Deadline: 15-Jun-2026
The Fast Grants Program provides rapid funding for early-stage research projects at the intersection of artificial intelligence and health. Supported by the Biswas Family Foundation, the program offers grants of $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 for 12-month projects focused on biomedical AI, healthcare innovation, computational medicine, diagnostics, scientific discovery, and AI-enabled research tools.
Program Overview
The Fast Grants Program is designed to accelerate innovative research in artificial intelligence and health by providing flexible, lightweight funding for high-potential early-stage projects. The program supports exploratory research, pilot studies, proof-of-concept investigations, and technology development efforts that may generate preliminary evidence for larger future funding opportunities.
The initiative recognizes that many promising ideas in biomedical artificial intelligence require modest but timely funding to test feasibility, validate approaches, build datasets, or develop prototypes. By streamlining funding processes and supporting rapid experimentation, the program helps researchers advance innovative concepts that may transform healthcare, medical research, diagnostics, and therapeutic development.
The program welcomes applications from researchers across career stages and disciplines, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration between artificial intelligence, medicine, public health, biomedical science, and computational research.
Focus Areas
The Fast Grants Program supports projects across a broad range of AI and health-related domains, including:
Biomedical AI Models
- Training biomedical artificial intelligence models.
- Fine-tuning foundation models for healthcare applications.
- Evaluation and benchmarking of biomedical AI systems.
- Development of specialized medical machine learning models.
Clinical and Biomedical Datasets
- Building clinically relevant datasets.
- Curating and annotating biomedical datasets.
- Data harmonization and integration.
- Development of open and reusable health data resources.
AI-Powered Scientific Tools
- AI-enabled scientific discovery platforms.
- Research assistants and intelligent agents.
- Automated scientific workflows.
- Computational tools for biomedical research.
Pilot and Feasibility Studies
- Pilot experiments that reduce uncertainty for larger projects.
- Validation studies.
- Proof-of-concept research.
- Early-stage technology testing.
AI Diagnostics and Prediction
- Disease detection systems.
- Clinical decision-support tools.
- Risk prediction models.
- Early diagnosis technologies.
- Healthcare screening solutions.
Cardiovascular Health
- Computational cardiology research.
- Stroke prediction and prevention systems.
- Cardiovascular risk assessment tools.
- AI-driven cardiac monitoring approaches.
Affordable and Accessible Diagnostics
- Low-cost diagnostic technologies.
- Resource-efficient healthcare tools.
- AI-assisted diagnostic platforms.
- Community health screening innovations.
Cancer and Metabolic Health
- Cancer detection and prediction tools.
- Metabolic disease monitoring systems.
- Precision oncology applications.
- Biomarker discovery platforms.
Medical Forecasting and Epidemiology
- Disease forecasting systems.
- Epidemiological modeling.
- Public health prediction tools.
- Outbreak and population health analytics.
Personalized Medicine and Therapeutics
- Personalized treatment strategies.
- Therapeutic development platforms.
- Precision medicine applications.
- AI-assisted drug discovery and optimization.
Autonomous Research Systems
- AI systems capable of conducting scientific investigations.
- Automated hypothesis generation.
- Research workflow automation.
- Autonomous experimentation platforms.
Funding Information
The Biswas Family Foundation supports two Fast Grants funding cycles each year.
Annual Funding Commitment
- Up to $3 million deployed annually.
- Two funding cycles per year.
- Rapid funding model focused on early-stage innovation.
Grant Tiers
Exploratory Research Grants
- Funding amount: $25,000.
- Designed for exploratory and proof-of-concept projects.
- Available to researchers at all career stages.
- Undergraduate applicants may apply only with faculty sponsorship.
Pilot Research Grants
- Funding amount: $50,000.
- Intended for pilot studies and feasibility testing.
- Supports projects requiring additional validation and development.
Advanced Research Grants
- Funding amount: $100,000.
- Designed for ambitious early-stage research initiatives.
- Supports larger-scale experimentation and technology development.
Funding Period
- Project duration: 12 months.
- Funding provided as a single payment.
- Flexible expenditure within approved project activities.
Allowable Expenses
The program provides flexibility to support computationally intensive and experimental research activities.
Eligible expenses may include:
- Cloud computing resources.
- GPU access and high-performance computing services.
- Artificial intelligence API usage.
- Dataset acquisition and licensing.
- Data collection and annotation.
- Research assistants and technical support.
- Laboratory consumables.
- Software tools and computational resources.
- Limited travel for research dissemination and knowledge sharing.
- Project-related operational expenses directly supporting research objectives.
