Why was “Funding in mathematics from large companies as undergraduate” closed?

Question

When I browse the questions on the issue of research funding, I found that this question was closed (I am not the author). Since I want to be more familiar with the norms of Academia Stack Exchange, I want to know why this question which ask for the funding sources was deemed off-topic.

Answer 1

I believe the reaction is to the request for a list of funding sources. However, the question about whether or not it's appropriate to cold call companies and corporations could be a valid and appropriate question for Stack Exchange, particularly since it's funding undergraduate research (which is on-topic, even if many other UG issues are not!).

Answer 2

The reason given on the question page^* is

This question is not within the scope of this site as defined in the help center. Our scope particularly excludes the content of research, education outside of a university setting, and undergraduate admissions, life, and culture.

I suspect this may have been a knee-jerk "it's about undergrads so it's off-topic!" reaction. Unfortunately, if people vote to close for multiple reasons, the site only displays the most common one.

Obviously, I don't remember my reasoning from six months ago but, looking at the question today, I believe my close vote would have been because:

“Shopping” questions, which seek recommendations or lists of individual universities, academic programs, publishers, journals, research topics, or similar as an answer or seek an assessment or comparison of such, are off-topic here.

I think sources of funding fall within "or similar". The question is just soliciting a big list of funding sources, and lists are generally discouraged on Stack Exchange.

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^{* Quoted for context, in case the question is reopened.}