Vancouver on 28 October 2026 if the project is ready.
Wikimedia Foundation grants supporting the organisation of local, regional and thematic conferences that bring Wikimedians together for knowledge sharing, skill development and professional networking. Two rounds per year. Round 1 deadline: 31 August 2026. Round 2 deadline: 1 February 2027. ELIGIBILITY: groups, organisations and Wikimedia affiliates; individuals may apply via a fiscal sponsor.
Fundacion Cotec (a Spanish innovation-focused non-profit) and Sonar+D, building on an initial experiment at Sonar 2026, invite proposals for a long-term installation at KNOWCASE, the street-level showcase of Cotec's Madrid headquarters in Chamberi, visible to the public 24 hours a day. THEME: digital culture, meaning projects that combine knowledge, research, science and data with art, technology and social impact. Cotec's stated priorities are the big transitions (analogue to digital, linear to circular economy, tangible to intangible) plus innovation ecosystems and R&D&I, the climate crisis, the future of work and learning, social divides, citizen participation and democratic health. WHAT YOU GET: a budget of up to EUR 100,000 plus VAT covering everything (design, production, installation, maintenance, documentation, artist fees, travel, accommodation and insurance), and a minimum 24-month public display from February 2027. WHO CAN APPLY: artists, collectives, designers, technologists, universities, research centres, startups, businesses, creative agencies, producers, cultural institutions and multidisciplinary teams, internationally; applicants must demonstrate solid experience and a relevant portfolio. CONSTRAINTS: the proposal must be original and never previously exhibited, must include participative or interactive elements, must encourage critical thinking, and must be technically and financially viable for the full 24+ month exhibition period (durability and maintenance are central selection criteria). Selection weighs conceptual quality highest (40 percent), followed by public interactivity (25 percent). HOW TO APPLY: one PDF of maximum 15 pages containing summary, concept, technical proposal, visuals, budget, timeline, team profile, portfolio and declaration, in Spanish, another official language of Spain, or English, via the application portal linked from the terms and conditions. Results announced 14 October 2026. Deadline 7 September 2026 at midnight CEST.
The Paul Mellon Centre funds scholarship and dissemination in British art, visual culture and architectural history, from the medieval period to the present and across the relevant geographical and cultural contexts. This is the Autumn 2026 round, the first under the Centre's restructured funding scheme announced earlier in 2026, and all grants in the round close together on Monday 14 September 2026 at 23:59 BST. ELIGIBILITY: the Centre's funding is open to INTERNATIONAL applicants, not just UK-based ones (the exceptions are the MA/MPhil Studentship and Doctoral Scholarship, which are not part of this round). Every applicant must show how the award advances their research on British art, visual culture and/or architecture. SUPPORT: general application guidance, an updated FAQ and the Our Funding Focus page set out what the Centre looks for, and there are writeups of previously successful projects. The grants team will take specific questions or arrange a call at grants@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk. No application fee. THIS GRANT: up to GBP 5,000 for organisations making their collections freely available online through digitisation. It covers both the personnel working on the project and the equipment the digitisation process needs, which makes it unusually practical for small collections without in-house capacity.
The Wilson Center, the congressionally chartered nonpartisan policy research institution in Washington DC, awards 10 to 20 research fellowships for its 2027-2028 class. Fellows conduct research and write in their areas of interest while interacting with policymakers in Washington and with other fellows. The Center accepts policy-relevant, nonpartisan proposals that address key foreign policy challenges confronting the United States and the world, and projects must align with at least one of the Center's four scholarship pillars: strategic competition, economic statecraft, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION, and regional scholarship. The technology and innovation pillar is the relevant route for AI governance, emerging technology and digital policy projects, which the Center also supports through its Science and Technology Innovation Program. Fellows work remotely for the duration of the fellowship; the Center covers travel costs for two required trips to Washington DC at the beginning and the conclusion of the term. The stipend is USD 10,000 per month for the twelve-month term, which runs 1 June 2027 to 30 May 2028. ELIGIBILITY: academic candidates need a PhD in hand and either a published book or monograph beyond the dissertation, or a substantial body of research articles (five or more) in reputable peer-reviewed journals. Non-academic applicants (practitioners, journalists, public intellectuals) need at least ten years of relevant experience and a record of substantial policy impact. There is no citizenship restriction, but English proficiency is required. Applications, including letters of recommendation, must be submitted online via Interfolio by 11:59pm ET on 30 September 2026. Questions: fellowships@wilsoncenter.org. NOTE: this is an open-topic foreign policy fellowship, not an AI-specific one; the technology angle depends on how you scope the proposal.
