Dietrich College Research Seed Grants
The Dietrich College Seed Grant program promotes and supports inter-departmental and collaborative research across the college.
The program draws funding from the Bess Family Chair held by the dean and awards grants once or twice a year to multi-departmental groups of researchers in Dietrich College. The aims of the program are to:
- catalyze new and ambitious research collaborations across different units in the college, and
- support existing interdisciplinary research projects seeking larger scale funding.
Grantees will be expected to present work supported by the Seed Grant program at the end of the academic year in which their funding ends and to develop a specific plan to leverage the Seed Grant funding into applications for external funding for the ongoing work.
Submit Your Letter of Intent
Award Amounts & Funding Uses
Up to $25,000 in grant funding is available to eligible Dietrich College faculty.
There will be two yearly calls for proposals, one in the spring and one in the fall. In each round, the program will award one big grant of up to $25,000 and one small grant of up to $10,000. Grants will have a duration of one year.
Funding can be used for summer support, RA support, technical support (e.g., programmers or data scientists), course release (with the explicit, written permission of the appropriate department head) or any other support that will directly benefit the work.
Eligibility
The Dietrich College Seed Grant program is open to all regular track faculty with a primary appointment in Dietrich College.
Educational research projects are eligible, but not educational implementation projects. The Seed Grant program is meant to catalyze collaborative research.
Application Process & Deadlines
In order for the application procedure to be light and minimally time consuming, applications will be considered in two stages.
Applicants should submit:
- a one page letter of Intent (LOI);
- if invited after the LOI, a full proposal, five pages maximum.
The one-page letter of intent should contain:
- an overview of the project and of the collaboration;
- the list of key personnel;
- a budget sketch.
The full proposal application consists of:
- A one-page summary of the project, containing:
- a project overview statement on the intellectual merits and deliverables;
- a statement on the broader impact of the project;
- a specific plan for seeking external funding.
- A description or narrative of the project and of the expected research outcomes (three pages max). The document should highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the project and the benefits and scope of the collaboration.
- A list of institutions or funding programs from which further funding will be sought.
- A budget, with justification (one page max).
- Optional: up to three letters of support from collaborators outside Dietrich College, if applicable.
The department heads of all faculty involved should be apprised of the work prior to submitting the letter of intent.
Review process
The Seed Grant proposals will be reviewed by a panel of three Dietrich faculty without potential conflicts of interest, including the associate dean of research. Grant applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- the intellectual merits and broader impacts of the project and its deliverables;
- the potential for synergistic interdisciplinary collaboration;
- the impact the grant will have on the chances of securing external funding.
Fall call dates:
- Letters of Intent due Sept. 1
- Invitations for full proposals issued by Sept. 15
- Full proposals due Oct. 15
- Decisions announced Nov. 1
- Funding awarded starting in January
Spring call dates:
- Letters of Intent due Jan. 31
- Invitations for full proposals issued by Feb. 15
- Full proposals due March 15
- Decisions announced by April 1
- Funding awarded starting in May, June or July