Grants

Grants from the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation will generally be made to colleges, universities, observatories and other non-profit organizations. Preferences will be given to proposals likely to be used by a number of astronomers. Grant proceeds may be used for acquisition, shipping, and installation of astronomical equipment, computer hardware or software, computer time, or travel to an observatory. Funds may be used for development of innovative astronomical software.  Grants will not be awarded to fund equipment used exclusively for teaching, publication costs, travel to attend meetings, or solely for salaries, administrative costs, or overheads.  Typical Grant awards are in the range of $5,000 to $250,000.  We provide support to 501(c)(3) institutions, in keeping with United States tax laws.  Please provide us with your 501(c)(3) certification.

To receive a grant from the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation, an individual or organization is required to submit an application and proposal form, as described by the “Grant Application Guidelines.” The application and proposal form is to explain the proposed undertaking and to demonstrate its merit and benefits. Grant recipients are required to submit reports, no less than annually, to the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation regarding the progress and results of the research undertaken with the grant proceeds.

Examples of past Grant awards: :

Rutgers University, "Computing for State-of-the-Art Galaxy Simulations", [2020]

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, “New Camera for the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy Telescope”, [2020]

Concordia University/Great Basin Observatory, "GBO: High Resolution Spectroscope" [2020]

University of California, Santa Cruz, "Testing a new Detector for Imaging Earth-like Exoplanets" [2020]

W. M. Keck Observatory, “A Joint Polarimetry and Astrometry Platform for Keck II “ [2021]

Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers’ League, "Upgrading Optics at Farpoint Observatory" [2021]

Ohio State University, “ASASSN-15lh: A highly super-luminous supernova.”

W. M. Keck Observatory, “Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics System.”

University of Texas at Austin, “White Dwarf Stars as Probes to Stellar Convection.”

Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, “Design and Construction of Occulation Camera System.”

Lowell Observatory, “Camera to Study Titan Weather.”

Harvard University, “Minerva telescope enclosure for exoplanet discovery.”