BSF Research Grants

The BSF Research Grants program supports collaborative research between U.S. and Israeli scientists, focusing on basic science projects. Annually, approximately 400 applications are submitted, with around 100 grants awarded. To foster collaboration, joint publications are essential for evaluation. Applications are accepted once per year in mid-November, with results announced the following July. Since its inception in 1972, the BSF has funded over 5,400 high-quality research initiatives, distributing more than $700 million.

BSF Regular Research Grants
The BSF Research Grants program is the main program of the BSF, and it funds both U.S. and Israeli scientists who wish to collaborate on research projects that address topics in basic science. In recent years the BSF has been receiving some 400 research grant applications annually, including start-up applications, approving about 100. At any given moment there are around 450 active grants in this program, and the total annual expenditure in this program is around $16 M.
Applications to the program are made jointly by U.S. and Israeli researchers. No prior collaboration is required, but the synergy between the researchers must be evident. Also, as you might imagine, the BSF is different from a national science foundation, and insists not only on scientific excellence, but also on collaboration between the principal investigators from the two countries. We base our evaluation of the collaboration, first and foremost, on the joint publications that emanated from the grant. Lack of joint publications might affect your chances to receive future BSF grants.
Submissions to the program are made once annually in mid-November, but submission in any specific scientific discipline is allowed only each second year (See Areas of Research). The results are announced in early July of the following year, after the summer BSF Board meeting, in which the number of grants and their average size are determined. Traditionally, the board does not discuss specific proposals or fields.
In today’s value, the BSF has awarded over $700 M. to over 5,400 joint U.S.-Israel research programs of the highest quality, since it was founded in 1972.