Faculty Research Support Program: Seed Funding

Eligible Projects

• New, innovative projects that are targeted for submission to a specific external federal, state, international, or private non-profit entity and that will benefit from the acquisition of data or proof of concept
• Projects of individual faculty members in the sciences, arts, humanities, and social sciences are eligible as well as projects involving collaboration between physical and natural scientists and the arts, humanities, or social sciences.

Ineligible Projects

• Renewals and continuation projects
• Similar projects currently supported by other internal or external funding mechanisms at the campus or university level
• Proposals focused on the development of teaching or academic programs
• Non-funded competitive renewal proposals: funding for such non-funded renewal proposals should be sought through the Bridge Funding Program.
• Proposals already supported by grants in the IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Program https://research.iu.edu/funding-proposals/funding/opportunities/presidential-arts-humanities/index.html
• Proposals from commercial, industrial, and other for-profit entities

   Eligible as PIs

• All tenured and tenure‐eligible faculty
• Research scientists
• Research center directors
• Emeriti faculty members who are still active in research. (Some budgetary restrictions may apply. Contact your fiscal officer or the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs for details.)
• Non-tenure track faculty (i.e., clinical faculty, lecturers) whose evaluation criteria are based on research activity, are eligible with a letter from their department chair stating their “evaluation criteria are based on research activity.”  This letter should be included with the application form.

  Not Eligible as PIs

• Visiting and adjunct faculty members
• Staff scientists (support‐oriented positions)
• Postdoctoral research associates
• Previous awardees of IU Research funds for the same or highly similar projects
• IUPUI faculty transitioning to Purdue University in July 2024
• An investigator may not serve as PI or Co-PI on more than one FRSP-Seed proposal in a given round.
• Previous FRSP-Seed awardees are ineligible to receive an additional FRSP-Seed award unless they have met the requirements in their previous award letter (i.e. submitted a final report, submitted evidence of an external submission based in part on work from the previous award).

Application requirements

Applicants must complete an electronic application and upload a completed application form. Please note page limitations.

Application sections include:

Section 1 Abstract and Key Personnel:

• State the proposal’s long-term objectives and specific aims. Describe concisely the research design and methods for achieving these objectives. Avoid summaries of past accomplishments and the use of the first person. The abstract is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work when separated from the application. Do not include proprietary/confidential information.
• Keep the abstract to a half page.
• List all key personnel and their Include role descriptions in Section 5.

 Section 2 Research Plan (5-page maximum):

• Research Plans longer than five (5) pages will not be reviewed
  
  The Research Plan should include the following sections:

Introduction: Review relevant prior work and identify the gaps that the project is intended to fill. Describe the rationale for the proposed study and state the overall objective. Clearly state the importance and relevance of the proposed work (e.g., to test the stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm, address a critical barrier to progress in the field or develop a new technology). Discuss any novel ideas or contributions that the project offers.

Specific Aims: List the specific aims for the proposed project and relate them to the broad, long-term goals of the project.

Preliminary Data: Describe any preliminary results that support the proposed project.

Design and Methods: Describe the research design, conceptual or clinical framework, and procedures that will be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Describe the approach to be used for data analyses and interpretation. Justification for sample size, including power calculations should be included. Provide a tentative sequence or timetable for the project. If clinical studies are involved, give details of responsibility for patient selection and patient care.

Future Funding/Sustainability: Provide a detailed explanation of how this project (and future projects based on it) can be sustained through external funding sources. This must include a timetable for submission and the identification of the specific funding opportunity and agency.

Resubmissions (if applicable): Describe how the proposed research will address the reviewers’ comments and thus increase the likelihood of external funding upon resubmission.

Section 3 Budget:

• Funds will not be allocated to non-IU collaborators.
• Faculty salary cannot be supported through this mechanism except for faculty on a 10-month appointment who can request up to one month of support.
• Travel expenses are not allowed unless necessary for completion of the proposed work.
  
  Section 4 Budget Justification (2 page maximum):
  
  
• Describe the role of each individual on the project and list their %FTE on the project (including %FTE on the project not covered by FRSP funds).
• List each item of equipment with amount requested separately and justify each purchase.
• Itemize supplies in separate categories, such as glassware, chemicals, radioisotopes, etc.
• If animals are to be purchased, state the species and the number to be used.
• Only list travel that is necessary to conduct research and justify.

 Section 5 Personnel (1 page maximum): Provide a list of all personnel (even if individuals have not been determined) that provides:

• Name or TBD
• School, department, center where applicable
• Roles of each (PI, Co-PI, collaborator, consultant, mentor, grad student, post doc, staff, etc.)
• Percent effort to be contributed to the project even if not receiving funding directly
• Name of primary mentor for undergraduate and graduate students

 Section 6 Appendix:

• A biosketch or CV must be included for all key personnel, each limited to three (3) pages. List all current and pending internal and external research support, as well as past support for the previous three years.
• Describe the facilities available for this project including laboratories, clinical resources, office space, animal quarters, major items of equipment available for this work, etc.