2025 IACS Seed Grant call
Institute for Advanced Computational Science
Seed Grants for Interdisciplinary Research Teams
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
DEADLINE: February 24, 2025
The Institute for Advanced Computational Science (IACS), with administrative support from the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), invites applications to a seed grant program for collaborative projects in computational science, including simulation and applications in AI.
This seed grant program is open to proposals aligned with any IACS research theme
1. Climate and Communities
2. Discovery of Molecules and Materials
3. Frontiers in Computation
4. Human-Centered Computing
but large awards under this call will only be made in themes 1, 2 and 3 since a large
award was
previously made in theme 4.
Please refer to the IACS Research Themes pagefor more information on these themes, and to the lists of core and affiliatefaculty for eligibility. The program will fund multidisciplinary teams for up to a two-year period, depending
on the availability of funds. IACS anticipates making
(a) one large award of up to $250K for a maximum project period of two years, and
(b) several small awards of up to $60K each for a maximum project period of one year.
A one-year, no-cost extension can be requested in the final 6 months of a project
with approval subject to progress towards project goals and active participation in
research themes.
Large Awards
Competitive applications will
● have computation at their core;
● have credible plans for ROI, noting in this call we are emphasizing anticipated extramural funding;
● contribute actively to the leadership of the related research theme(s);
● span multiple research groups including that of at least one IACS core faculty member;
● integrate students;
● document concrete and credible paths for significant growth in IACS-related
research volume (e.g., planned large research grant applications) and/or capabilities
for scholarship and research (e.g., new facilities, development of high-value data
sets or for scholarship and research (e.g., new facilities, development of high-value
data sets or software, hiring postdocs or research staff); and
● highlight innovations.
Small Awards
Competitive applications will
● have computation at their core;
● contribute actively to the related research theme(s);
● span two or more research groups;
● integrate students;
● document significant potential for future funding or other growth-oriented outcomes; and
● highlight innovations.
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HOW TO APPLY
Deadline: Monday, February 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST.
Projects are anticipated to commence in late spring or early summer, 2025.
Calendar:
10/16/24 (Wednesday)Announcement Released
2/24/25 (Monday) Application Deadline
4/14/25 (Monday) Decisions Announced
4/15/25 - 7/1/25 Award Start Date
Eligibility Requirements:
● To serve as Principal Investigator, an individual must have a current full-time
faculty
appointment at Stony Brook University, and must be affiliated with IACS as described
above.
● Per OVPR/RF policy, titles that require no prior approval from Chair to serve as
PI
include: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Distinguished Professor,
Clinical Professor, Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, and
Research Professor. Individuals with different titles are required to submit a letter
from
their Department Chair.
● Applicants can be PI or Co-PI on only one application.
● IACS PD Fellows are eligible to join an application as Co-PI.
Application:
All documents should be combined in the following order and uploaded to the portal link
as a single PDF file. Each section must start on a new page (the page limits for
each are listed below). Font size must be 11 points or larger with 1 inch margins.
Smaller text in
figures, graphs, diagrams and charts is acceptable, as long as it is legible when
the page is
viewed at 100%.
1. Abstract (300 word limit)
2. Description of Aims/Goals/Objectives (1 page limit) written in such a way that
the
content is accessible to reviewers from disciplines outside the proposal topic.
3. Significance Statement (1 page limit) that describes how the project will advance
the
relevant disciplines, grow IACS research volume, and contribute to collaborative research
at SBU.
4. Project Description (3 page limit for large proposals; 2 page limit for small proposals)
that explains the project goals and design, and how they align with the seed grant
objectives.
5. References (no limit)
6. Research Team and Roles (1 page limit) describing the strength of the team, the
unique
expertise of each member, prior experience with collaborative efforts and any shared
grants or publications among the team members. For training grants, this portion should
feature a description of the PIs and pool of training mentors.
7. Current and pending funding for all PIs and Co-PIs (no page limit)
8. Biosketch/CV for all PIs and Co-PIs generated by SciENcv
9. Budget Justification (no page limit) that includes:
1. A budget that does not exceed $250K for large proposals or $60K for
small proposals. Salary requests for PI/Co-PIs must present strong
justification and all personnel related expenses must include fringe. Travel
funds may be requested but must be necessary to perform the proposed
research. Given that these are internal funds, F&A costs should not be
included in the budget;
2. A timeline for spending the funds that is no more than two years for large proposals
and one year for small proposals.
3. A sustainability plan that includes
1. A timeline for submitting proposal(s) to an external sponsor with details about
the specific sponsor/program and RFP targeted, and scale of funding sought. IACS Seed
award periods will be no more than two years and teams are expected to apply for external
grants within the award period.
2. For any hire of a staff person, a plan for funding of the new position. This plan
may include requests for additional recurring funds, as outlined above.
Please note, MyResearch is not required.
Evaluation:
Applications will be peer reviewed by a panel selected by the Institute of Advanced
Computational Science, with these reviews guiding the final selection of awards by
IACS. The
following criteria will be used for evaluation:
● Fulfillment of the criteria set forth above for competitive applications
● External Funding: To what extent would the proposed research create opportunities
for
attracting external funding? How likely is it that the research team would submit
at least
one proposal to an external sponsor within the award period?
● Innovation and Excellence: What is the potential for the proposed project to advance
knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields?
● Match: How well does the project fit the areas of interest and the purpose of the
seed
grant, as described above?
● Overall Impact: To what extent would the proposed program benefit SBU’s and IACS’s
research community?
● Research Team: How well qualified is the team to conduct the proposed research?
Is the
team sufficiently diverse? Does the team have the necessary track record for the targeted
external funding opportunities? (Teams targeting multi-PI and center-scale research
grants should show a history of collaborative efforts. Teams targeting training grants
must have experience with training mechanisms and/or training program-level leadership.
Teams targeting equipment grants must have experience managing shared equipment
and/or should have a history of success with external equipment grants.)
● Budget: To what extent is the budget clear, efficient, and well-justified? Is the
sustainability plan credible?
Progress Report:
Awarded projects will be required to (1) make a five-minute presentation at an IACS
faculty and staff meeting twice per year for each active year of the project; (2)
submit a written annual progress/final report; (3) report on any outcomes of the project
for three years after the award period ends (e.g., funding, publications). Templates
will be provided by IACS. IACS Seed teams may be asked to present to the IACS Advisory
Board and in other similar settings.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS
For more information, please contact the Institute for Advanced Computational Science
at iacs@stonybrook.edu, subject “IACS Seed Grant”.
