Skip Section Navigation

College of Engineering – College of Science

Collaborative Research Seed Funding Opportunity Call

Co-sponsored by CENG, COS, and VPRI office

 

Objective

CENG, COS, and VPRI office are co-sponsoring targeted seed funding to establish teams of CENG-COS faculty to advance the collection of preliminary data in support of collaborative external research proposal submissions

Amount

Up to $10,000 seed funding per team proposal.

Eligibility

All faculty in CENG and COS are eligible to apply. Teams with Junior Faculty in both colleges are especially encouraged to apply.  One seed funding application per team. One application per lead PI.

How to Apply

Develop a 2-page white paper outlining the proposed CENG/COS research team that describes the specific aims of the research and the target for external funding sources. Submit the 2 page white paper, which also includes a simple budget table and information to potential RFPs. Proposals exceeding 2 page limit will be declined without review. Reference list will be not counted to the 2 page limit. List names of all Co-PIs and their department abbreviations under proposal title on the top of the first page. First listed Co-PI will be considered as a lead PI faculty for all follow through communications. 

Deadline

April 13, 2026, 5:00 PM

Submission of Application

Please click the button below to fill out the form and submit your proposal.

Submit Application

Review Criteria
  1. A joint research project with equal participation from CENG and COS faculty.
  2. Clear objectives of the proposed seed research, expected outcomes, defined research approaches, and seed research plan with the seed project timeline.
  3. Agency (one or more) for external proposal submission(s) – indicate or attach RFP (whenever such is available) and provide agency deadline (or anticipated deadline for next year) for targeting federal, foundation or industry grant opportunities.
  4. Budget plan on how the seed funding will be spent. Ineligible items: faculty salary, conference travel, and publication charges.
  5. Expected time window for external joint proposal(s) submission - within 9 months after receiving seed funding. Submission of more than one external research proposal based on seed funding is encouraged. Direct funding level sought in the joint external proposal should be above $100,000.
  6. Success is tracked by the number of proposal submissions and by the awards for such proposals for future calls under this program. Co-PIs on teams who failed to deliver a joint proposal are not eligible to participate in the next year seed funding under this program (one skipped round).
  7. Seed funding is expected to be spent within 9 months of the anticipated seed grant duration. Unspent funds will be re-tracked.
Evaluation/Selection

Committee with CENG and COS faculty members not participating in a proposal will be formed.

 

Dr. Andrey Voevodin, CENG ADR
Dr. Ed Dzialowski, COS Acting Dean
Dr. Aaron Roberts, Associate VPRI