The Seed Grant Program was established to support efforts by faculty to seek external funding for research.
Maximum Grant | $3,000
External Funding Seed Grant Program Guidelines
Faculty; Must be tenured or have tenure-track appointment at time of application. No proposal will be accepted from investigators who have an open R&D Grant (Faculty Research, Curriculum, Research Project Initiation, Regional Research, or Seed Grant) at the time of application.
- Release time (including either a direct summer stipend or associate faculty replacement funds during the academic year)
- Travel Funds clearly related to the research project (e.g. to visit federal funding agencies)
- Student or hourly assistants
- Supplies, expendable equipment, or software
- Other expenses critical to development of a successful external support proposal
Grants will be based on submitted pre-proposals for one or more external proposals to be developed. There will be no specific deadline. Proposals will be reviewed by the Research and Development Committee, who will provide evaluations and recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The final decision on grants rests with the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs or his/her delegate. Grantees will be required to provide regular progress reports to the Contracts and Grants Coordinator and to submit at least one major proposal (> $10,000) to an external funding source within one year of award. Failure to address all the application materials and questions (see below) may result in the application being rejected. Failure to submit a major proposal will result in the PI becoming ineligible to receive any Research and Development funding (Faculty Research, Curriculum, Research Project Initiation, Regional Research, or Seed Grant).
Submit the following:
- Proposal Route Sheet
- One or more pre-proposals to external funding sources
- Cover letter describing timing and proposed use of the seed grant
- Budget for requested funds
- Letter of support from applicant’s dean, chair, or program director. Letters of support do not require original signatures but should be sent from the author's email account.
Electronic proposal submission is encouraged (except for signed route sheet). Staff of the IU South Bend Research Office are available to assist in preparing applications.
Applicants will be notified by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the status of their application approximately three weeks after submission. Unless a longer timeline is approved, all funding must be used within one year of the grant; unused funds will revert back to the Seed Grant Fund. All Seed Grants will terminate when the recipient’s appointment at IU South Bend comes to an end and unused funds will revert back to the Seed Grant Fund.
Updated August 29, 2017