Seed Grants and Other Faculty Funding

Forming New Interdisciplinary Working Groups
Eligibility: PSU social and behavioral science faculty
Financial support range: $5,000 - $10,000
Deadline: Open until funding cap is reached

SSRI Level 1 Working Group funding is primarily designed to assist PSU social science faculty to form interdisciplinary research groups focusing on promising new interdisciplinary research topics who would organize colloquia, annual meetings, seminars or other convenings, and/or other research activities with the goal of developing competitive proposals for external funding.

Forming New Interdisciplinary Research Centers or Center Scale Initiatives
Eligibility: PSU social and behavioral science faculty at University Park and the College of Medicine
Financial support range: Funding for up to one month of summer salary or one course release for up to 3 faculty leading proposal development and who are likely to serve as PI/PD.
Deadline: Open - Until Funding Cap is reached

Faculty members who are engaging interdisciplinary colleagues across colleges, and potentially institutes, and who together create a critical mass of scholars and are ready to work towards the development of large institutional proposal(s) for external funding within the next one to two years are encouraged to apply. Additional funding for other expenses may be requested and must be justified by the budget request. The application process will begin with a 1-page letter of interest and consultation with the SSRI Director.

Forming New Interdisciplinary Teams, Small Pilot Studies, Community Engagement and Policy Development
Eligibility: PSU social and behavorial science faculty at University Park and the College of Medicine
Financial support range: Up to $5,000
Deadline: Open until funding cap is reached

SSRI Level 1 funding is primarily designed to assist PSU social science faculty at University Park and the College of Medicine to form interdisciplinary research teams to conduct research activities such as scientific meetings to develop research questions, conduct preliminary research to establish scientific premise (e.g.,. literature searches), and identify leaders, conduct pilot studies to pursue external funding, develop research partnerships with community organizations, conduct community engagement research activities, develop policy briefs, etc.

Pilot/Feasibility Studies To Support External Grant Applications And Other Impact
Eligibility: PSU social and behavorial science faculty at University Park and the College of Medicine
Financial support range: $5,000-$20,000
Deadline: Open until funding cap has been reached

SSRI Level 2 funding is primarily designed to assist PSU social science faculty at University Park and the College of Medicine to support research projects with an identified team of Penn State faculty collaborators, specific research questions, well-conceived theoretical basis, and the potential to secure external funding and/or have other measurable impact i.e.. education, policy, implementation, dissemination, novel methods, etc.

Population Research focused on Communities, Neighborhoods and Spatial Processes, Immigration, Migration and Immigrant Integration, Families, Networks and Social Change or Population Heath Grant
Eligibility: All Penn State PRI Faculty Associates and Affiliates
Financial support range: up to $10,000
Deadline: Open

PRI Seed Grants to provide support to develop proposals for external funding. Activities supported by new seed funding may include a course buyout for the lead investigator at a flat rate of $7,500, which has been negotiated with PRI-affiliated academic departments.

Independent and collaborative research between commonwealth campuses and interdisciplinary institutes and units at University Park.
Eligibility: Faculty at Commonwealth Campuses
Financial support range: up to $10,000, with an additional $500 for the UP mentor
Deadline: Open

Commonwealth Campus faculty are provided the opportunity to submit research proposals that will require access to Penn State’s shared facilities (equipment, instruments, capabilities, and/or expertise).

To encourage and support both independent and collaborative research projects between Penn State Commonwealth Campuses and core multi-user faculty and research facility staff at the Interdisciplinary Institutes at University Park and at the College of Medicine. For more information please see the attached flyer.