Grants Database

The Foundation awards approximately 200 grants per year (excluding the Sloan Research Fellowships), totaling roughly $80 million dollars in annual commitments in support of research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics. This database contains grants for currently operating programs going back to 2008. For grants from prior years and for now-completed programs, see the annual reports section of this website.

Grants Database

Grantee
Amount
City
Year
  • grantee: Film Independent, Inc.
    amount: $665,995
    city: Los Angeles, CA
    year: 2014

    To provide direct support to develop science and technology scripts through a Producer’s Lab and Fast Track film financing and to start a fund to incentivize distribution of completed Sloan films and other science-worthy features

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Jennifer Kushner

    Funds from this grant support a continuing partnership with Film Independent in its efforts to develop high-quality, science-themed screenplays and support producing teams that can get these films completed.  Grant funds will support a series of incentive awards administered by Film Independent toward this purpose, including a yearly $30,000 award to a producer to develop a science-themed script in FIND’s Producing Lab; a Sloan Fast Track Fellowship to be awarded annually to a producer or producing team and which includes a $20,000 cash grant and participation in the Fast Track film financing market; and an annual $50,000 distribution grant awarded to one exceptional science-themed film a year to incentivize buyers to acquire it for distribution.  Additional grant funds defray the administrative costs of the program and support outreach and publicity efforts aimed at promoting winning projects.

    To provide direct support to develop science and technology scripts through a Producer’s Lab and Fast Track film financing and to start a fund to incentivize distribution of completed Sloan films and other science-worthy features

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  • grantee: Hamptons International Film Festival
    amount: $186,467
    city: East Hampton, NY
    year: 2014

    To provide final support toward a program to develop qualifying screenplays towards production and spotlight feature films with science and technology themes and characters at the Hamptons International Film Festival

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Anne Chaisson

    This grant provides one year of continuing support to the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) for a series of activities designed to develop and spotlight high-quality films and film scripts that explore science as a theme or that feature scientists, mathematicians, or engineers as major characters.  Supported activities include a feature film prize for the best science-themed film submitted, a high-profile reception celebrating the winning film and filmmaker, a panel discussion featuring filmmakers and working scientists, and a screenwriting workshop to develop two science-themed scripts that will result in a staged reading of those scripts with well-known actors during the festival.  HIFF will also continue its intensive three-week filmmaking workshop at Stony Brook and will also host a tastemaker event in New York City in the weeks following the festival to promote the Sloan-winning film among prominent industry and press.

    To provide final support toward a program to develop qualifying screenplays towards production and spotlight feature films with science and technology themes and characters at the Hamptons International Film Festival

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  • grantee: Columbia University
    amount: $266,939
    city: New York, NY
    year: 2014

    To encourage the next generation of filmmakers to write screenplays and produce short films about science and technology

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Trey Ellis

    This grant provides continuing support to Columbia University, one of the Foundation's six film school partners, for twenty-eight months of activities designed to encourage top film students to develop screenplays and produce short films about science and technology. Activities supported through this grant include the provision of faculty mentors and science advisors for students working on science-themed film projects, two annual awards for production of short films on science and technology, one annual award to develop promising feature film scripts with science content, an annual science information seminar for film students,  and networking events with select film industry producers, agents, and managers.

    To encourage the next generation of filmmakers to write screenplays and produce short films about science and technology

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  • grantee: Barnard College
    amount: $25,000
    city: New York, NY
    year: 2014

    To screen Decoding Annie Parker and hold a panel discussion as a way of highlighting women in STEM fields at the Athena Film Festival

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Kathryn Kolbert

    To screen Decoding Annie Parker and hold a panel discussion as a way of highlighting women in STEM fields at the Athena Film Festival

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  • grantee: Women Make Movies, Inc.
    amount: $247,546
    city: New York, NY
    year: 2013

    Support for wide theatrical release and enhanced outreach and an educational campaign around the film Particle Fever, a dramatic documentary about the Large Hadron Collider

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Debra Zimmerman

    In 2007, Professor David Kaplan started filming events inside a 17-mile tunnel containing the largest scientific experiment ever conducted by humankind: the Large Hadron Collider. A milestone in scientific collaboration involving more than 10,000 scientists from 100 countries, the Large Hadron Collider is the largest, most powerful, high-energy particle accelerator ever constructed and its operation led to the much celebrated confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson in 2012—and to a Nobel Prize for Peter Higgs. Kaplan has turned his footage into a documentary about the project, Particle Fever, an affecting portrait of scientists and a beautiful illustration of the value and validity of basic research. Funds from this grant provide support for outreach and promotion of Particle Fever, enabling the producers to build an online community using social media, host live events in the run-up to the official theatrical release, and promote the film in digital and print media.