OSIP is the European Space Agency's standing front door for unsolicited novel ideas, launched in 2019 and now the main entry point for new concepts into ESA, both in response to specific problems and through open calls. HOW IT WORKS: ideas are submitted through two mechanisms. Campaigns are targeted calls responding to specific questions with defined timelines (recent examples include Future Navigation Demonstrators and elements for the EOCognitiveLab mission); Channels are permanently open, open-ended calls on broader topics with no deadline. Submissions can go through an optional community discussion phase, with voting and comments, before expert evaluation by ESA. WHO CAN SUBMIT: individuals, businesses, universities and organisations anywhere in the world. The catch for funding: to implement a funded idea yourself, you must be eligible to do business with ESA under Article 18 of its procurement regulations, which in practice means affiliation with an entity in an ESA member state. WHAT FUNDING LOOKS LIKE: successful ideas are typically supported as co-funded PhD or postdoctoral research (ESA plus a university), early technology development activities, or system studies; amounts vary by route and campaign. WHY IT IS ON THE DESK: this is the one genuinely public, always-open route into ESA for independent researchers, technologists and artists working with space data or space technology concepts; new campaigns appear regularly, so checking the platform periodically is worthwhile. Submit via ideas.esa.int.
The Sony Innovation Fund (now under Sony Ventures Corporation) is Sony's corporate venture capital arm, investing in early-stage (Seed, Series A and Series B) transformational-technology startups across business, entertainment and society, including entertainment, gaming, AI, robotics, fintech, climate and blockchain. Music, entertainment and AI startups fit within its thesis, though it is not a music-only fund. Typical checks are roughly USD 100,000 to USD 5 million, alongside mentorship and access to Sony's network and R&D. It is an equity investment, not a grant. Global, with offices in the US, London/EU, Tokyo, Bangalore and Israel. Startups engage on a rolling basis via the contact and inquiry form. No application fee.
GitHub's Secure Open Source Fund supports maintainers to improve the security of widely-used open-source software, pairing funding with hands-on security training. ELIGIBILITY: individual maintainers or teams of up to three, aged 18 or older, in a region supported by GitHub Sponsors; applicants cannot work for GitHub or its parent company. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; apply once to be considered for upcoming 2026 sessions. Apply via the GitHub Secure Open Source Fund page.
The Sovereign Tech Fund invests in the open digital infrastructure that underpins the modern internet, funding maintenance, security and development of critical open-source base technologies. ELIGIBILITY: individuals, companies and non-profits maintaining or developing critical open-source infrastructure; open worldwide. Applications are accepted on a rolling, year-round basis via the Sovereign Tech Fund page.
FLOSS/fund, backed by Zerodha, provides financial support to free and open-source software projects and maintainers. ELIGIBILITY: individuals and projects worldwide; applicants apply by publishing a funding.json manifest in their public repository as described on the fund's site. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with no deadline.
Rolling-deadline fund for technology-focused projects that promote human rights, internet freedom and open societies. Funds anti-censorship, anti-surveillance, privacy-preserving and circumvention tools, plus applied research. Two-stage process: submit a Concept Note via the OTF online application system; reviewed monthly with feedback in 6-8 weeks. Open internationally.
Tech Matters, the nonprofit founded by Jim Fruchterman (MacArthur Fellow, Skoll Awardee), is hiring a Project Fellow to work directly with the CEO on ensuring technology better serves the 90% of humanity typically neglected by the commercial tech industry. Project work spans (1) expanding the Better Deal for Data, a practical data-governance standard for the nonprofit sector, by supporting nonprofits adopting and endorsing the standard; (2) prototyping methods for improving LLM and search-engine answers on critical social problems (initial focus: preventing sexual abuse of children); and (3) helping develop an open course based on Jim's recent book Technology for Good (CC-licensed, global release September 2026). REMOTE; open to candidates around the world (US-based hires get health and related insurance). WHAT THEY LOOK FOR: demonstrated interest and 5+ years' experience in tech-enabled organisations; Bachelor's/Master's in CS, data science, MLIS, MBA, or social sciences; familiarity with SaaS platforms; clear and kind writing; comfortable in an early-stage team. NICE TO HAVE: Wikipedia editing, data-governance expertise, additional languages. APPLY by emailing a resume and a real (not LLM-generated) cover letter to jobs@techmatters.org with subject 'Tech for Good Project Fellow - [Your Name]'. The cover letter should explain why this role and mission resonate with you. NOTE: this is a job/fellowship, not a grant; no specific application deadline listed (rolling).
The Digital Defenders Partnership runs the main rapid-response fund for digital threats against human rights defenders, journalists, activists and the organisations they work in. The Incident Response Fund covers urgent costs after or during a digital attack, including incident response and forensics, emergency infrastructure or hosting changes, secure devices, account recovery, legal or psychosocial support tied to the incident, and short-term relocation of digital operations. This is the practical counterpart to physical-safety emergency funds for anyone whose work makes them a target online. ELIGIBILITY: human rights defenders, journalists, activists and civil-society organisations facing digital threats or attacks, worldwide. Applications are rolling; DDP aims to respond within two weeks and funds activities for up to four months. DDP also runs a Sustainable Protection Fund for longer-term digital-security capacity building (currently invitation-only in some regions) and an invitation-only Community and Network Fund of up to EUR 15,000 for rapid responders and digital-security facilitators. Contact team@digitaldefenders.org or apply through apply.grants.digitaldefenders.org.