Joint CPRC-ISERP Seed Grant

The Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy and the Columbia Population Research Center announce a joint call for proposals for one-year research Seed Grant Awards of up to $40,000 for the 2024–2025 academic year, from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The main goal of this project is to help faculty lay the groundwork for intellectually innovative population research to the point where they can attract external funding.  Priority is placed on high-risk, high-return research, including work that develops new theories, identifies new areas of methodological innovation, or that bridges different substantive domains. Projects may be domestic, international, or comparative.

Projects supported through this program can be used for various activities that will promote an externally funded grant application, such as pilot data collection and support for a research assistant to conduct data analysis for a publication and/or proposal development tasks. Seed Grant funding may not be used for faculty release time, faculty summer salary, or computer purchases. Food purchases that adhere to the NIH Grants Policy Statement guidelines are allowable.

These awards should have the potential to lead to additional federal, foundation, or private funding. Recipients of the award are required to submit future grants through ISERP.  Awardees will be asked to present a talk on their project. Seed grants are awarded for a period of one-year. In some cases, we will grant no-cost extensions, if justified.

Note: This announcement pertains to the joint ISERP-CPRC seed grant program. For information about the CRPC Seed Grant program, please click here. For information about the ISERP Seed Grant program, please click here.

We encourage applicants, particularly those submitting for the first time, to speak with a member of ISERP’s research development office.  Learn more by visiting ISERP Seed Grants and the CPRC Seed Grant Program.

Eligibility

Applicant teams must include at least one full-time faculty member appointed in one of the six social science departments in Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University or SIPA, and are welcome to include faculty from CSSW, MSPH, and other professional schools. We especially encourage early career faculty to apply.  Priority will be given to junior faculty and applicants who are active participants in CPRC’s intellectual community.  We highly encourage members from groups that are historically underrepresented in academic research to apply. All PIs must play an active role in the proposed project.

Applicants should submit:

  • A 5-page research proposal that details the specific aims, background to the study, preliminary data (if any), research plan, innovation/significance and future plans, and details on each investigator’s role on the project.
  • Line item budget, utilizing the budget sheet attached to this call (download, prepare, and submit with application)
  • Budget narrative explaining how line items in the budget relate to the early work you need to convert your ideas into a fundable project
  • Detailed plan for seeking outside funding
  • CV’s or NSF Style Biosketch for each investigator
  • Proposals should be submitted electronically via ISERP’s website here.

Proposals will be funded on the basis of:

  • The intellectual merit and innovation of the proposed project and its thematic ties with CPRC’s primary research areas, inequality, and anti-racist research
  • The seed grant’s relationship to the proposed major project
  • The project’s organization and judicious use of funds
  • The plausibility of the investigator’s plan for seeing outside funding

Duration

One (1) Year

Award Amount

Up to $40,000

Application Deadline

April 15, 2024

Award Period

July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025

Apply Now