Internal Grant Programs
WPI’s Vice Provost for Research in collaboration with Deans and Department Heads as well as select partner institutions provides support for new and early-stage interdisciplinary research collaborations through a number of grant programs.
President's Research Catalyst Grants Program
We are excited to announce the President's Research Catalyst Grants Program, which will be partially funded by gifts from Jim Baum ’86 and Bonnie and Jack Mollen H’23. These gifts have been designated to support research at WPI, including, but not limited to, AI research. It is the intent of the President's Research Catalyst Grants Program to help build and establish more interdisciplinary, multi-institutional, research centers at WPI by supporting faculty in their efforts to develop competitive center-scale proposals. The Program is designed to catalyze and facilitate the development and preparation of extramural grant applications that require extensive planning, exchange of ideas, collaboration, team building, partnering, and other activities demanding significant investments of faculty’s time and effort.
It is the intent of the Program to build on the communities, which have formed around cross-cutting research areas in the life sciences (BioPoint), smart technologies changing the way we live and work (SmartWorld), materials and manufacturing processes designed for a more sustainable world (MatR), and Global initiatives. The program is intended to support sub-groups in these communities to pursue large-scale, high-impact research and position them for submission of center-type grants.
Proposing teams must submit a 3-page proposal through the InfoReady portal. Proposals are due on February 1, 2024.
For questions, please contact Antje Harnisch, Asst. Vice Provost for Research.
Examples of large, interdisciplinary, center-scale, extramural funding programs
NSF’s Engineering Research Centers, Science and Technology Centers, National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes, Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers, Expeditions in Computing, Centers for Research and Innovation in Science, the Environment and Society (CRISES), and Physics Frontier Research Centers; DoD’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI); DOE’s Energy Frontier Research Centers; NEH’s Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence; and NIH’s P30 and P50 Centers.
Technology Focus Areas
include, but are not limited to, the following areas listed in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022:
(1) Artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomy, and related advances.
(2) High performance computing, semiconductors, and advanced computer hardware and software.
(3) Quantum information science and technology.
(4) Robotics, automation, and advanced manufacturing.
(5) Natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation.
(6) Advanced communications technology and immersive technology.
(7) Biotechnology, medical technology, genomics, and synthetic biology.
(8) Data storage, data management, distributed ledger technologies, and cybersecurity, including biometrics.
(9) Advanced energy and industrial efficiency technologies, such as batteries and advanced nuclear technologies, including but not limited to for the purposes of electric generation
(10) Advanced materials science, including composites 2D materials, other next-generation materials, and related manufacturing technologies.
Preference is given to proposals that address larger-scale, longer-time horizon challenges in foundational and use-inspired AI research. We are looking for teams that seek to add new knowledge and understanding in both foundational AI and use-inspired domains.
Eligibility Requirements
The lead PI for this program must be a faculty member. Co-PIs can be faculty, research staff or post-docs. Highly collaborative, cross- and interdisciplinary teams formed with attention to diverse perspectives and approaches are strongly encouraged. Proposing teams must include at least three WPI faculty from at least two departments.
Researchers may be named as PI or Co-PI on only one proposal.
Proposal Requirements
The proposal should be organized using the required section headers listed below:
- Title: descriptive project title
- Project Narrative: narrative describing the challenge to be addressed, the proposed cross- and interdisciplinary approach(es) to be employed, and how the proposed work will utilize or develop breakthrough technology and methodologies to produce potentially transformative results.
- Timeline and milestones
- Significance and Impact
- How is the proposed center different from similar existing university research centers across the nation funded by the same program?
- Team: list of core proposing team members with departmental affiliations, a brief statement of their role(s) on the proposed project, and a summary that describes the various ways in which team members have previously collaborated and to what extent; also list external partners and their roles/contributions
- External Funding Opportunity: name of the external sponsoring agency and specific program to which a proposal will be submitted by the end of the seed grant period.
- Budget and Justification: proposed budget in Excel template and a brief narrative description of the requested cost items
Budget
The funding for up to $50,000 is for 18 months It can be used for faculty release time during the Fall 2025 semester; grant writing support; and expenses associated with project specific travel to meet with external collaborators or host collaborator meetings on campus. Indirect costs will not be charged.
Deliverable
At least one center-scale funding application by the end of the project period.
Review and Selection
Proposals for the Catalyst program will be reviewed by the Deans Research Council and the Research Development Council (RDC). RDC members may submit proposals, but if so, they will need to excuse themselves from the review process. The review process will further include meetings with teams and reviewers, in which teams pitch their projects and will respond to questions.
Funding decisions will be announced in early March 2024. We will provide proposal development and team facilitation support to the funded teams.
For more information about the awarded projects, read this News Article.
New Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program in Photonics Supported by The Gapontsev Family Collaborative Venture Fund
With the generous support of the VPG Foundation, WPI has established the Gapontsev Family Collaborative Venture Fund. Enabled by this Fund, we are announcing an exciting new seed grant program to support new interdisciplinary purpose-driven research collaborations that focus on photonics.
Proposals from interdisciplinary teams, that involve faculty from more than one department that pursue inter/cross/trans-disciplinary projects and move into new and innovative research directions, for which they will later apply for external funding, are invited by September 19, 2022.
The seed grant program is open to all full-time faculty; it provides funding for groups of at least two faculty members from different departments.
Each team will be awarded up to $70k per team, for one year, through a competitive grant process. The funding can be used for supporting the faculty members, post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students’ salaries and/or stipends, tuition and other research support, including equipment that will enable the proposed research. F&A (indirect costs) are not charged on these grants.
The seed funding is expected to be used to leverage other sources of funding, and open new partnerships, once this initial research has been proven and valued; an indication of these sources and partnerships are expected in the proposal.
All research, papers and results supported by this Fund will include the legend: “Supported, in whole or in part, with funding from the Gapontsev Family Collaborative Venture Fund”.
Funded faculty and students will participate in an annual on-site presentation for the VPG Foundation and provide progress reports at the end of the funding period, followed by updates on any new discoveries.
FAQs
Who is eligible?
The seed grant program is open to all full-time faculty; it provides funding for groups of at least two faculty members from different departments.
Can I submit more than one proposal?
You can submit one proposal as PI and be on another proposal as Co-PI.
What do I need to submit to be considered?
A complete proposal consists of a summary that will be shared publicly, a description of the project (up to 3 pages), which needs to include a statement of the envisioned result of the seed funding (e.g., application for external funding), a bugdet and budget justification.
The first round of awards has been highlighted in the WPI Journal, the second one in this News Article.
Seed Funding Opportunity with UMass Medical CCTC
VPR Vernescu is happy to announce a new round of joint seed funding with the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science (UMCCTS), part of their next funding round for the Pilot Project Program (PPP).
Two project awards (up to $50,000 for 10 months) for a joint team of PIs will be made on a competitive basis to enable investigators to accelerate the translation of innovative discoveries into:
• New understanding and/or diagnosis of a disease process
• New devices, therapeutics, and vaccines for the treatment and/or prevention of disease
• New standards of care in the practice of community medicine
• New approaches to community-based research demonstrating true bi-directionality between community and academia
• New methodologies to leverage institutional strengths and new initiatives
• The pursuit of high-risk, high reward studies
Full information, including eligibility requirements and deadlines can be found here.