The Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment has identified five strategic research themes where PSIEE believes that Penn State can achieve global prominence: Climate and Ecosystem Change; Future Energy Supply; Health and the Environment; Smart Energy Systems; and Water and Biogeochemical Cycles.

PSIEE has established a Seed Grant Program with approximately $400,000 available to foster basic and applied research focused on these strategic research themes.

All Penn State faculty members (tenured, tenure track, and fixed term) who hold an appointment of half-time or more at any Penn State location are eligible to submit a seed grant proposal as a Principal Investigator.

Researchers, students and staff from Penn State, Pennsylvania state agencies, federal agencies, and private industry may be included as collaborators in seed grant proposals.

Preferred activities for funding under the Seed Grant Program are:

-- Development of new interdisciplinary research teams to position them for substantial external funding success

-- Novel research in theme areas, especially high-risk proof of concept projects

-- Demonstrated collaborations between junior and senior faculty involved in research development and mentorship

For the 2015-2016 PSIEE Seed Grant Program, the Institutes are highlighting several emerging opportunities, including health and the environment, the water energy nexus, climate change, and the future of the electric grid.

The Institutes are particularly interested in projects that develop and enable new scholarly communities around important energy and environmental datasets, and efforts that extend data and knowledge to have a positive impact on society.

Funds up to $5,000 can be awarded for a single investigator project, up to $10,000 for two or more faculty from the same college (University Park) or Commonwealth Campus, and up to $25,000 for multi college (across University Park) and multi campus (between campuses) collaborative grants.

The deadline for applications is November 18.

For more information on how to apply and the formal request for proposal, visit the Institute’s Seed Grant Program webpage.

11/16/2015