Direct answer: OpenAI’s AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program is accepting proposals for independent research on how generative AI affects people ages 13–17. Applications close October 6, 2026, and individual grants may be worth up to $1 million from a total program pool of up to $5 million.[1][2]
Apply here: OpenAI’s official application portal
Deadline warning: The portal header displays October 6, 2026 at 11:59 PM PDT, while its descriptive text says 11:59 PM PST.[2] Because those labels conflict, submit before October 6 rather than relying on the final hour.
Quick eligibility check
You can consider applying if all of these are true:
- You are at least 18 years old.
- You are affiliated with a research institution or organization, or you have significant relevant experience in child or adolescent development, well-being, human-computer interaction, AI impacts, or a closely related field.
- You are proposing research, not primarily a for-profit initiative. OpenAI says for-profit organizations are not being prioritized at this time.[1][2]
- You can submit the application in English, although the research itself may be conducted in any language.[1]
OpenAI encourages proposals from any country and says it will prioritize countries with significant AI adoption. It welcomes interdisciplinary teams and qualitative, quantitative, experimental, observational, theoretical, participatory, and mixed-methods research.[1]
Key dates and funding limits
| Item | Official detail |
|---|---|
| Applications opened | September 8, 2026[2] |
| Application deadline | October 6, 2026[1][2] |
| Portal deadline display | 11:59 PM PDT; portal description says PST[2] |
| Decision timing | Selected proposals notified on or before November 13, 2026[1][2] |
| Maximum individual grant | Up to $1 million[1][2] |
| Total program funding | Up to $5 million[1][2] |
| Maximum overhead/indirect costs | 10% of a project’s grant[1][2] |
| Interim update | Required in Q1 2027, with early findings where appropriate[1] |
Student, graduate-student and postdoctoral involvement may be supported with grant funds.[1]
What research topics fit the program?
OpenAI lists five broad areas of interest: how teens use generative AI; potential impacts in teens’ lives; individual, social, cultural and technical factors affecting outcomes; safeguards and age-appropriate design; and differences across ages, cultures, languages, populations and socioeconomic settings.[1][2]
The stated research priorities are:
- Emotional development and well-being — including emotion regulation, resilience, identity, agency, self-esteem and social connection.
- Social development and relationships — including friendships, families, belonging, communication, empathy and AI’s relationship with human connection.
- Patterns, contexts and demographic differences — including time spent, purpose of use, age, culture, language and socioeconomic circumstances.
- Mitigations, age-appropriate design and policy — including safeguards, product interventions, AI literacy, parent or educator support and healthy-use practices.[1]
Eight practical research-question starters
Use these as prompts, not as claims about what the research will find:
- How does using a chatbot for homework feedback relate to academic self-efficacy among different age groups?
- Which AI-literacy lesson best helps teens identify overconfident or unsafe chatbot advice?
- How do teens distinguish companionship, entertainment and advice when interacting with generative AI?
- Does a friction prompt before discussing sensitive subjects change what teens share with an AI system?
- What parent or educator support reduces risky disclosure without discouraging beneficial use?
- How do language and cultural context affect whether safety interventions are understood?
- Which interface choices help teens move from AI interaction to appropriate human support?
- How do outcomes differ between occasional, task-based and frequent conversational use?
A strong proposal should narrow one of these into a testable question, define measurable outcomes and state what evidence would change the researchers’ current assumptions.
Application document template
OpenAI requires a single-spaced Google Doc. The official package includes a project summary of less than one page, a research proposal of no more than three pages excluding references, a project plan and timeline, a budget and justification, dependencies, an ethics and safeguarding statement where applicable, team information, and independence/conflict disclosures.[1]
Copy this structure into a new Google Doc:
1. Project summary — less than one page
- Working title:
- Problem: What important uncertainty about AI and teen development will this project address?
- Research question:
- Population and setting:
- Method in two or three sentences:
- Expected contribution: What evidence will the study add, and who can act on it?
- Requested amount and project duration:
2. Research proposal — maximum three pages, excluding references
Research questions
State one primary question and only the secondary questions needed to answer it.
Relevant prior research
Summarize what is known, what remains uncertain and why the gap matters now. Distinguish evidence from assumptions.
Methods and analysis
Specify the design, measures, comparison groups where relevant, sample-size rationale, analysis plan and how missing or ambiguous data will be handled.
Study population and recruitment
Define ages, location, language, inclusion/exclusion criteria and recruitment channels. Include evidence that the team can realistically access the proposed population.
Expected outputs
List the intended report, dataset or instruments where appropriate, policy or product guidance, and any publication plan.
Potential limitations
Address selection bias, self-report limits, confounding, generalizability, platform changes and ethical constraints that could affect interpretation.
Relevance to the grant
Explain how the work relates to teen social or emotional development and why the result could inform safeguards, product design, policy or future research.
