Faculty Research Seed Grants

Program Description

Through our brand new SSRIC SEED GRANT program, SSRIC will strategically invest in social science research that increases the potential for CSU faculty in the social sciences to obtain externally sponsored funding (grants, contracts, etc.), which in turn will support faculty and student success. 

This Seed Grant will fund the following for faculty who receive the award:

  • 3 WTUs of reassigned time (paid by the Chancellor’s Office to the awardee’s campus)
  • A hired research mentor, retained by SSRIC, who has experience with successful grant writing
    with NSF (some potential research mentors have even been program directors at NSF)
  • A stipend ($500) upon successful submission of the NSF grant proposal

SSRIC SEED GRANTs will support activities for the submission of larger external grant proposals aligned with SSRIC’s mission and vision, specifically to the National Science Foundation (NSF), Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. Applicants must be full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty appointed in a social science-related discipline/department AND the project proposed must be social science, subject to the sole and final determination of the SSRIC SEED GRANT award committee.

Eligibility

  • The program is open to full-time tenured/tenure-track CSU faculty currently employed and continuing at a CSU campus during Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, in a social science discipline and eligible for NSF grants in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate . (*The CSU campus must be an SSRIC member campus at the time of application and the year in which the seed grant is awarded.)
  • SSRIC Seed Grant awards can be used for efforts to apply for any NSF Grant opportunity within the SBE Directorate to conduct original social science research. The deadline for the proposal does not need to be within the semester when mentor consulting is received; the deadline can be after that. Prospective applicants who are not eligible to serve as an NSF Principal Investigator due to visa status should contact SSRIC’s Executive Director, Dr. Billy Wagner-Huang for further information.
  • The program is open to individuals or teams, but the maximum amount per project will be reassigned time of 3 WTUs (paid to campuses at minimum course replacement rate).
  • Project plans must be tied to work needed for subsequent submission or re-submission of NSF SBE research grant applications.
  • The SSRIC Seed Grant is intended to launch new or unfunded projects and is not to be used to supplement previously or ongoing funded work.
  • It is preferred that research projects will involve CSU students in some meaningful way.
  • As a condition of the award, the eventual NSF grant proposal must include a line item for SSRIC consulting: for dissemination, archiving, etc., rate TBD prior to the NSF grant submission.

Application Submission Requirements

The three items below should be submitted together as ONE PDF document.

  • Principal Investigator(s)’ Curriculum Vitae (PDF format)
  • Submit a narrative of the research project, 1.5 spaced, not to exceed 500 words. This narrative should briefly discuss how this project reflects or advances basic research in the social sciences.
  • Required information: full name of applicant, position+title+rank, department, campus, and NSF SBE program being targeted for submission (including specific award and deadline for the NSF grant proposal—the deadline for the award can be in the future, after the term of release time).

Funding

Award: 3 WTUs reassigned time (in total), SSRIC-paid mentorship program with an NSF-experienced grant writing mentor during the term with reassigned time, and $500 final submission stipend.

Deadline

2025 Seed Grant Application QR code


Award

The award will be announced by May 1st. While the recipients are welcome to start work on the project in the summer, the 3 WTUs of reassigned time can be used either in the Fall 2025 or Spring 2026 term. The research mentor will be available during the term when the reassigned time is taken.