The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences research seed funding programs support high-impact, innovative research that has the potential to drive scientific breakthroughs and generate significant return on investment. These competitive internal seed grants are designed to catalyze new research directions, leading to larger externally funded initiatives.
Key Features:
- Impact-driven research: Funding supports projects addressing critical scientific challenges with the potential for transformative discoveries. Special attention should be given to areas where Penn State is already successful and has relevant resources (faculty expertise, core facilities, etc.) and could grow further
- Milestone-based progress: Projects must outline clear objectives and benchmarks leading to larger, externally funded research efforts
- Interdisciplinary collaboration: Proposals that integrate expertise across multiple Life Sciences and beyond are strongly encouraged to foster novel approaches and solutions
- Funding duration: Awards typically support projects for 1-2 years
- Planning grants: Available for teams preparing large-scale grant proposals, supporting activities such as team formation, workshops, preliminary research, technical writers, external advisors, proposal development, etc. (needs will be assessed)
This program provides the foundation for researchers to explore bold ideas, build collaborative teams, and position their work for long-term sustainability through major external funding.