Seed Funding Opportunities

Faculty Seed Funding Program

Our seed funding program aims to support research teams in conducting data-enabled or data science research in pursuit of external funding to solve complex societal challenges. The seed funding opportunities are now open for FY25

The goals of this seed funding program are to: 

Help faculty or research faculty develop individual one-pagers describing their proposed research
Form teams to pursue funding opportunities
- Generate proof of concept or initial results
- Submit competitive proposals

DISC will award up to $12,500 per funding opportunity.

Team Requirements

At least one member of each team must be from a Norman campus program.
Each team must consist of at least one DISC member.
- To become a member of DISC,  please complete this short form.

Restrictions

A faculty member can only serve as Principal Investigator on one DISC Seed Grant per fiscal year.

Application Requirements

Submission Instructions:

Submit the following documents to jimeney2@ou.edu by any of the specified deadlines:

A summary of the proposed work (maximum two pages).
A letter of support from the Principal Investigator's (PI) department chair or director is required

You may use the provided template or another template that best suits your needs.

Deadlines:

The summary of the proposed work is due on February 5, 2025. The winner will be announced on February 30, 2025.
The summary of the proposed work is due on March 5, 2025. The winner will be announced on March 30, 2025.
The summary of the proposed work is due on April 5, 2025. The winner will be announced on April 30, 2025.

Please include a brief description of how you plan to use the funds. Proposals that do not include this information will be rejected without review.

Two-Pager Proposal Template

Letter of Support Template

FAQs

What can the funding be used for? The funds can be put towards the following OU activities: support faculty, undergraduate, and graduate time, team-building meetings, stakeholder engagement/outreach, and acquiring or collecting pilot data. For additional funding restrictions, please contact disc@ou.edu.

How long does my team have to use the funds? The team will have one year to use their funds

If my team is not selected, can I reapply? Yes, teams can reapply if they are not selected.

Should you have any additional questions, please email disc@ou.edu.

How will my application be scored? Please review this rubric.

Graduate Student Seed Funding Program

DISC's graduate seed funding program aims to support graduate student teams who are working on research projects related to data-enabled research or data science. The seed funding opportunities are now open for FY25

The goals of this seed funding program are to:

Support graduate student teams.
Foster interdisciplinary and/or collaborative research.
Increase engagement with graduate students.

DISC will award up to $2,500 per funding opportunity.

Team Requirements

All team members must become DISC members.
- To become a member of DISC, please complete this short form.
Teams must consist of at least two members
After six months, the team must submit a two-page written report on the accomplishments of the research project.
The team must check in with their DISC mentor and provide a progress update every month.
The team must have a faculty member who can help manage funds.

Restrictions

Graduate students can only receive one DISC Seed Grant per fiscal year.

Application

Please submit a summary of the proposed work to jimeney2@ou.edu by any of the following deadlines, using the template below or another template as appropriate. The page limit of the proposed work is up to two pages.

Deadlines:

The summary of the proposed work is due on February 5, 2025. The winner will be announced on February 30, 2025.
The summary of the proposed work is due on March 5, 2025. The winner will be announced on March 30, 2025.
The summary of the proposed work is due on April 5, 2025. The winner will be announced on April 30, 2025.

Please include a budget of how you plan to use the funds. Proposals that do not include this information will be rejected without review.

Click here to view the template.

FAQs

What can the funding be used for? The funds can be put towards the following OU activities: team-building meetings/workshops, community engagement/outreach, conferences, and acquiring or collecting pilot data or proof-of-concept studies. For additional funding restrictions, please contact Yessenia Torres at jimeney2@ou.edu.

How long does my team have to use my funds? Teams have six months to use the funds.

If not selected, can they reapply? Yes, the team can reapply if not selected.

How will my application be scored? Please review this rubric.

Should you have any additional questions, please email Yessenia Torres at jimeney2@ou.edu.