SSRI Level 1

The hand of a child planting a seedling in soil.

SSRI Level 1

- Open -

Forming New Interdisciplinary Teams, Small Pilot Studies, Community Engagement and Policy Development
Eligibility: PSU social and behavioral science faculty
Financial support range: Up to $5,000
Deadline: Jun. 30, 2026

SSRI Level 1 funding is primarily designed to assist PSU social science faculty 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.

Download Files :

Level-1-Proposal-Requirements-January-2026.docx (46.04 KB)
Level-1-Proposal-Form-January-2026.doc (82.5 KB)
Level I_Budget_Template 2025.xls (37 KB)
Level 1 Example Proposal.pdf (954.11 KB)

Funding Contact :

ssri-seed-grant@psu.edu

Apply Here

Funded Projects

Project Team
Mare Sarr, Associate Professor, International Affairs and African Studies

Project Description

Globally, the demand for cashew nuts has risen substantially over the past two decades. Africa has been a major supplier of raw cashew nuts in the global value chain, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total growth in production. This collaborative project aims to explore how to leverage the potential of cashew nuts, a climate-resilient high-value oil nut crop, for improved income generation and job creations via profitable entrepreneurship, and for enhanced food security in Kenya's coastal region, which has seen the cashew industry stagnate and decline over the years. This multidisciplinary and multidimensional project aims to initiate a strong collaborative research effort between PSU researchers (from multiple colleges), Kenyan-based researchers, and stakeholders from Kenya's cashew industry (farmers, cashew processors, NGOs and government). It will serve as a steppingstone to build a broader and larger multidisciplinary grant proposal. This seed grant will help organize working meetings and scoping key informant interviews with local stakeholders to identify constraints and bottlenecks along the value chain, build relationships with private sector actors, write up a working paper, develop and submit a larger proposal for external sponsored funding.