3. Project plan and timeline
| Phase | Activities | Milestone | Target date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Ethics review, instruments, partner agreements | Approval and study-ready materials | |
| Recruitment | Screening, consent and assent | Target sample enrolled | |
| Data collection | Interviews, surveys, experiments or observation | Collection complete | |
| Analysis | Prespecified analysis and sensitivity checks | Findings reviewed | |
| Reporting | Final report and stakeholder outputs | Submission complete |
4. Budget and budget justification
Use one row per major cost category and explain why each cost is necessary:
| Category | Amount | Calculation | Why needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel | |||
| Participant support | |||
| Data collection/tools | |||
| Ethics, privacy or security | |||
| Travel or community engagement | |||
| Dissemination | |||
| Overhead/indirect costs | |||
| Total |
Keep overhead and indirect costs at or below the official 10% cap.[1][2]
5. Project dependencies and risks
For each dependency, identify the owner, confirmation status, deadline, impact if it fails and a fallback. Examples include ethics approval, school or community access, translations, validated measures, platform access and specialist safeguarding support.
6. Ethics and safeguarding statement
This statement is required for research involving minors, sensitive information or potentially vulnerable populations. OpenAI asks applicants studying minors to explain ethics review, consent and age-appropriate assent, privacy and data protection, responses to harm or imminent-risk disclosures, collection of sensitive personal or mental-health information, relevant team expertise and parental consent where appropriate.[1]
Use these headings:
- Ethics-review route and current status
- Informed consent and age-appropriate assent
- Parental consent, where appropriate
- Data minimization, retention, access and deletion
- Privacy and de-identification
- Safeguarding and escalation protocol
- Handling disclosures of harm or imminent risk
- Sensitive-information assessment
- Relevant child-development, clinical and safeguarding expertise
- Applicable regulations and compliance plan
Do not treat this template as a substitute for an institutional review board, independent ethics committee, legal advice or local safeguarding requirements.
7. Team information
Attach short CVs or bios for the principal investigator and key team members. Connect each person’s experience directly to a project responsibility.
8. Independence and conflicts disclosure
Disclose relevant financial relationships, industry funding and other potential conflicts. Explain the measures that protect analysis and reporting from sponsor-preferred conclusions.
How proposals will be assessed
The official criteria are scientific rigor, relevance, proposal quality, actionability, ethics and safeguarding, feasibility, team expertise, inclusion and generalizability, complementarity with existing evidence, and independence and credibility.[1]
OpenAI says preference may be given to projects involving ChatGPT, interdisciplinary teams, underrepresented populations or regions, and research capable of informing near- or medium-term policy and regulatory decisions.[1]
Final self-review checklist
Before submitting, verify that:
- [ ] The applicant meets the age and affiliation/experience requirements.
- [ ] The project summary is under one page.
- [ ] The research proposal is no more than three pages, excluding references.
- [ ] The research question, population, recruitment access, method and analysis are specific.
- [ ] The timeline includes realistic ethics and recruitment time.
- [ ] The budget is justified and overhead does not exceed 10%.
- [ ] Dependencies and fallback plans are explicit.
- [ ] Research involving minors or sensitive information includes a complete ethics and safeguarding statement.
- [ ] Team bios demonstrate the expertise needed for each responsibility.
- [ ] Financial relationships and conflicts are disclosed.
- [ ] The application is in English and formatted as a single-spaced Google Doc.
- [ ] The application is submitted early enough to avoid the portal’s PDT/PST labeling conflict.
How to apply
- Open the official application portal.
- Create or sign in to the required application account.
- Prepare the single-spaced Google Doc using the official sections above.
- Complete the portal fields and upload or link the requested material exactly as the live form instructs.
- Submit before October 6, 2026, and retain the confirmation.[1][2]
OpenAI lists collaborativeresearch@openai.com for program questions, but says it will not provide individual status updates to applicants who are not selected.[1][2]
Frequently asked questions
Can researchers outside the United States apply?
Yes. OpenAI says it encourages proposals from any country, with priority for countries that have significant AI adoption.[1]
Must the study use ChatGPT?
The announcement does not make ChatGPT use a universal eligibility requirement. It says preference may be given to research involving ChatGPT.[1]
Can a for-profit company apply?
The eligibility language does not state an absolute ban, but OpenAI says this program seeks to fund research rather than for-profit initiatives and will not prioritize for-profit organizations at this time.[1][2]
Can the research be conducted in a language other than English?
Yes. The application must be in English, but the research may be conducted in any language.[1]
Is publication mandatory?
No. OpenAI strongly encourages public dissemination through a peer-reviewed publication, preprint, public report or similar format, but says publication is not a condition of funding.[1]
What must a funded project deliver?
The final report must describe the research question and methods, results and supporting evidence, limitations and uncertainty, and recommendations where the findings support them. An interim progress update is required in Q1 2027, with early findings where appropriate.[1]
Is this an OpenAI Foundation grant?
No. OpenAI states that the grants are funded and administered by OpenAI Group PBC.[1][2]
Sources
[1] https://openai.com/index/teen-development-research-grants — OpenAI: Funding grants for new research into AI and teen development
[2] https://openai.smapply.org/prog/openais_ai_and_teen_development_research_grant_program — OpenAI’s AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program application portal