Community-Engaged Research Partnership Development Seed Grant Program

Eligibility: PSU social and behavioral science faculty
Financial support range: Up to $20,000
Deadline: April 1, 2026

The Social Science Research Institute’s Community-Engaged Research, Action and Partnerships (CERAP) Unit announces the availability of pilot project funds to develop new or strengthen existing community-engaged research partnerships. Community-engaged research (CEnR) occurs across a continuum; some projects may have little input from community partners, whereas others include community members as equal partners. CERAP’s approach to conducting CEnR (a) includes community and university members as equitable partners involved in every phase of the research, including co-design, implementation, evaluation and dissemination, (b) is responsive to community priorities and needs, and (c) includes input from directly impacted populations. The purpose of this seed grant program is to support teams of community partners and Penn State investigators who aim to build equitable partnerships with the long-term goal of co-creating and co-leading a CEnR project.Community partners may be community organizations, public agencies, community-based organizations, social service agencies, grassroots groups, coalitions, networks, advocacy groups, policy makers, and civic leaders, and other relevant stakeholder groups whose work aligns with the mission of CERAP to build capacity for ethical, sustainable and transformative CEnR. Teams can have a focus on community-engaged research across domains such as health and wellness, education, arts, humanities, child and family development, criminal justice and other disciplines. Proposals will be reviewed by the CERAP Co-Directors and Steering Committee. CEnR Grant proposals should explicitly identify an issue or topic of focus, initial thoughts about the collaborative process you will undertake, and a team that will have the capacity to develop a co-created research project to meet address community-identified priorities and needs.

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Funding Contact :

If you need to make changes to the project team, description, design, or budget during the course of your projects, please send a request to ssri-seed-grant@psu.edu with the specific details of these changes.

If have questions about these funding opportunities, please contact: Jason Shumberger , Ph.D., MPA