• This funding opportunity is for projects up to $50,000 if led by a single PI or $75,000 if led by multiple PIs. All awards are 12 months in duration.
• The Research Seed Award Expression of Interest can be submitted via InfoReady by Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 5 p.m.
• Budget requests should reflect the scope and scale of the proposed work. Awards are for one year, but no-cost extensions (not to exceed one year) may be granted with appropriate justification.
• Requests for extensions for awards given in 2027 must be submitted to the Vice President for Research by May 1, 2028.
• Extension Requests should be submitted via DOR Internal Funding - Extension Request (with Interim Report) & Final Report Submission.

Important Dates

Guidelines

Review the 2027 Seed guidelines for details including award eligibility, duration, criteria for selection, application requirements and more.

2027 Seed Guidelines

• Any Brown faculty member employed by Brown and whose research is administered through Brown is eligible to serve as a Principal Investigator.

• Brown faculty employed by affiliated institutions, Brown faculty whose research is administered through affiliated institutions, emeritus faculty, adjunct faculty, visiting faculty, and postdocs, are not eligible to lead projects as PI, but may be included on the research team as a Co-PI or key personnel. 

• Faculty who hold an active Seed award from a prior year must specify how this project is new/different from their active award. Duplicative Seed projects will be ineligible for funding. 

• Active 2026 Track 2 Seed awardees (PIs and co-PIs) are ineligible to apply. 

• All prior Seed recipients must be current on reporting requirements. 

Based on NSF guidelines, PIs are required to indicate in the project description the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop their proposal.

Brown's enterprise generative AI offerings address some data protection considerations. Other generative AI considerations and resources include Brown authorship guidelines and the Brown Library Guide on Generative AI.