The EPIC Air Quality Fund closed its second open call for proposals in April 2026, offering up to $75,000 USD over 18 months to organizations dedicated to making air quality data publicly accessible and with plans to use it as a lever to advance clean air policy in their countries. The Fund received nearly 20 percent more proposals during this round, with applicants coming from Africa (49 percent), Asia (40 percent), and Latin America (8 percent)–regions where the burden of particulate pollution is greatest and where clean air data and policy infrastructure is limited. Typical applicants are researchers, non-profit leaders, government technicians and regulators, and entrepreneurs who understand their communities’ politics and air pollution.
“The immense interest in this call for proposals underscores again the urgent demand across the world to establish basic air quality infrastructure to drive national-level impacts,” says Christa Hasenkopf, the director of the EPIC Clean Air Program. “Applicants show the passion, drive and knowhow to make that happen. All they need are the resources.”
To offer a deeper analysis of this year’s global cohort of local actors who applied, where they work, and what they intend to build, the Fund has released “A Snapshot of 2026 Applicants: Demand for Clean Air Data Concentrates Where the Need Is Greatest”. Not only does it provide a clear picture on where in-country leadership is ready to address the air pollution problem, but it also shows where the demand for data is most urgent.
The report’s key highlights:
- Nine in ten applicants proposed work in countries where the need and opportunity to effect change is the greatest. Demand is clustered exactly where a small, well-placed investment is estimated to move national policy.
- Nearly one in four applicants come from countries with no government air quality monitoring. And nearly half come from a country with no national PM2.5 standard—with 76 applications coming from 30 countries that have neither. This underscores the gap the Fund is meant to address.
- More than three-quarters of applicants proposed work in countries that lost a reference-grade monitoring source when the U.S. Department of State program was dismantled last year. In a third of applicant countries, this was the only open reference-grade data source. The work they propose can help reestablish an important air quality data baseline—and this time with in-country ownership.
- Roughly a quarter of all applicants were government entities, including agencies with a national regulatory authority.This government interest signals continued unmet demand from governments themselves for support to build even the most basic air quality data infrastructure.
- More than half of applicants would be leading their first air quality project. Applicants represent a deep talent pool that has had little prior opportunity to lead.
Support for clean air infrastructure is already showing policy impact. The Fund’s current 31 awardees are installing more than 700 monitors across 19 countries where citizens stand to gain a combined 2 billion life years, if their air were cleaner. These awardees have already helped catalyze national-level policy impacts in eight countries, while increasing the number of Africa’s open data monitors by 80 percent in 18 months. The awardees achieving important impacts in their countries will be recognized at the Africa Clean Air Forum in July.
The EPIC Air Quality Fund was launched in July 2024 with a $1.5 million gift from Coefficient Giving and has been expanded through support by additional donors. The Fund aims to expand air quality data access globally and reach 1 billion people by 2030 by supporting local groups and organizations in installing monitors and providing open data to communities that could benefit the most. The next cohort of the EPIC Air Quality Fund will be announced in Fall 2026.
Read the full report here.
We thank our funders—Coefficient Giving, Alpha Epsilon, Adam Winkel, The Jascha Hoffman Giving Fund, Joseph and Michelle Verbrugge, Anne Germanacos, John Davidson, and Anonymous Donors—for making this work possible. In addition to these new awards, EPIC is raising funds to double down on successful awardees through renewals. If you or your organization are interested in supporting this work, please contact Christa Hasenkopf: chasenkopf@uchicago.edu.