USGS Earthquake Hazards Program External Research Support Announcement for Fiscal Year 2026 | G26AS00244

Opportunity Information: Apply for G26AS00244

The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) External Research Support Announcement for Fiscal Year 2026 is the agency's annual competitive grants opportunity aimed at advancing scientific and policy-relevant work on earthquakes. The program is designed to fund research that improves understanding of earthquake hazards, the physics of earthquakes, how and where earthquakes occur, and the development or evaluation of earthquake safety policy. The authority for this funding comes from the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended, including the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Reauthorization Act of 2018. In practical terms, this NOFO is meant to support projects that can contribute to reducing earthquake risk through better science, better models, and better decisions.

For FY2026, USGS estimates awarding about $4 million total through this competition, with a stated maximum total of $7 million depending on available funding. Based on recent years, the agency expects to make roughly 50 to 70 new awards during the fiscal year, but those figures are not guarantees and could change. There is no formal cap on the amount that can be requested (the award ceiling is listed as $0, meaning "no maximum"), as long as the budget is well justified; however, most individual grants historically fall in the range of about $30,000 to $120,000. The funding instrument is a grant, the opportunity category is discretionary, and the activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development. The program is listed under CFDA 15.807.

Timing is an important part of this opportunity. The application deadline is May 28, 2025, at 6:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, and late submissions will not be considered. Applicants are encouraged to build in extra time for Grants.gov submission delays, because missing the cutoff is treated as disqualifying. Applicants can submit revised or corrected proposals during the application window, but the resubmission must also be completed by the same deadline. If a revision is submitted, the instructions require adding a cover letter as the first page of the proposal explaining that the proposal is revised and that the earlier version should be withdrawn from consideration.

The anticipated award date is January 1, 2026, and proposed projects must request a start date between January 1, 2026 and September 1, 2026. The start date listed in the submitted proposal is treated as the applicant's official requested start date and generally cannot be changed by the applicant after submission. If there are funding or administrative delays that prevent an award from being issued by the requested start date, USGS will issue the award as soon as funds become available and will notify the recipient of the updated start date through the USGS Contracting Officer.

Eligibility is broadly described as open to all individuals and entities, but the NOFO includes several specific categories of proposals and applicants that are not eligible. Proposals are not eligible if they focus on regional seismic monitoring or the creation of data centers, or if they request support for long-term operation of geodetic networks or instruments (in other words, this competition is aimed at research rather than ongoing network operations). US Government agencies and US Government employees are not eligible to apply, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are also excluded. Proposals involving a real or apparent conflict of interest will not be processed for evaluation. The NOFO also excludes proposals that are essentially for direct procurement of a product, equipment, or service, rather than a research project. Another key restriction is that proposals with subcontracts totaling 50 percent or more of total direct costs are not eligible, which effectively requires the primary applicant organization to carry out the majority of the work directly rather than outsourcing it.

The NOFO also emphasizes compliance checks related to federal award eligibility. USGS will review the SAM.gov Exclusions database for the applicant entity and key project personnel before making an award. If the organization or key personnel are listed as ineligible or otherwise excluded, USGS cannot make an award under this program. In addition, federal employees (including USGS employees) are prohibited from serving in any capacity, paid or unpaid, on an application submitted under this announcement, and they may not assist in developing proposals. That said, the NOFO notes that collaboration between USGS and non-USGS scientists can occur once an award is in place, and the program materials reference collaborative proposal options described in the Program Overview section of the NOFO.

Applicants are encouraged to use Grants.gov for submission and to sign up for Grants.gov's subscription service to receive updates and notices related to the EHP funding opportunity. The program page for additional details and guidance is hosted on the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program external grants site: https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/science/external-grants. The official opportunity identifier is Funding Opportunity Number G26AS00244, created March 21, 2025, under the US Geological Survey.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "USGS Earthquake Hazards Program External Research Support Announcement for Fiscal Year 2026" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.807.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-03-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-05-28. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for G26AS00244

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