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Features of the SEGway Program's Seed Funding Category

Commitment: Faculty who are awarded Seed Funding are expected to commit to applying for an external research grant within two to five years of their Seed Funding award, provided that the exploratory nature of the grant was successful.

Proportionality: It is expected that the anticipated external grant request will be appropriately proportional to the Seed Funding award. For example, seed funding of $1,000 to $2,000 should probably lead to an external grant or fellowship request of $10,000 to $25,000. Seed funding of $3,000 to $6,000 should probably lead to an external grant or fellowship request of $25,000 to $250,000.

Flexibility: Each faculty member has individual needs regarding what kinds of investments would help them become better positioned to apply for and receive external research grant dollars. Below are just a sampling of possible activities for which faculty could seek support. In order to ensure that faculty are requesting the best possible form of funding for their individual needs, faculty are encouraged to discuss with the Director of Sponsored Research activities for which they plan to seek support.

Possible Forms of Support and Specific Guidance:

1. travel support to meet with possible grant collaborators (Estimated support per request: $1,000)
2. travel and registration support to attend well-regarded grant-writing workshops, ideally sponsored by funders (Estimated support per request: $1,000 - $1,500) A list of recommended workshops/webinars is available.
3. stipend support for another CC faculty member (who has been successful in research grants) to serve as a mentor during the external grant application process (Estimated support per request: $500.) The Director of Faculty Research Support may have suggestions
4. stipend support for a non-CC "expert in the field" to read an external grant application and provide comments and suggestions (Estimated support per request: $500) Please discuss with your potential collaborator your expectations for their role and what kind of stipend you will request.
5. research grant support (similar to divisional funding) that helps you achieve a "proof of concept" or "preliminary results" needed to be well-positioned for external funding (Estimated support per request: likely similar to the average grant size in your division)
6. stipend support to develop and prepare institutional research grant applications (Estimated support: comparable to the time committed, at ~$4,000 per month of full-time work)
7. stipend support to successfully submit a proposal to NSF's Major Research Instrumentation program (Special guidance associated with this, as each institution is limited to submitting no more than 2 MRI acquisition grants each January; please discuss with Director of Sponsored Research)
8. stipend support to serve as a first-time grant reviewer for a major funder, such as the NEH, ACLS, or NSF. (Estimated stipend support per request: $1,000) Serving as a grant reviewer is an excellent orientation to the grant process, helps you develop an understanding of  an agency’s review process, and allows you to meet colleagues in your field. Agencies are always looking for reviewers. Please obtain an invitation from a funder to serve as a panelist prior to requesting SEGway funding. Links to some agencies are listed below, but please contact Tess if you would like to review for an opportunity not listed here and she can help you look into it.