EPIC Air Quality Fund 2026

The 2026 round of the EPIC Air Quality Fund is closed. Applications closed on 30 April 2026 at 11:59 pm CET (4:29 am IST on 1 May), and the fund says it is no longer accepting applications. The official page invites interested groups to join its mailing list to be told when the next round opens, but gives no date. The fund is run by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) as part of the UChicago Climate & Growth initiative.

It backs local groups that generate, use and share open air-quality data to win national-level clean-air policy change. In the 2026 call the fund planned to support at least 20 groups over 18 months. It is open to organisations of any type, so Indian NGOs, companies and universities are not excluded by nationality, though the fund prioritises certain countries (see below).

What the program offers

Awards were expected to be about US$50,000 (about ₹47.5 lakh) for projects deploying lower-cost sensors and about US$75,000 (about ₹71.25 lakh) for projects using regulatory-grade or reference-grade equipment. The support runs for 18 months, and the fund says it intends to renew successful awards in later years, subject to available resources. The money is meant to produce open air-quality data and to turn it into national policy influence.

Who can apply

Government and non-government organisations of any type can apply: universities, non-profits, for-profit companies, corporates, NGOs and civil society groups. Your organisation must be legally allowed to receive funds from a US institution and have a working bank account that can accept them. Individuals can apply only in partnership with an eligible organisation. Applicants from countries on the US State Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism list, and projects carried out in the EU or EEA, are not eligible.

Priority goes to projects in 83 countries that EPIC rates as high or medium-high opportunity for closing nationwide PM2.5 data gaps; the list is on the fund's site. You must also confirm it is legal in your country to operate PM2.5 monitoring equipment, measure PM2.5 and share the data publicly. Indian recipients of foreign money should check FCRA, FEMA and tax treatment with an adviser before applying.

How to apply

Applications go through an online portal linked from the call page, and a PDF preview of the questions is provided so you can prepare. For the 2026 call the fund also offered an information session. A practical tip: write your answers around the national policy change you want, such as a new or stronger air-quality standard, and name the national officials or groups who would use your data.

What the project must do

• Generate and openly share outdoor, stationary PM2.5 data for 12 months within the 18-month project period.
• Give full open access to your monitoring data. The fund publishes its open-data requirements.
• Aim for national-level policy impact. The fund defines this as systemic change, such as creating or raising an air-quality standard, or mobilising influential leaders to push for policy. Mask or filter distribution does not count, and purely academic or technical results are not of interest unless they feed directly into national policy.

How applications are judged and what happens next

Applications are assessed on six things: the country location (priority for the 83 countries); project relevance, meaning 12 months of outdoor, stationary PM2.5 data inside 18 months; open data sharing and transparency; the likelihood of national impact, with credible plans and measurable aims; prior experience or a credible plan to fill knowledge gaps, plus the capacity to work for several years; and the team's ability to connect its data to nationally relevant stakeholders. Decisions were expected in summer 2026.

About EPIC

EPIC is the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. The Air Quality Fund's site includes an Air Quality Registry, a global opportunity map, a list of awardees, a Clean Air Pledge and a funding model page, so you can see what past awardees did before you apply next time.

Things to check before you apply

• Check that you can legally receive US funds and hold the right bank account.
• Plan for full public data sharing from the start; closed or delayed data does not meet the rule.
• Applicant data is processed in a third-party system, as the page's privacy note explains.
• Current or past Fund awardees can apply again only with a different lead and no overlapping team members.