MIT J-WAFS Water and Food Seed Grants — 2027
The Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology invites proposals for new research into safe, resilient, sustainable supplies of water and food for human use. Eligible research may concern rural and underserved water access, drinking-water contaminants, food security and safety, climate-resilient agriculture, crop systems, supply chains or related interdisciplinary topics. This is a competitive institutional research grant, not a government procurement or general grant open to unaffiliated applicants.
Applicant-level funding
Up to $75,000 per year for one or two years, with a maximum $150,000 per project, without J-WAFS overhead/F&A charges. J-WAFS anticipates supporting up to eight seed grants; that anticipated count is not an individual applicant award or funding guarantee.
Eligible applicants
The lead principal investigator must be an MIT professor or eligible MIT research staff member with principal-investigator privileges, including an approved one-time PI authorization. Participation is limited to at most two LOIs per PI/co-PI. External nonprofits or research institutions may collaborate, but cannot independently apply or receive subawards. Proposed research must be genuinely new and distinct from existing research, rather than supplemental funding or curriculum development.
Deadline and application steps
Required Letter of Interest (LOI): Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The MIT InfoReady submission portal opened November 4, 2026. Invited full proposals are due Tuesday, January 19, 2027, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The LOI requires an online information form and one PDF comprising up to two pages of narrative, one page of research team and budget narrative, up to two pages of tables/figures and references. A full proposal, if invited, will require the funder’s budget template and additional instructions.
Budget and conditions
No required matching contribution is stated. J-WAFS prohibits subawards and pass-through payments. PI salary is limited to one month per PI across the grant period and total PI salary plus employee benefits cannot exceed 15% of the award. Equipment costs are capped at 20% of total budget, with no equipment purchases in the final six months. Allowable expenses can include MIT research personnel, materials, research costs, travel and applicable graduate research-assistant tuition; budget tuition at the applicable full amount unless the department confirms a subsidy. Six-month progress reports and a final report are required.
Official source: J-WAFS 2027 program (https://jwafs.mit.edu/SeedGrants); 2027 controlling Request for Letters of Interest; official FAQ. Last source verification: November 4, 2026. Applicants must confirm any portal-only requirements in the official MIT InfoReady application.