Scientific Research Grants and Fellowship Programs

Autism Speaks Science is committed to being a catalyst for research breakthroughs that improve lives today and deliver a spectrum of solutions in the years ahead. This work involves unraveling the biology of autism, including its varied subtypes and dimensions, and translating research findings into life-enhancing solutions.  

Our strategic priorities for 2024-2026 include:

• Improving our understanding of aging and autism and ability to enhance the wellbeing and quality of life for autistic adults
• Enhancing wellbeing and quality of life of autistic people and their families with severe and challenging behaviors and special health care needs
• Advancing innovations in service delivery to enhance the global reach and impact of services and support across the lifespan

Autism Speaks is likewise committed to collaborating with the autism community to advance research that translates findings into better evidence-based interventions and tailors and delivers interventions to those who may benefit from them. In addition to grants, researchers interested in genetic data can apply for access to MSSNG or AGRE.

Autism Speaks will release a variety of topic-specific grant calls over time which support a wide range of projects.

2024 Requests for Applications (RFAs)

2024 Autistic Scientist Predoctoral Fellowship – Letters of Intent due June 26, 2024

Autism Speaks invites applications from autistic doctoral students interested in pursuing careers in autism research. 

The historical absence of autistic voices from autism research has contributed to a growing disconnect between researchers and the communities they hope to serve. Alongside recent calls for more stakeholder involvement in all stages of the autism research process, a greater number of openly autistic people have begun to pursue careers in autism research.

Autism Speaks believes that a critical first step to increasing autistic research career success is financial support. We therefore developed a new predoctoral fellowship that will support a promising cadre of autistic early career scientists who will choose and remain with autism research. By providing financial support to autistic researchers during their doctoral training, we hope to increase success for individuals whose combination of academic expertise and lived experience can greatly impact the broader field of autism research.

Please see the RFA for more information and application instructions.

Watch a recording of a webinar explaining the application process and answering questions:

2024 Autism Speaks and AHA Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships - Applications due September 4 and 5, 2024

Autism Speaks and the American Heart Association (AHA) are co-funding predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships to empower and nurture the next generation of researchers and practitioners to learn more about the unique cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health needs of people with autism.

The program descriptions for pre- and postdoctoral fellowships are currently available, with deadlines of September 4 and September 5, respectively. Applications will be reviewed via peer review, including autistic adults and family members who will serve as community reviewers. Award recipients will be announced in early 2025.

To learn more, visit the American Heart Association’s Funding Opportunities.

2024 Central Auditory Process Disorders Grant Opportunity – Letters of Intent due January 16, 2024

Autism Speaks, with generous support from the Royal Arch Research Assistance, is funding one pilot research award, one predoctoral fellowship award and one postdoctoral fellowship focused on understanding, evaluating and/or treating individuals with central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), particularly as it relates to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 

The pilot study will be funded at $60,000 for one year, the predoctoral fellowship will be awarded $40,000 per year for two years and the postdoctoral fellowship will be awarded $55,000 a year for two years.

Please see the RFA for more information and application instructions.

Due dates, awards – see each RFA for complete information

Other Application/Grant Information

To be notified of RFA releases and other grant information, sign up on the RFA Notification List.

Search funded grants in the Autism Speaks Grant Search (includes Service Provider grants).

Search MSSNG Research Publications.

Click here for information on Autism Speaks Service Provider Grants.

Apply Online:

All proposals must be submitted online via Autism Speaks Science Grants System. Through its various user-friendly features, applicants and institutional officials can monitor the status of their applications and grants. System access instructions can be found in the RFAs.

Electronic submissions are mandatory. No paper or e-mailed applications will be accepted.

For inquiries, please contact:

Sofia Walton, Research Grants Manager 
sofia.walton@autismspeaks.org  
202-740-7718

Other queries? Contact us at research@autismspeaks.org.