    Support for wide theatrical release and enhanced outreach and an educational campaign around the film Particle Fever, a dramatic documentary about the Large Hadron Collider

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  • grantee: Sundance Institute
    amount: $500,000
    city: Beverly Hills, CA
    year: 2013

    To support a science and technology film program at Sundance that includes film fellowships, film prizes, and film panels and outreach

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Michelle Satter

    This grant funds two years of continued support to the Sloan Science-in-Film initiative by the Sundance Institute, which runs the Sundance Film Festival, the premiere independent film festival in the U.S. Funds will support five annual components of the initiative: a commissioning grant for a high quality feature film script that involves science, engineering, or mathematics; a feature film fellowship for a talented filmmaker interested in science-themed narratives; a $20,000 best Science and Technology feature film prize; a moderated panel discussion by filmmakers and scientists, and an awards reception.

    To support a science and technology film program at Sundance that includes film fellowships, film prizes, and film panels and outreach

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  • grantee: Tribeca Film Institute
    amount: $761,744
    city: New York, NY
    year: 2013

    To develop new science and technology films for production and to hold panels and readings at the Tribeca Film Festival

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Natalie Mooallem

    Funds from this grant provide two years of funding to the Tribeca Film Institute for its ongoing efforts to support films and filmmakers that explore scientific and technological themes. With Sloan Foundation support, the Institute will award up to $150,000 each year to between three and six compelling narrative filmmaking projects that explores scientific, mathematical, and technological themes and storylines, or that feature a leading character who is a scientist, engineer, innovator, or mathematician. In addition to such financial support, Tribeca provides selected filmmakers with professional guidance and mentorship, including project notes, networking assistance, and exposure to financing and distribution executives. Funds from this grant also support a series of high profile events at the Tribeca Film Festival, including a screening and discussion series, readings of in-progress scripts exploring scientific and technological themes, and an awards ceremony and reception honoring winning filmmakers.

    To develop new science and technology films for production and to hold panels and readings at the Tribeca Film Festival

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  • grantee: Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation
    amount: $480,606
    city: Brookline, MA
    year: 2013

    To support Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Science on Screen program and expand its reach to another 40 theatres nationwide

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Katherine Tallman

    The Science on Screen program, based at Boston’s Coolidge Corner Theatre, creatively pairs screenings of classic or new release films with discussion of relevant scientific topics by notable scientists or technologists. Pairings featured in the Science on Screen program to date include a discussion of viral outbreaks paired with a screening of 12 Monkeys, a discussion of dog behavior and intelligence paired with a screening of Best in Show, and a discussion of the feasibility of time travel paired with a screening of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. This two-year grant to the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation will fund a small grant program designed to expand Science on Screen, allowing Coolidge to provide small grants to independent cinemas around the country that help offset the costs of running and publicizing their own Science on Screen series. Over the next two years, it is anticipated that at least forty new independent cinemas will sign on to the program, bringing the number of participating theaters nationwide to nearly one hundred.

    To support Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Science on Screen program and expand its reach to another 40 theatres nationwide

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  • grantee: Hamptons International Film Festival
    amount: $186,467
    city: East Hampton, NY
    year: 2013

    To commission and spotlight science and technology films and develop science and technology screenplays into production

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Anne Chaisson

    This grant provides one year of continued support to the Hamptons International Film Festival for a variety of interconnected activities to promote the development, production, and distribution of accurate, high-quality science themed screenplays and feature films. Supported activities include a feature film prize given to the best science-themed film submitted to the Festival; an accompanying panel and reception; a five-day screenwriters’ lab to assist writers with screenplays in development; a series of screenings of science-themed works in and around New York City; and a production grant to assist with the promotion of a high-quality science-themed film.

    To commission and spotlight science and technology films and develop science and technology screenplays into production

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  • grantee: Carnegie Mellon University
    amount: $195,000
    city: Pittsburgh, PA
    year: 2013

    To encourage top film students to write screenplays about science and technology

    • Program Public Understanding
    • Sub-program Film
    • Investigator Robert Handel

    This grant provides two years of continued support for a series of initiatives at the Carnegie Mellon School of Dramatic Writing to encourage its film students to write high quality, accurate screenplays about science and technology or feature scientists, engineers, or mathematicians as major characters. Funded activities include a yearly symposium for film students introducing them to internationally recognized scientists; two semesters of training in screenwriting; guest-faculty workshops by accomplished mentor screenwriters; a program pairing students with scientific advisors to ensure the accuracy of scripts’ scientific content; the presentation of two awards for the best student science-themed script; and a variety of professional development activities, including industry showcases of student work in both Los Angeles and New York.

    To encourage top film students to write screenplays about science and technology

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