The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has opened its 2026 Seeding Research, Networking, and Capacity Building at Minority-Serving Institutions call for proposals. The opportunity supports eligible health equity research centers at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) that want to strengthen the people, skills, systems, relationships, and infrastructure needed to conduct and sustain health equity research.
Funding
RWJF expects to make up to eight awards. Each award may be up to $350,000 for a 24-month grant period.
Who may apply
Phase 1 Letters of Intent are open to designated MSI-based research centers that interrogate health equity. Eligible centers may be formally approved by a college or university board or established through previously funded research collaborations, initiatives, or ongoing partnerships. Individual researchers are not eligible.
Strong applicants should have a documented record of community-based or community-centered work advancing health equity or racial justice. Centers using community-based methods should be able to demonstrate authentic, established community relationships through existing evidence such as letters of support, co-authored publications or presentations, shared funding, budgets naming the collaboration, or co-branded activities.
The opportunity is focused on research centers whose health equity and community work centers on social sciences, humanities, public health, and/or social justice. Centers that principally support biomedical or pharmaceutical research are not eligible. Single-center and eligible multi-center applications are both permitted, but every participating center in a collaborative application must be MSI-based. A center may be included in only one application.
Deadline and process
Phase 1 Letter of Intent deadline: October 1, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
RWJF plans to invite selected applicants to Phase 2 presentations on November 6, 2026. Phase 2 presentations are scheduled between December 1, 2026 and January 15, 2027. Selected applicants would then be invited to Phase 3 full proposals on January 28, 2027, with full proposals due February 18, 2027 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Applications are submitted through RWJF’s online application system. RWJF provides a sample application, the full funding opportunity document, applicant FAQs, and grant-process guidance from the official opportunity page.
Budget and match note
The official public CFP overview reviewed on September 13, 2026 does not state a matching or cost-share requirement. Applicants should review the full funding opportunity document and online application materials for all budget, documentation, and submission requirements before filing.
Official source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — Seeding Research, Networking, and Capacity Building at Minority-Serving Institutions.