Request for Letters of Intent for 2027 Education Mini-Grant Program

Do you have expertise in astronomy education that you'd like to share with the AAS community through a workshop? The AAS Education & Professional Development (EPD) Mini-Grant Program funds workshops that strengthen the education practices of AAS members. The AAS Education Committee is now accepting Letters of Intent for the 2027 funding cycle.

We are especially enthusiastic to support workshops that help astronomers improve their practices in these areas:

• Classroom teaching
• Research mentoring
• Science communication, outreach, and public engagement
• Academic leadership and departmental programs

Please submit your Letter of Intent by 11:59 pm ET on Friday, 24 April 2026:

Submit Here

The Call for Proposals, including all forms and instructions for full proposals, will open in May 2026, and full proposals will be due 9 June 2026. We will welcome proposals for activities that will take place in calendar year 2027, especially those that can be coordinated with the winter or summer AAS meetings. We encourage all those interested in submitting a full proposal to submit a brief Letter of Intent by 24 April to ensure that the proposal is compliant with the EPD program and funding requirements. All Letters of Intent will be reviewed by the EPD committee and feedback will be given by 1 May. The Letter of Intent should include a short description of the proposed program and items to be included in the budget.

We expect that the most competitive proposals will be to carry out an in-person workshop at a major AAS meeting. Proposals to carry out online workshops will be considered as well if they indicate a clear plan to reach a significant number of AAS members. The AAS-EPD Mini-Grant Program will provide direct funding and logistical support for workshops, but it will not pay any institutional indirect costs (e.g., overhead). Individual grants will range from $1,000 to $10,000, with a typical amount of approximately $6,000 or less.

For more details, including the directions for applying, please see the EPD web page. Note that the EPD page references last year's call for proposals; this year's call will open in late May. Examples of recently funded programs were featured in this Education Blog Post.