Materials Research Seed Grant Program

2024-2025 Request for Proposals

We are pleased to announce the 2024-2025 OSU Materials Research Seed Grant Program (MRSGP) Request for Proposals (RFP), which is open to The Ohio State University (OSU) materials community. This integrated seed program leverages resources and best practices of the Center for Emergent Materials (CEM), the Center for Exploration of Novel Complex Materials (ENCOMM), and the Institute for Materials and Manufacturing Research (IMR). The result is a unified RFP with Funding Tiers designed to achieve the greatest impact for seeding excellence in materials research of varying scopes, and with the goal of generating new directions that extend beyond the boundaries of existing research programs.

Funding Tiers Offered This Cycle 

1. Proto-IRG Grants: Proto-IRG Grants provide funds in direct costs, require one Principal Investigator (PI) and two or more Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs), and may have unfunded collaborators with the goal of forming new Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) for the CEM, a National Science Foundation (NSF) supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC).
2. Multidisciplinary Team Building Grants (MTBG): MTBGs provide funds in direct costs, and require one PI and one or two 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.
3. Exploratory Materials Research Grants (EMRG): EMRGs provide funds 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: Wednesday, November 6, 2024
• Letters of Intent Due: Monday, January 6, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET
• Notice of MRSGP Appropriateness: Monday, January 13, 2025
• Multidisciplinary Team Building Grants tiers only – Mandatory Team Proposal 
  Presentations: Wednesday, February 5, 12, 19, and 26, 2025
  • 3-4 p.m. ET, Physics Research Building, Room 4138
• Proposals Due (All Funding Tiers): Monday, March 3, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET
• Awards Announced (anticipated): August 2025
• Funded Projects Start Date (anticipated): September 1, 2025 (12-month project period)