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 501(c)(3) or other certification demonstrating your tax-exempt status.

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:

Lowell Observatory, "Taking sun-as-star observations to the next level: The addition of a disk-resolved feed to the Lowell Observatory Solar Telescope".

University of Arizona, "Studying Space Explosions in the Ultra-violet from the Ground: Installing a NUV CCD Camera on the Super-LOTIS Telescope on Kitt Peak".

Institute for Astronomy/University of Hawaiˈi, "Complete automation of the Robo-AO-2 laser guide star and science system".

Concordia University/Great Basin Observatory, GBO: Premier Site for Exoplanet Discovery-Analysis via High Resolution Spectroscopy".

Columbia University, “Affordable infrared cameras for time domain astronomy: Probing the birth of black holes in stellar explosions”.

Harvard University, "CASM: An all-sky all-the-time radio telescope".