2022 OSU Materials Research Seed Grant Program Request for Proposals

We are pleased to announce the 2022-2023 Materials Research Seed Grant Program Request for Proposals (RFP). This enhanced seed program leverages resources and best practices of the Center for Emergent Materials (CEM), an NSF MRSEC; the Center for Exploration of Novel Complex Materials (ENCOMM); and the Institute for Materials Research (IMR).

The three funding tiers of the OSU Materials Research Seed Grant Program offered are:

Proto-IRG Grants
Proto-IRG Grants provide funds up to $100,000/year per award in direct costs, require one Principal Investigator (PI) and two Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs), and may have unfunded collaborators with the goal of forming new Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) within the CEM, a National Science Foundation (NSF) supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC).  These proposals should fall within the program scope of the Division of Materials Research at the NSF.  We invite proposers to communicate with CEM representatives (https://cem.osu.edu/) to identify competitive topics.

Multidisciplinary Team Building Grants
MTBGs provide funds up to $70,000/year per award in direct costs, and require one PI and one Co-PI, and may have unfunded collaborators, with the goal of forming multidisciplinary materials research teams that can compete effectively for federal block-funding opportunities, such as the NSF MRSEC program.

Exploratory Materials Research Grants
EMRGs provide funds up to $50,000/year per award in direct costs, and require one PI, and may have Co-PIs and/or unfunded collaborators, with the goal of enabling nascent and innovative materials research to emerge to the point of being competitive for external funding.  EMRGs, while open to all faculty, emphasizes support of pre-tenure faculty members.

Key Dates:

  • Request for Proposals Issued: Monday, October 24, 2022
  • MRSGP Virtual Open House: Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 4:00 PM ET
  • Letters of Intent Due: Monday, January 9, 2023 at 5:00 PM ET
  • Notice of MRSGP Appropriateness: Monday, January 16, 2023
  • Proto-IRG and Multidisciplinary Team Building Grants tiers only – Mandatory Team Proposal Presentations: Wednesday, January 25, February 1, and February 8, 2023
    • 4:00-5:00 PM, Physics Research Building, Room 4138
  • Proposals Due (All Funding Tiers): Monday, March 6, 2023 at 5:00 PM ET
  • Awards Announced (anticipated): Friday, August 26, 2023
  • Funded Projects Start Date (anticipated): Friday, September 1, 2023 (12-month project period)

Have a question? Please contact IMR Proposal Development Specialist Joanna Gardner, at gardner.306@osu.edu , or visit our MRSGP webpage.