Seed Money Grants

Description

The purpose of the SSRI Seed Money Grants Program is to help Rice School of Social Sciences faculty collect preliminary data or conduct preliminary research that will lead to the submission, revision, or resubmission of a competitive proposal to an external funding agency within 12 months after the end of the SSRI Seed Money Grant award period.

This program is intended to support early-stage research activities that strengthen the competitiveness of future external funding proposals.

Application Deadlines (Due by 11:45 p.m. CST)

Fall cycle: Sunday, October 25, 2026
Spring cycle: Sunday, April 11, 2027

Award Information (FY27)

Estimated Number of Awards: 6
Anticipated Funding Amount per Award: Up to $10,000

Expected project start dates are as follows:

Fall cycle: January 1, 2027
Spring cycle: July 1, 2027

Eligibility

The SSRI Seed Money Grants Program is open to full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members at all ranks. The Principal Investigator must hold a primary appointment in a School of Social Sciences department. Faculty may receive no more than one SSRI Seed Money Grant per academic year. Faculty who receive an SSRI Seed Money Grant but do not submit an external grant proposal within the required timeframe will be ineligible to apply for future SSRI Seed Money Grants, unless an exception is approved in advance due to sponsor-cycle timing or other documented circumstances. Faculty may participate in only one competitive SSRI faculty funding proposal per funding cycle, whether as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, or other named investigator. For purposes of this eligibility restriction, competitive SSRI faculty funding proposals are limited to the SSRI Collaborative Research Grant Program and the SSRI Seed Money Grants Program.

Funding

Requests may be up to $10,000 and must be clearly justified in the application. The amount awarded may differ from the amount requested. Applications will be evaluated by a review panel that includes faculty representatives from multiple departments in the School of Social Sciences, the Dean of Social Sciences, and the Associate Dean for Research. Proposals must be written for a multidisciplinary academic audience.

All research must comply with applicable Rice University policies and requirements, including Institutional Review Board approval for human subjects research, when applicable. IRB approval must be obtained before human subjects research begins.

All funds remaining at the time of award expiration will be returned to SSRI. The PI or the PI’s home department will be responsible for covering any budget overruns or deficits, which must be paid from non-sponsored funds. No-cost extensions will not be granted.

Allowable Expenses

SSRI Seed Money Grant funds may be used for reasonable and necessary research-related expenses that directly support the proposed project.

Allowable expenses may include research-related travel, including transportation, lodging, and other necessary travel costs; wages for staff, graduate students, or undergraduate student workers, including applicable fringe benefits and tuition remission; subject compensation or participant payments; research supplies; special software directly tied to the project; and other miscellaneous research-related costs necessary to complete the proposed work.

Travel funding requests must include actual dollar estimates of anticipated expenses. Meals and other subsistence costs, including per diem for meals or incidental expenses, are not allowable.

The following expenses are not allowable under this program: faculty supplemental compensation; conference or workshop travel; computer hardware; meals and other subsistence costs, including meal or incidental per diem; and general-purpose equipment or software not directly tied to the proposed project.

Funds must be used for the approved project. Significant rebudgeting may require prior approval from SSRI.

Application Procedure

Applicants must submit the completed online Seed Money Grant application at the bottom of this page by the stated deadline. Required proposal components are listed below. Incomplete applications will not be considered for funding.

All application materials must be written in at least 11-point Arial or Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins and single spacing, and saved as a PDF.

  1. Proposal narrative (maximum of 3 pages): The proposal narrative may not exceed three pages. Appendices are not allowed. The narrative should describe the proposed research and explain how it is expected to lead to a larger research project for which external funding will be sought. The research question, project goals, and proposed methods should be clearly explained and written for a non-specialist academic audience. The proposal narrative should address the significance and innovation of the proposed research in the context of existing literature; the research question or problem being addressed; the methods or approach that will be used; the anticipated end product of the SSRI-funded research; and how the project will position the faculty member to pursue external funding. Relevant literature should be included in a separate References or Bibliography section. References do not count toward the three-page narrative limit. The proposal narrative must include a project timeline within the three-page narrative limit. The timeline may be presented as a brief subsection, paragraph, table, or other clear format within the narrative and should indicate when the research will begin, where it will be conducted, major project milestones, and when the research activities will end.
  2. Potential funding sources: Applicants must include a list of potential external funding sources appropriate for the proposed research and for expanding the project beyond the SSRI award period. For each potential funding source, include the funding agency or sponsor; name of the funding opportunity; link to the funding announcement or request for proposals, if available; anticipated award amount; expected due date or submission cycle; and a brief explanation of why the opportunity is appropriate for the project.
  3. Itemized budget and justification (maximum of two pages): The itemized budget and budget justification may not exceed two pages. The budget should include each requested item, cost, quantity, and justification. The justification should explain how each cost directly supports the proposed research. Examples of allowable costs include research-related travel, student or staff wages, applicable fringe benefits, tuition remission, human subject payments, supplies, special software directly tied to the project, and other necessary research expenses. Requests for travel funding must be based on actual dollar estimates. Meals and other subsistence costs, including per diem for meals or incidental expenses, are not allowable. Faculty supplemental compensation, conference or workshop travel, and computer hardware are not allowable.
  4. Curriculum Vitae (maximum of two pages): Applicants must include a curriculum vitae. The CV may not exceed two pages. Any format is acceptable, including NSF or NIH biosketch formats, provided the document is limited to two pages.
  5. List of current and pending support (no page limit): Applicants must include current and pending support. There is no page limit. Any format is acceptable, including NSF or NIH current and pending support formats.
  6. Prior reviews, if applicable: If the SSRI Seed Money Grant will support the revision or resubmission of an external proposal that was previously declined, the application should include a summary of the significant criticisms raised in the prior review and an explanation of how the SSRI-funded work will address those concerns.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on the significance of the proposed research; innovation of the research question or approach; rationale and justification for the proposed work; feasibility of the work plan and timeline; appropriateness and justification of the budget; likelihood that the project will lead to a competitive external funding proposal; and clarity and accessibility of the proposal for a multidisciplinary academic audience.

Requirements and Expectations

Recipients of an SSRI Seed Money Grant are required to submit final reporting and external proposal submission updates as described below.

  1. A final report must be submitted within 60 days after the award expiration date. The report may not exceed two pages and must summarize project outcomes, including preliminary data collected, research activities completed, presentations, publications, products, collaborations, and external grant proposals submitted or planned.

  2. Recipients are required to notify SSRI of the submission of an external funding proposal within 12 months after the end of the award period. Faculty who receive an SSRI Seed Money Grant but do not submit an external grant proposal within the required timeframe will be ineligible to apply for future SSRI Seed Money Grants, unless an exception is approved in advance due to sponsor-cycle timing or other documented circumstances. If the intended external sponsor does not have a deadline within the required 12-month submission window, recipients must contact Chris Rodriguez at carod@rice.edu before the end of the 12-month period to discuss the planned submission timeline.