The funding structure is intended to reduce administrative barriers and allow researchers to focus on innovation and experimentation.
Who is Eligible?
The Fast Grants Program supports researchers across all career stages.
Eligible applicants include:
- Faculty members.
- Early-career faculty.
- Postdoctoral researchers.
- Graduate students.
- Research scientists.
- Independent academic researchers.
- Undergraduate students with faculty sponsorship (for the $25,000 grant tier only).
The program encourages participation from researchers working across artificial intelligence, medicine, biomedical sciences, public health, engineering, data science, and related fields.
Institutional Eligibility
Funding must be administered through eligible institutions capable of receiving charitable support.
Eligible institutions include:
- Organizations recognized under U.S. 501(c)(3) regulations.
- Universities and research institutions eligible to receive charitable funding.
- Non-U.S. institutions verified through an approved equivalency determination process.
- Organizations working through an approved U.S.-based fiscal sponsor.
Applicants should ensure that their institution can legally and administratively receive grant funding before applying.
Who is Not Eligible?
The following are not eligible to receive funding:
- Individual researchers receiving direct personal payments.
- For-profit companies and commercial entities.
- Sanctioned organizations or institutions.
- Institutions unable to satisfy charitable funding requirements.
- Undergraduate applicants seeking funding above the $25,000 tier.
- Applicants without appropriate institutional affiliation or sponsorship.
Funding must always be administered through an eligible institutional recipient.
How to Apply
- Review the program objectives and funding priorities.
- Identify a research question aligned with artificial intelligence and health.
- Select the appropriate funding tier based on project scope.
- Prepare a concise project proposal outlining objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes.
- Confirm institutional eligibility and funding administration arrangements.
- Develop a realistic budget aligned with allowable expenses.
- Demonstrate the project’s innovation, feasibility, and potential impact.
- Submit the application during an active funding cycle.
- Respond to any follow-up requests during the review process.
Strong applications typically emphasize scientific innovation, technical feasibility, healthcare relevance, and potential for future impact.
Why This Program Matters
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming healthcare, biomedical research, diagnostics, drug discovery, and public health. However, many promising ideas struggle to secure funding at the earliest stages when researchers need resources to validate concepts, generate preliminary data, and demonstrate feasibility.
The Fast Grants Program addresses this funding gap by providing rapid and flexible support for exploratory projects that may lead to major scientific advances. By enabling researchers to test new approaches quickly, the program helps accelerate innovation and reduce barriers to breakthrough discoveries.
The initiative is particularly valuable for emerging researchers, interdisciplinary teams, and high-risk, high-reward projects that may not fit traditional funding mechanisms.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Proposing projects unrelated to artificial intelligence and health.
- Selecting a funding tier that does not match project scope.
- Failing to demonstrate feasibility within the 12-month project period.
- Submitting unclear research objectives or methodologies.
- Overlooking institutional eligibility requirements.
- Providing unrealistic budgets or unsupported expenses.
- Failing to explain the project’s potential scientific or healthcare impact.
- Neglecting plans for data, model, or tool development where relevant.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the Fast Grants Program?
The Fast Grants Program provides rapid funding for early-stage research projects focused on artificial intelligence and health, enabling researchers to test innovative ideas and generate preliminary evidence.
Who funds the program?
The initiative is supported by the Biswas Family Foundation, which allocates up to $3 million annually through two funding cycles.
How much funding can applicants request?
Researchers may apply for grants of $25,000, $50,000, or $100,000 depending on project scope and complexity.
How long do funded projects last?
All grants support projects with a duration of 12 months and are provided as a single payment.
Can students apply?
Yes. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers are eligible. Undergraduate students may apply only for the $25,000 funding tier and must have faculty sponsorship.
What types of expenses are allowed?
Funding may support cloud computing, GPU access, AI tools, datasets, research assistance, consumables, software resources, and limited travel for dissemination activities.
Can companies apply for funding?
No. For-profit organizations and commercial entities are not eligible. Funding must be administered through eligible nonprofit, academic, or charitable institutions.
Conclusion
The Fast Grants Program offers a valuable opportunity for researchers pursuing innovative projects at the intersection of artificial intelligence and health. With funding ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, flexible spending options, and a streamlined funding model, the program supports exploratory research, pilot studies, biomedical AI development, healthcare innovation, and scientific discovery. By accelerating early-stage research and reducing funding barriers, the initiative helps advance transformative technologies and solutions that can improve healthcare outcomes and expand the frontiers of medical science.
For more information, visit Biswas Family Foundation.