IMOD Seed Grant Application

The Year 5 IMOD Seed Grant Application is Now Open! 

We are pleased to announce the call for proposals for Year 5 IMOD Seed Grants!

Program Description: 

This call is open to non-funded faculty at the IMOD partnering institutions or by invitation to faculty at non-partnering institutions. IMOD Seed Awards are intended to respond to emerging or transformative areas of research, education, workforce development, broadening participation and knowledge transfer aligned with IMOD’s research mission, and to enable IMOD to continually reach out to, and draw from the ideas of a broader community.

Anticipated Type of Award:

IMOD Seed Awards are intended to be collaborative and must include an additional unfunded IMOD collaborator(s). The goals of IMOD Seed Awards are to support multidisciplinary teams active in areas complementary to IMOD’s current research and Integrative Activities (IA) profile and to broaden IMOD participation to encompass more members of the participating institutions. The anticipated funding period is twelve months.

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Submission Deadline

Proposals submitted by 5:00 PM Pacific Time on June 20, 2025, will be given priority. Late submissions may be considered, depending on the availability of funds.

Eligibility: 

An applicant may serve as Principal Investigator (PI or co-PI) on only one proposal in response to this call. The PI (and co-PIs, if applicable) must hold a faculty-level appointment at one of the participating institutions. All proposed research must be clearly distinct from ongoing externally funded research projects. Current IMOD senior investigators may not receive Seed funds but are encouraged to participate in the proposed work as unfunded collaborators. External (non-IMOD funded) institutions are not eligible for seed awards in Year 5.

Submission Deadline:

Proposals submitted by 5:00 PM Pacific Time on June 20, 2025, will be given priority. Late submissions may be considered, depending on the availability of funds

Award Duration:

The award period is anticipated to be from 10/1/2025 to 9/30/2026, with the possibility of submitting a one-time renewal proposal for a YR6 seed award if IMOD is renewed.

Award Information:

We anticipate funding up to three seed awards in Year 5, each up to $75,000.

External (Non-IMOD) Institutions

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External (non-IMOD funded) institutions are not eligible for seed awards in Year 5. However, IMOD recognizes external organizations represent an opportunity to bring new capabilities that enable IMOD to achieve its intellectual and broader impacts goals. In order to keep the external seed proposals manageable, the procedure for submitting external seed proposals in future years is as follows:

1. External seed proposals will be considered by invitation only. Only 1-2 external proposals will be considered per cycle. 

2. Invitations will be extended following a down-selection of nominations of external candidates by the management team. Any IMOD member may nominate an external proposer by completing the Nomination of External (Non-IMOD) Institutions for the IMOD Seed Program online form by May 3 (annually). The form is intentionally kept brief and will ask for the following information: The nominators name and institution, nominee’s name and institution, and a short (<100 word) description of how the new participant will significantly advance IMOD’s ability to achieve both its intellectual merit and broader impacts goals in ways that cannot be done within the existing network of currently funded institutions. 

3. All external Seeds will require NSF approval to modify the IMOD contract. If IMOD is unable to secure NSF approval to add a new institution to the contract in a timely fashion, the Seed proposal may be declined. 

Seed Nomination Form

Submission Requirements: 

A proposal requesting seed funding for a new project should be uploaded as a single (one file) attachment in PDF format with a file name LASTNAME_IMOD_SEED_YR5.

The proposal file should include:

  • Cover Page (one page) including:
    • Project title
    • Names, titles, and departmental affiliations of the PI and Co-PIs or collaborators
    • Complete contact information for the PI only
    • Names of student or postdoc researchers who will receive salary support if funded
    • Relevance to IMOD Research Thrusts (RT1, RT2, and/or RT3) and/or IA Programs
    • Proposal abstract (250 words maximum)
  • Project Narrative (not to exceed three pages): A description of the proposed work including the potential impact of research and/or integrative activities, and how the PI would accomplish the project goals. Any connections to optoelectronic materials for classical and quantum light should be emphasized.
  • References Cited (no page limit)
  • Budget Information (up to $75,000 for 12 months): Provide a succinct statement of work, a complete budget including overhead, and a budget justification. Your budget should include the following items:
    • Salaries, benefits, tuition. Seed funding can be used to support graduate students, undergraduate students, and postdoctoral scholars. Other salary types are not allowed.
    • Materials and Supplies.
    • Contractual Services. Facilities/instrumentation expenses are allowed if based on actual use and if required to advance the proposed research.
  • An NSF-formatted biographical sketch, not to exceed 3 pages, for the PI and any funded co-PIs.
  • An NSF-formatted Current and Pending Support form for the PI and any funded co-PIs.

External seed proposals are not being accepted this year.

Review Process:

Award recommendations will be based on internal review by the IMOD Seed Committee. Recommendations provided by the IMOD Seed Committee must be approved by the IMOD Management Team. Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  1. Intellectual Merit of the proposed activities
  2. Potential to advance one or more of the research discovery, education, broadening participation/workforce recruitment, workforce development, and knowledge transfer missions of the STC
  3. Potential for the Seed, and the holistic efforts of the Seed participants at all levels, to advance IMOD’s goals of creating a culture of mentorship in STEM
  4. Potential to complement or leverage existing IMOD capabilities and synergies
  5. Distinctiveness from ongoing funded research
  6. Potential to positively impact seed PI career trajectory

Submit your Proposal Here

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Budget Restrictions

​IMOD Seed grants are intended to primarily support student and postdoctoral researcher salaries and associated benefits, tuition, as well as research materials and supplies, and facilities user fees. The following expenses are not allowed: faculty salaries/benefits; computer or equipment purchases; travel; food and entertainment.

 

Terms and Conditions:

All selected proposals are subject to terms and conditions, including reporting requirements, that will be detailed in the award notification letter. In particular, these include:

  • All publications resulting fully or partially from IMOD Seed funding must appropriately acknowledge the IMOD support. (e.g., “This research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the IMOD STC under Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-2019444.”)
  • After completion of the project, a final written report will be required. Seed investigators must also provide brief summaries and an NSF “highlight” slide for inclusion in IMOD annual reports, as requested by the Center Director.
  • All purchases and HR appointments will be conducted in the home departments of the Seed investigators.
  • All external Seeds will require NSF approval to modify the IMOD contract. If IMOD is unable to secure NSF approval to add a new institution to the contract in a timely fashion, the seed proposal may be declined.
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