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  2024 Seed Grant Winners 

Summary Information

• Award Amount: Up to $60,000
• Award Duration: 18 months
• Total Program Funding: Approximately $1,000,000 annually
• Funding Offices: Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Research & Innovation Office (RIO)

Program Description

Research & Innovation Seed Grants aim to stimulate inter- and multidisciplinary research, scholarship and creative projects with high potential for innovation and/or impact.

These grants support creative, and sometimes high-risk, high-reward initiatives, including team development proposals for future large collaborative projects. Projects may take a variety of forms but should represent an investment in advancing the university’s future research, scholarly or creative activities.

Proposals are reviewed in categories that ensure faculty from all disciplines can compete successfully, even if their discipline is not traditionally associated to sponsored research. We encourage proposals from all disciplines, especially those involving interdisciplinary collaboration and emerging fields. Seed grant categories are listed below. Proposals and project activities that support justice, equity, diversity and inclusion are encouraged.

Projects that establish or leverage external partnerships (e.g., industry, national labs, universities, community nonprofits) are particularly welcomed. For projects involving external partners, requests can be up to $60,000, provided the external partner supplies a 1:1 match up to $25,000 (i.e., total budget up to $85,000, with $60,000 from CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ and $25,000 from the external partner). A letter of financial commitment outlining the contribution amount and commitment duration is required from any external partner. Projects involving external partners should apply under the External Partnerships category.

Categories 

• Arts & Humanities
• Basic Physical Sciences
• Biomedical Sciences / Life Sciences
• Engineering & Applied Sciences
• External Partnerships
• Geological & Environmental Sciences
• Social Sciences & Professional Schools

Eligibility

All CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty, Instructors and Senior Instructors (including Teaching Assistant Professors, Teaching Associate Professors, and Teaching Professors), and Career Track Research Faculty (i.e., Research Professors Series, Senior Research Associates* (SRA), and Research Associates* (RA)) who hold an appointment of half-time or greater are eligible to apply. The lead PI must be employed by CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ. Co-PIs can be funded as long as they are CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ faculty. Collaborators from other institutions are permitted but cannot receive funding from the program. *Postdoctoral Associates, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Research Associates/Senior Research Associates in short-term, transitional postdoctoral training positions should not apply as the intent of this award is to foster new and innovative programs of research and scholarly activity that will be of long-term benefit to CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ.

Additional eligibility information:

• Applicants may submit no more than one proposal as a funded PI or Co-PI.
• Applicants can serve on multiple proposals as unpaid co-PIs.
• PIs with active Research & Innovation Seed Grant awards cannot serve as unpaid lead PIs for other projects but may serve as unpaid Co-PIs.
• Both PIs and co-PIs may only receive funding for one active seed grant at a time.
• Projects with a major scientific or budgetary overlap with the PI's active research support are not eligible.
• Projects with a primary focus on curriculum development are not eligible.
• Faculty course or teaching buy-out is not an eligible expense.
• Applicants with existing resources that could fund their project are discouraged.
• Applicants may request up to two weeks of summer salary in their proposal budgets. 

Application Process and Requirements

Proposals must be submitted electronically through the application portal. Applicants self-select the proposal category in which their proposal will be reviewed.

Annual Timeline

Budget

• Maximum Budget Request: $60,000
• Co-PIs can be paid as long as they are CU faculty. Collaborators from other institutions may not be paid.
• For External Partnership projects, requests can be up to $60,000, provided the external partner provides a 1:1 match up to $25,000. Thus, the total budget could be up to $85,000, with $60,000 from CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ and $25,000 from the external partner.

Project Duration: Up to 18 months.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals should use clear writing appropriate for non-specialists and make a strong case for the project’s importance to reviewers outside the discipline. Proposal documents should be in Arial 11-point type with at least 0.5" margins and should include the PI's name and the year of proposal within the document title (e.g., MRuzzene2025SeedGrant.pdf).

All proposals should include the components below in one PDF document and be clearly marked by section. Proposals that fail to comply with these requirements will not be reviewed.

• Proposal/Project Plan: Describe the aims, significance, methods and expected outcomes of the project, highlighting any new or creative directions, future payoff potential or value/impact (especially in the case of arts and humanities proposals). For relevant disciplines, explain why the concept will be competitive for future extramural funding and identify specific external programs targeted for future funding requests. If applicable, include a mentoring plan (2-3 sentences) describing how postdocs, graduate students and/or undergraduates will benefit from training and how progress will be assessed. The maximum length is 5 pages, including tables, figures, charts, references and any other supporting information.
• Supplemental Materials (these do not count toward the 5-page proposal limit):
  • PI Curriculum Vitae: Up to 2 pages.
  • Abstract/Project Summary: Provide a concise summary of the project accessible to general audiences. Explain how the project will foster future research, scholarly and creative vitality at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ. 350 words maximum; up to 1 page.
  • Co-PIs/Collaborators: Name, title, institution, unit/department and role(s). Up to 1 page.
  • Budget and Budget Justification: Use this template for the budget. Budget requests are intended to support postdocs, graduate students or undergraduates. Requests solely for faculty salary support are discouraged; however, applicants may request up to two weeks of summer salary. No overhead or indirect costs are allowed. Provide a justification of the items requested in the budget. Particular attention should be given to justifying budget items that may not be immediately clear to reviewers who are familiar with (but not experts in) your specific field. Up to 2 pages total (approximately 1 page for the budget and 1 page for the budget justification).
  • Honors, Awards, Representative Scholarly Work or Publications Relevant to Proposal: Highlight published work that directly addresses the PI’s ability to carry out the proposed project. Up to 2 pages.
  • Letter of Financial Commitment (for External Partnership projects only): A letter of financial commitment is required from any external partner and must outline the contribution amount and length of financial commitments. Up to 1 page.

Review Process

Faculty volunteers review proposals, provide comments, convene to discuss proposals and recommend proposals for funding. Proposals will be evaluated in three primary areas: 

• Intellectual Merit: Merit and quality of research, scholarship or creative work, with potential to contribute value to the respective discipline and advance knowledge, especially through novel approaches.
• Impact: Potential to benefit discipline(s), society or the vitality of the university’s research, scholarship or creative work.
• Inter- / multidisciplinarity: Potential to foster collaborations and partnerships across disciplines and support team development for future collaborations.

The potential to obtain future funding will also be considered in the review process for appropriate disciplines.

Note on Discipline-Specific Reviews: Discipline-specific considerations will be taken into account during the review process. RIO understands that merit, impact and success are defined differently across disciplines and that opportunities for funding vary. For example, the potential to attain future funding is typically not weighted as heavily in the Arts & Humanities category.

Reviewer Sign-Up

Serving as a reviewer provides an invaluable opportunity to understand the key elements of a successful proposal. If you are not ready to apply, serve as a reviewer and gain valuable insights into how to succeed!

Terms and Conditions

Seed grant recipients agree to the following conditions:

1. Reporting: Recipients are required to submit two at six-month intervals. The first Progress Report is due six months after the grant begins, and the second is due 12 months into the grant. Additionally, a Final Report must be submitted to RIO within 30 days after the project period ends. For projects involving postdocs, recipients are required to develop an Individual Development Plan (IDP) with each postdoc; see resources here. A copy of the IDP will be requested for Progress Reports. RIO will provide detailed report requirements and submission guidelines.
2. External Funding: Recipients are strongly encouraged to submit a proposal for external funding (for related work) within 18 months of receiving the grant.
3. Significant Outcomes: If a significant outcome of this seed grant award is realized at any time (e.g., securing an external grant, publication of a significant piece of work, an invention, a key creation or performance, etc.), recipients will immediately notify RIO in writing by emailing rioseedgrant@colorado.edu.
4. PI Change: If there is a change or absence (60 days or greater) in PI, recipients will immediately contact and provide a justification to RIO at rioseedgrant@colorado.edu.
5. Exclusive Funding: Recipients must not seek or accept funding from any other RIO funding source for the same project or activities funded under this award including but not limited to AB Nexus, New Frontiers Grants, Research & Innovation Office Arts & Humanities Grants and/or additional Research & Innovation Office funding.
6. Review Panel Service: Recipients agree to serve on a Research & Innovation Seed Grant review panel for the following review cycle. They cannot be lead PIs or paid Co-PIs/collaborators on proposals submitted in the cycle immediately following their award cycle. Recipients may serve as unpaid co-PIs. Recipients agree to score and provide written comments on assigned proposals before the review deadline and participate in a review meeting.  Recipients on sabbatical or family leave during the review period will serve as a reviewer the next cycle. If a recipient fails to serve as a reviewer during the next cycle, funds may be suspended.
7. Compliance: If the project involves any compliance issues (e.g., IRB, IACUC, EHS, biohazardous material, etc.), recipients certify that the appropriate campus compliance offices will be notified before initiating any work.
8. Funding Access: Awards will be made available through the financial office in recipients’ respective college/school/institute on the first day of July following award notification. The budget office at the PI’s respective college/school/institute will set up the speedtype (account) number for the award, and RIO will transfer the funds to the speedtype. Recipients should contact their respective budget office for the speedtype in June following award notification. 
9. Project Duration and No-Cost Extensions: The project duration is up to 18 months (July 1 [Year 1] – December 31 [Year 2]). No-cost extension requests of 3 or 6 months must be approved by RIO before the project termination date. No-cost extension requests must include: 1) a justification for the extension; 2) a plan for using the funds during the extension period; and 3) the length of extension. These requests should be sent to rioseedgrant@colorado.edu. Unused funds at the end of the project will be returned to RIO.
10. Suspension of Funds: If a recipient fails to fulfill any of the aforementioned conditions, RIO reserves the right to suspend funds.

Questions?

Contact   rioseedgrant@colorado.edu with any questions or comments.