The Office of the Provost is pleased to issue a request for proposals to support innovative faculty-led projects that leverage scholarly research for a broader societal impact. This work is intended to advance the University’s Fourth Purpose.

This seed grant funding initiative is designed to:

• encourage multi-disciplinary faculty research;
• engage neighboring community members as key stakeholders (i.e., planners, decision makers, consultants) on social impact research projects;
• engage government agencies, civil society organizations, industry, nonprofits, community groups, among others;
• enable the expertise of faculty to have a broader societal impact; and
• develop pilot data that faculty may utilize to secure external funding.

Deans and Department Chairs should alert eligible faculty members about this request for proposals. Given the limited number of slots, Schools are strongly encouraged to develop a process for determining which faculty proposals will be prioritized and put forward in this round. Departments planning to nominate a faculty member should coordinate with their Dean. Proposals must be submitted with the support and signature of the School’s Dean.

The application package must include:

• Please upload the applicant’s proposal (not to exceed 4 pages), describing: 
  • Project goals, objectives and scope
  • Statement on the multidisciplinary nature of the project and its and potential to engage a range of university constituents, including faculty, staff, students, and/or neighboring community members
  • Plan to engage neighboring community members as key stakeholders (i.e., planners, decision makers, consultants) on social impact research activities
  • Evaluation criteria and planned methodology for evaluation 
  • Statement on the scalability and/or replicability of the project
  • Budget projection and narrative, including plan to acquire matching funds or confirmation of matching funds. We recognize that the proposed budget is based on your estimate of costs. The actual budget, and Office of the Provost award, will be based on the final costs and matching funds.
• Applicant(s) curriculum vitae

NOTE: The proposal should be written in such a way that it is understandable to an interdisciplinary review panel.

Proposal Budget

Please use the template below to upload a budget projection and narrative that details an estimate of the projected budget needed to successfully complete this project. Please create a separate row for each budget item (e.g. research assistance personnel, including salary and fringe; supplies/materials; meetings; other costs; etc.), and provide an estimate of total project costs.

Download the budget projection and narrative.