2026 RFP: iSEE Announces Seed Funding for Interdisciplinary Research Teams

The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is accepting proposals to support interdisciplinary research, visioning, and planning activities on ambitious topics related to sustainability, energy, and environment. The iSEE seed funds are available to promote meaningful research collaborations among faculty and scientists across campus and to raise the national visibility of U. of I. and the research team in the topic area. The specific goal of the funding is to expedite the coalescence of interdisciplinary research teams that touch on any of the thematic areas of interest to iSEE and to develop multiple strong, large-scale (>$1M) proposals that can be submitted for external funding through iSEE in 2026-27.

Three types of proposals are invited:

  • Seed Research projects are limited to a maximum of $30,000 for one year. Funding may support research assistantships for graduate students, postdoc time, data purchase, travel, and/or other necessary expenses that support growth of the initiative. Faculty summer salary and equipment are excluded from this funding.

  • Campus as a Living Laboratory (CALL) projects are limited to a maximum of $30,000 for one year. CALL projects link faculty researchers to sites or initiatives on campus that are relevant to objectives in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP). CALL researchers are also expected to leverage the seed funding to develop interdisciplinary external funding proposals through iSEE.

  • Visioning and Planning Activities are limited to a maximum of $50,000 (total) spread over two years. Funding may support workshops and planning meetings hosted by the project team, in addition to activities similar to Seed Research and CALL projects. Year two funding is contingent upon meaningful progress in year one.

All proposals must meaningfully involve researchers from at least two different disciplines and two different campus units. Proposals should address research questions in one or more iSEE thematic areas of climate solutions, energy transitions, secure & sustainable agriculture, sustainable infrastructure, and water & land stewardship. Along with these themes are the cross-cutting topics of circular bioeconomy and policy.

Successful applicants for the seed funding and CALL projects will be expected to submit external funding proposals related to this seed funding through iSEE in 2026-27. Applicants for Visioning and Planning Activities proposal should explain how their activities will promote multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations that need a long lead time to develop a team to submit a proposal for a large, team-based Center-type grant.

Successful external funding proposals submitted through iSEE will not affect indirect cost recovery to the home department of the PIs. iSEE will provide personnel support for event planning, proposal development, and, in the case of successful external proposals, post-award management. Recipients will also work with iSEE to communicate the findings of their activities, research, publications, and other outcomes.

Guidelines for preparing the proposal

Proposals are invited from faculty and scientists who are currently eligible to serve as PIs on proposals for external funding (e.g., tenured/tenure-track faculty, research professors, research scientists). Postdocs are not eligible to apply. Updated versions of previously submitted proposals may be resubmitted if feedback from the iSEE review has been addressed. The proposal will be submitted through an online portal with the following sections:

  • Project title
  • Principal and co-investigator information (names, affiliations, and email addresses)
  • Abstract [up to 150 words]
  • Motivation and Opportunity [up to 500 words]
    • Describe the scholarly merit, innovation, and substantive interdisciplinarity of the proposed research.
  • Team Science Approach [up to 400 words]
    • Describe the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and the role and contribution of each team member to tackle the problem at hand.
  • Plan for Seed Funding [up to 600 words]
    • Describe specific plans for the use of seed funding and the potential impact on national visibility and growth of the initiative. Describe the potential to develop a large-scale (>$1M), externally funded research program, including a comprehensive plan with specific funding opportunities (anticipated in 2026-2027), which the applicants will pursue.
    • Summarize any previous efforts to secure external funding for this research.
  • Other campus seed funding sources [up to 200 words]
    • If you are receiving seed funding from any other unit on campus in the 2025-26 or 2026-27 year for this project or closely related research, please describe how that seed funded research differs from this proposal.

Additionally, a single compiled PDF with the following documents for the principal investigator (PI) and co-investigators (co-Is) is required: (i) a CV (up to three pages) that includes five most relevant recent publications and five other publications; (ii) a summary of all internal and external current and pending research funding; and (iii) an itemized budget (with no F&A or fringe benefits included). SciENcv is the recommended format for CV and current and pending.

The deadline for proposal submissions is 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, 2026, uploaded to the OVCRI Special Programs site. Applicants will be informed about final funding decisions by mid-May, with a start date for funding beginning or after August 15, 2026.

Questions about this RFP may be addressed to Jeremy Guest, iSEE Associate Director for Research at jsguest@illinois.edu.

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