Civic Science Funding Index

The Civic Science Funding Index (CSF-Index) is an evolving experimental mapping project designed to track the global ecosystem of entities that have historically supported or are currently supporting civic science activities. These activities include public engagement, science communication, science outreach, informal science education, and related scholarship and practice, funded through sponsorships, grants, and various types of awards.

The information presented is derived from publicly available sources, including organization websites and databases, in addition to data shared directly by funders. This ongoing mapping effort began in 2022 and led to the first publication titled “Distribution of the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning Awards (AISL) between 2006-21” on BioRxiv which was followed up with the release of the dashboard and our ongoing reporting [search “funding” on the terminal search function].

The searchable dashboard is structured into two key sections:

• Blue section: A broad overview of organizations that have provided funding for civic science initiatives.

• Brown section: A live tracker of individual grants awarded by dates, descriptions, geographical areas, funding amounts, recipient organizations, PIs, and any other available information.

Publications from our ongoing mapping:

(1) Muindi, FJ. Mapping the Funding Landscape for Public Engagement with Science. Trends in Cell Biology May 2025, 0 (0). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2025.04.001.

(2) Muindi, FJ. Visualized: Massachusetts is no. 2 state with highest number of active public engagement with science grants from the NSF-AISL program. (Nov 2024). The Civic Science Observer.

(3) Muindi, FJ. Visualizing Society for Science’s STEM Action microgrants across the U.S. — Organizations in CA, TX, NY, FL, and MA are among the awardees. (Nov 2024) The Civic Science Observer.

(4) Weigman, B. Neuroscience and Society: Mapping Dana Foundation’s New Focus. (May 2024). The Civic Science Observer.

(5) Houzenga, H. M.; Muindi, FJ. Distribution of the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning Awards (AISL) between 2006-21. bioRxiv Feb 23, 2022, p 2022.02.18.480415.

What are the motivations of funders? What are they currently funding? What are they learning? What lessons are practitioners learning from applying for public engagement funding? Explore our ongoing special series on the CivicSciTV Network where we are talking directly with funders and recipients of funding awards.

Bridging the Gap: The State of Public Engagement in Science (May 7, 2025)

The American Society for Cell Biology

Finding the funds: Science outreach and civic engagement funding opportunities (Aug 28, 2024)

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology