Faculty play a central role in helping the University reach its goals in the areas of research and student success. The Office of the Provost and the Office of Research are committed to helping faculty achieve these shared goals through these seed grant opportunities:

The Grand Challenges Seed Grants are designed to support multidisciplinary initiatives and research projects that address one or more of the five Grand Challenges. The projects may be pilot programs, proof-of-concept research projects, public outreach, or workshops.

The Student Success Seed Grants are designed to foster a transformative student experience, as mandated in the Strategic Plan. Faculty are encouraged to develop strategies that could potentially attract extramural funding to be scaled up to an institutional level, or have the potential to be used across disciplines to increase student retention at WSU and increase students’ progress toward graduation.

Unlike the Strategic Reallocation proposals, which is a limited submission process facilitated by college and administrative leadership, the seed grant proposals may be submitted by WSU faculty. All faculty system-wide may submit proposals for each of the respective seed grant programs. There is no requirement that proposals be coordinated through the degree-granting college deans. Collaboration across colleges, campuses and nonacademic units is encouraged, though not required.

Awards range from $5,000 to $75,000 in one-time funds. Letters of Intent are due by Feb. 15, 2016 and proposals are due April 1. Decisions will be announced May 15 and the funding period will begin July 1.

For more information, or questions on the Grand Challenges Seed Grants, email res.dev@wsu.edu or call Geeta Dutta at (509) 335-5980.

For more information, or questions on the Student Success Seed Grants, email StudSuccSeed_Questions@wsu.edu or call Kristina Peterson-Wilson at (509) 335-8915.