UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Proposals are now being accepted for Penn State's Institute of Energy and the Environment’s (IEE) 2025 Seed Grant Program. All proposals must align with at least one of IEE’s research themes: climate and natural systems; health and the environment; integrated energy systems; equitable communities and the built environment; or water sustainability.
The program is open to all Penn State faculty members, including tenured, tenure-track and fixed-term, who hold an appointment of half-time or more at any Penn State campus. New teams of investigators will be given preference over those who have previously received an IEE seed grant.
Proposals are limited to two pages and must be submitted by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 9. The request for proposals is available online.
The IEE Seed Grant Program is a valuable resource for Penn State faculty who are working to address environmental and energy challenges. The goal of the IEE Seed Grant Program is to support basic and applied research on strategic interdisciplinary topics that leverage faculty expertise across the University. It also looks to develop new interdisciplinary research teams and position them for high-impact research and substantial external funding success. The program also encourages pursuit of novel research in IEE’s research themes, including high-risk proof of concept projects. Lastly, it promotes research development and mentorship between junior and senior faculty.
The 2024 Seed Grant Program, which required a climate component for each project, awarded 11 interdisciplinary projects involving more than 30 researchers from eight colleges and two campuses. The projects are addressing a wide range of energy and environmental challenges connected to climate change, including power outages during extreme weather, climate-smart agroforestry, visualizing inland flood hazards and renewable energy harvesting.
Since 2016, the IEE Seed Grant Program has consistently resulted in projects that have gone on to obtain external funding. The return on investment for the program is currently at 19 to one, or $19 in external funding for every dollar invested by IEE with more than $100 million in related external funding.