The chapter presents governmental sources of funding, concentrating on the largest single funding source, the National Institutes of Health in the United States. It offers definitions of common research funding terms and gives examples of the types of grants that are available. In addition, the chapter also provides examples of research funding and government research agencies from around the world. These include multinational partnerships, such as the European Community, as well as individual national health research agencies (e.g., UK, Sweden, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, India, and China). The study describes one national funding agency in more detail, the Medical Research Council of South Africa. To illustrate the diversity of funding options, the study also presents one example of a regional research institute (from Catalonia in Spain) and an additional example of a multilateral partnership (of the Netherlands, Australia, and Thailand). In addition, the chapter explains biomedical and biobehavioral research funds that are available from a wide variety of government sources around the globe. As a consequence of global fiscal dynamics, the more prosperous “Western” nations contribute a disproportionate share of global research funds toward clinical and translational research. Some of these funds are limited to application from selected institutions or citizens from the nation that is providing the fiscal support. Those funds that are available through open competition to persons affiliated with recognized institutions are provided from a relatively limited number of sources that are highlighted in this discussion.
