The eBPF Foundation is excited to announce that applications for our 2026 Academic Research Grant Program will open on June 15. This program reflects our ongoing commitment to advancing the state of eBPF technology through rigorous academic research, and our belief that academic inquiry will expand the opportunity for eBPF.
About the Program
The eBPF Foundation Academic Research Grant Program funds university and research-institute faculty pursuing original research with the potential to meaningfully advance eBPF technology and its ecosystem. Unrestricted research grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded.
We welcome proposals across a broad range of eBPF-related topics, including (but not limited to):
- eBPF program verification, and formal verification of the verifier and JITs
- Limitations of the eBPF verifier and approaches to overcome them
- Scalability and maintainability of the eBPF verifier
- Improvements to eBPF program development and deployment
- eBPF-based approaches to security and threat management
- eBPF-based approaches to network performance analysis and optimization
- eBPF-based approaches to application profiling/tracing
- eBPF-based approaches to CPU scheduling and application efficiency
- eBPF use cases in embedded systems and high-performance networking
- Previously unexplored and emerging use cases of eBPF
2026 Timeline
- June 15, 2026 — Applications open
- July 15, 2026 — Application deadline
- September 1, 2026 — Recipients announced
- December 1, 2026 — Recipient progress blog post #1
- May 1, 2027 — Recipient progress blog post #2
How to Apply
Proposals should include:
- A project summary (2 pages maximum) covering the area of focus, description of techniques, relevant prior work, and a timeline with milestones and expected outcomes.
- A draft budget description (1 page) with an approximate cost and explanation of how funds would be spent.
- Curriculum Vitae for all project participants.
- Organization details including tax information and administrative contact details.
Applicants must be current full-time or part-time faculty at an accredited academic institution or reputable research institute and must serve as Principal Investigator on any resulting award.
Payment is made to the proposer’s host university as an unrestricted gift, and funds can be used to cover researcher salaries, graduate or post-graduate student employment and tuition, and other research costs such as equipment or incidental expenses.
Grant recipients will also be expected to author two blog posts sharing updates and insights from their research on December 1, 2026, and May 1, 2027.
Building on a Strong Track Record
This program has already produced impactful research across a range of critical areas. In 2025, we awarded two grants to researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Riverside, whose work is advancing verifier safety and datacenter power efficiency. In 2024, five grants supported pioneering work at institutions including Carnegie Mellon University, ETH Zürich, EPFL, Rutgers University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
We look forward to seeing what the next cohort of researchers will contribute to the eBPF ecosystem.
Apply Now
Applications are open from June 15 through July 15, 2026. For full program details, requirements, and terms and conditions, visit the Academic Research Grant Program page.
Questions? Reach out to us at support@ebpf.foundation.