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The Research & Innovation Seed Grant program—designed to stimulate new areas of research, scholarship and creativity on the University of Colorado Boulder campus—is accepting proposals through Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. 

The Research & Innovation Office (RIO) is hosting a  to help applicants strengthen proposals in advance of the Jan. 20 deadline. 

Research & Innovation Seed Grants, now up to $60K, support creative, and sometimes high-risk, high-reward initiatives including team development proposals for future large collaborative research projects. Proposed projects may take a variety of forms and will represent an investment in advancing the university’s future research, scholarly or creative activities.

RIO encourages proposals from all disciplines at ���������� Boulder, especially those involving inter- or multidisciplinary collaboration, projects in emerging fields, and activities that support diversity, equity and inclusion.

Projects to establish or leverage external partnerships (e.g. industry, national labs, universities, community nonprofits, etc.) are also welcomed. See the guidelines for full details.

Proposals are reviewed in the categories below to allow faculty from all disciplines the opportunity to compete successfully, even if their discipline is not traditionally connected to sponsored research. 

• Arts & Humanities
• Basic Physical Sciences
• Biomedical Sciences
• Engineering & Applied Sciences
• External Partnerships
• Geological & Environmental Sciences 
• Social Sciences & Professional Schools

Previous funded projects include those from Law, Engineering, Geological Sciences, Integrative Physiology, Sociology, Environmental Studies and Theatre & Dance, among many other disciplines. A complete list of previous seed grant recipients and funded projects is available on the Research & Innovation Seed Grant webpage. 

Seed grant projects have been remarkably successful in attracting follow-on funding outside of the university. Millions in public and private funding have been awarded to further develop programs jumpstarted by these seed grants.

Apart from financial returns, the positive impacts of seed grant funding are significant, including for the arts and humanities. New data and cross-campus collaborations are often achieved, opening opportunities that may otherwise not come to fruition. Funded projects also provide undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and other investigators with formative research and creative work experiences.

For full Research & Innovation Seed Grant application details and requirements, visit the Research & Innovation Seed Grant webpage. Questions can be directed to rioseedgrant@colorado.edu.