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Mathers Grant Awards Program

Mathers (G.Harold and Leila Y.) Foundation

The Mathers Grant application process involves several key steps, each requiring specific information and documentation to meet the Foundation’s requirements. If approved, grants are typically awarded within five to six months of LOI submission. All program-related activities must be managed through the portal.

LOI Application

The Mathers Foundation Grants Program is a limited competition, where eligible organizations may submit up to three (3) institute-nominated Letter of Inquiry (LOI) applications per grant cycle. The LOI application due dates can be found here. Nominations must be submitted at least two weeks before the application due date. There are a total of seven fields that must be completed, some of which have character limits.

Please note the Foundation does not provide feedback for declined LOIs.

Required Information:

Title of Project

Enter the project title.

Project Summary

Write the Project Summary so that a highly educated lay audience and a scientific review board can understand the project’s nature and scope.
Collaborators should be mentioned in the summary, along with their contributions to the project.

Preliminary Budget

Enter the total cost of the project for three (3) years.
The total project budget cannot exceed $600,000-700,000, inclusive of 10% indirect costs. To calculate the indirect costs at 10%, multiply the total direct costs by 0.10. Then add the direct costs to the indirect costs to arrive at the total project cost.
Major budget categories such as personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses should be included when calculating the preliminary budget figure field.
Student tuition and/or fees will not be funded. Benefits and fringe rates, including health insurance, may be approved on a case-by-case basis, regardless of agreements with other agencies (e.g., DHHS).
Requests for equipment costs over $5,000 will not be approved.

Project Aims

Include Experimental Aims and sub-aims.
Write for a scientific audience (2,000-character limit, spaces are included).

Proof of Concept, Previous or Related Work

Include proof of concept evidence/validation for the project.
Include whether the evidence for the project is “preliminary”.
Include whether proof of concept has been published in any scientific journals (2,000-character limit, spaces are included).

Category of Research

Provide a summary of your assessment of the project’s primary focus.
Responses help the Foundation compare similar LOIs (examples of research areas of interest are available here). There is no drop-down menu for this field.

Discoveries/Publications

Briefly describe your most impactful discoveries and/or best publications.
This information does not have to be directly related to the proposed project (2,500-character limit, including spaces).

Documents

Documents & Optional Supplementary Materials Policy- Documents and supplementary information uploaded to the portal during the submission process cannot be deleted by applicants. Please contact support@mathersfoundation.org for assistance with removing documents if needed. Do not submit another LOI.

Please note that any requests to upload materials received after the current application deadline will not be approved or processed.

Biosketch Submission Guidelines

Submit the new NIH Biographical Sketch (Common Forms with Supplement) for the PI and all collaborators.
Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students contributing 30% or more effort to the project must submit an NIH biosketch; if a biosketch is not available, a C.V. may be submitted instead. (C.V.s may not exceed five (5) pages)
Biosketches for the PI and collaborators should include both active and pending support, as well as recent support from the past three (3) years.
Consultants must provide a biosketch, along with a description of their effort and role on the project. Other Support is not required.

Optional Supplementary Information

Should be uploaded as an additional document(s) in the Requested Documents section of the application.
Examples include budget justifications (optional for LOIs), references, proofs, collaborators, biosketches, letters of support, additional comments, figures, and Other Support.
Collaborators and Sub‑Awards: Collaborating institutions and sub‑awardees must be nonprofit organizations, and the Foundation has no role in managing those arrangements.

Grant Timeline & Due Dates

Grant schedules and submission deadlines are fixed annually.

No exceptions will be made for late submissions.

Cycle	Institutional Nominations and Portal Registration	LOI Application	Invited Formal Proposals
Spring 2026	Jan 30th, 2026 8pm EST	Feb 13th, 2026 8pm EST	Apr 24th, 2026 8pm EST
Fall 2026	July 17th, 2026 8pm EST	July 31st, 2026 8pm EST	Sept 18th, 2026 8pm EST

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Transformative basic science question (highest predictor)

This is the single strongest predictor.

The Foundation's mission is to advance knowledge in the life sciences through basic scientific research that could ultimately benefit human health. Reviewers look for projects that address fundamental biological mechanisms rather than incremental advances.

Strong examples include:

immunology
microbiome science
structural biology
cellular physiology
cancer biology
genetics and genomics
stem cell biology
neuroscience
microbiology and infectious diseases

2. High-risk, high-reward innovation (very high predictor)

Mathers explicitly favors innovative, novel proposals that may not yet be competitive for traditional federal funding mechanisms. Projects that challenge existing paradigms or open entirely new research directions are particularly attractive.

Competitive proposals often feature:

novel biological concepts
unconventional approaches
emerging technologies
groundbreaking mechanistic insights

3. Strong scientific merit with proof-of-concept evidence

Although the Foundation supports risky science, reviewers still look for evidence that the idea is scientifically grounded.

A recurring theme in Mathers guidance is:

strong scientific rationale
compelling preliminary observations
established proof-of-concept
feasibility of the proposed experiments

Projects should be innovative but not purely speculative.

4. Potential translational relevance

Mathers remains primarily a basic science funder, but increasingly encourages research with plausible translational implications.

The strongest applications often show:

how fundamental discoveries could eventually affect human health
future diagnostic or therapeutic relevance
long-term clinical significance

Importantly, the Foundation funds basic science—not clinical trials, drug discovery, or human-subjects research.

5. Investigator independence and research environment

Eligibility generally requires independent investigators with their own laboratories and the infrastructure necessary to conduct the work. Reviewers appear to favor investigators who have:

independent research programs
strong publication records
demonstrated expertise in the proposed area
access to appropriate institutional resources

6. Interdisciplinary collaboration when scientifically justified

The Foundation specifically notes that modern basic science increasingly benefits from interdisciplinary collaborations.

Projects that integrate:

computational biology
genomics
structural biology
engineering methods applied to biology
advanced imaging or systems biology

can be competitive when the collaborators bring complementary expertise.

7. New directions rather than extensions of existing funding

A distinctive Mathers predictor is its preference for new scientific directions.

The Foundation states that:

renewal applications are not given priority
projects that simply extend previously funded work are less attractive
applications should emphasize new ideas and new translational opportunities

Projects already heavily supported by federal funding may receive lower priority.

Specialties

Data Science

Eligibility Requirements

Medical research universities and scientific institutions that are nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. We prefer applicants to hold 501(c)(3) status, but it is not required.

Eligible for Funding

Institutions that directly support their own investigators
Principal Investigators with their own fully equipped labs
All levels of professorship
Collaborative research projects with other U.S.-based organizations

Ineligible for Funding

Institutions based outside the United States
Institutions that do not employ their own investigators
Private Foundations or third-party organizations that provide funding to other organizations
Grants to individuals

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Mathers (G.Harold and Leila Y.) Foundation

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 800 Westchester Avenue Suite S-618 Rye Brook, New York 10573

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