Countering CCP Influence in Panama's Unviersities

Source-based overview

Panama’s universities have become an increasingly important arena for strategic competition. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expanded its influence through Confucius Institutes, academic exchanges, research partnerships, scholarships, and sustained engagement with students, faculty, and university leadership. These influence operations foster distrust of the United States and promote CCP narratives at a critical time in the U.S.-Panama relationship. Embassy Panama seeks to expand the U.S. presence on university campuses by creating sustained opportunities for students, faculty, administrators, and researchers to engage directly with American institutions, experts, companies, and exchange alumni. Through English-language programming, AI and emerging technology workshops, entrepreneurship initiatives, visiting speakers, research collaborations, and public discussions on academic freedom and research integrity, the program will demonstrate the advantages of partnering with the United States while providing a credible alternative to CCP-sponsored programming. Working alongside EducationUSA, American Spaces, the Regional English Language Office, and existing Embassy initiatives, the project will complement existing exchange and advising programs by focusing on institutional engagement and public diplomacy. The Embassy seeks a year-long initiative that establishes enduring U.S.-Panama academic partnerships, expands American visibility across Panamanian campuses, and directly advances U.S. efforts to counter CCP influence in higher education. The official record contains the controlling eligibility, budget, attachment and submission requirements for opportunity PDS-PAN-FY26-01.

Eligibility

Eligible applicant types listed by the agency: Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education; Individuals; Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education; Private institutions of higher education; Public and State controlled institutions of higher education. Applicants must also satisfy every programme-specific condition in the official notice.

Funding and benefits

Award ceiling: USD 150,000

Expected number of awards: 3

Themes and supported activities

Panama’s universities have become an increasingly important arena for strategic competition. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expanded its influence through Confucius Institutes, academic exchanges, research partnerships, scholarships, and sustained engagement with students, faculty, and university leadership. These influence operations foster distrust of the United States and promote CCP narratives at a critical time in the U.S.-Panama relationship. Embassy Panama seeks to expand the U.S. presence on university campuses by creating sustained opportunities for students, faculty, administrators, and researchers to engage directly with American institutions, experts, companies, and exchange alumni. Through English-language programming, AI and emerging technology workshops, entrepreneurship initiatives, visiting speakers, research collaborations, and public discussions on academic freedom and research integrity, the program will demonstrate the advantages of partnering with the United States while providing a credible alternative to CCP-sponsored programming. Working alongside EducationUSA, American Spaces, the Regional English Language Office, and existing Embassy initiatives, the project will complement existing exchange and advising programs by focusing on institutional engagement and public diplomacy. The Embassy seeks a year-long initiative that establishes enduring U.S.-Panama academic partnerships, expands American visibility across Panamanian campuses, and directly advances U.S. efforts to counter CCP influence in higher education.

Opportunity number: PDS-PAN-FY26-01

Deadline and timeline

Applications close 2026-09-13: Applications close 2026-09-13: Sep 13, 2026.

Applicants should confirm the exact deadline time, time zone, required documents, portal steps and any institutional approvals on the official call page before submitting.

How to apply

Open the official Grants.gov record, review the full notice and attachments, and use the application package or agency route stated there.

Before applying, check eligibility rules, budgets, attachments, page limits, partner requirements, cost-share conditions and whether the opportunity uses an expression of interest, full proposal, registration or nomination stage.