2026 SAFES Seed2Sustain Program

DESCRIPTION

SAFES' CIIs serve as the research hubs of the Institute and College, with each CII in a different stage of development. In recognition of these different stages and research development needs, applicants can request funding at three different levels based on the current maturity of the CII. Proposals that integrate research, partnerships & engagement, and education in a synergistic and simultaneous manner are encouraged. Funding will be used to accelerate the maturity of each of the CIIs, moving them through a process we refer to as IDEAL:

• Initiate: SAFES provides the right conditions and support for new ideas to be initiated and for new collaborations to start.
• Develop: SAFES facilitates development and strengthening of newly formed collaborations, ensuring early successes that can be used to position the team for mid-sized external sources of funding.
• Execute: SAFES provides the resources and support for executing/implementing the advanced vision of the CII, positioning them to pursue large external sources of funding.
• Amplify: SAFES provides the resources and support for the CII to amplify its successes/impacts as it reaches maturity.
• Leverage: SAFES provides the support to leverage the success of the current CII and evaluate future options, which could include “retiring” or “re-envisioning” the CII (i.e., returning to the “Initiate” stage).

Eligibility

• For all levels, the PI must be a faculty member in the College of Agricultural Sciences and a member (associate, affiliate, or convener) of one of the SAFES CIIs.

Proposal Submission
Proposals for each Level of support must include the following:

• A brief summary (200 words maximum) of the current activities in the CII and an assessment of which funding Level (1, 2 or 3) is most appropriate for the CII.
• A compelling vision/explanation for how the overall budget requested will position the CII to move to the next stage in the IDEAL process
• A timeline for CII activities and milestones that can be used to measure progress towards achieving the CII vision during the project period.
• A budget, including justification and brief description of each budgeted item. Budgets can be constructed for a maximum of one year. Funds from this program must be expended within one year of the award date.

The proposal should be submitted as a single pdf through InfoReady by April 17, 2026 and be no more than 3 pages, including a budget justification. Please use the budget template (.xlsx) provided in InfoReady to submit your proposed budget as a supplemental document (this file will be uploaded separately in InfoReady and does not count toward the 3-page proposal limit).

Evaluation

• Proposals will be evaluated by a review panel that includes SAFES and college-level leadership.
• Primary evaluation will be based on the strategic vision of the proposal and its potential to effectively position the CII to advance to the next stage of the IDEAL process.
• Evaluation will also consider the budget request, recognizing that some support needs may be in the form of time (i.e., administrative support) rather than dollars.

Reporting

• An interim report will be due six months after the beginning of the awarded performance period.
• A final report will be due one month after the end of the performance period.
• Reports should be submitted through the InfoReady system, and report reminders and guidance will be provided.

LEVEL 1 PROPOSALS: To support CIIs in the "Initiate" stage to move to the "Development" stage; or CIIs in the "Leverage" stage looking to "Initiate" the next opportunity.

Up to $5,000 for one year to seed the development of interdisciplinary team activities amongst the members of the CII. Funding at this level can be used to support team-building activities aiming to establish a novel interdisciplinary research trajectory, refine research goals, bring structure to new interdisciplinary collaborations, and support small research development activities.

LEVEL 2 PROPOSALS: To support CIIs in the "Development" stage to move into the "Execute" stage.

Up to $15,000 for one year to advance the development of interdisciplinary team activities amongst the members of the CII. Funds can be used to support team-building activities aiming to execute an already developed interdisciplinary research project, further refine the structure of new interdisciplinary collaborations, and support mid-sized research development activities.

LEVEL 3 PROPOSALS: To support CIIs in the "Execute" stage to move into the "Amplify" stage.

Up to $50,000 for one year to support advanced development of interdisciplinary team-building activities among CII members and bring the CII to maturity. Funds can be used for a wide range of higher-level research development support, including enhanced amounts of seed funding to support development of new capabilities or acquisition of new equipment, funding for proposal development personnel, and support for integrating stakeholders into research of the CII to position the team for large, external sources of funding.

Examples of the types of research development activities/items that can be supported in budget requests are as follows:

Research Development Activities

Professional Development Support: Funds for pursuing external professional development opportunities. Support could include training for grant writing, team science training, facilitation training, etc.

Proposal Development and/or “Red Team Review” Support: Funds for pursuing external proposal development support. Support could include assistance with project planning, development of a work plan for writing the proposal, development of a proposal outline, editing and review of proposal drafts, advice on proposal strategy, and a “red team review” of a complete or nearly-complete proposal draft.

Writing Retreat / Facilitated Proposal Development: Funds for short-term, focused time for the CII during the initial stages of proposal development. Funding could send the group to a local venue with food accommodations to give them uninterrupted time to engage in guided facilitation of brainstorming activities, a safe/productive format for idea generation and iterative development of the proposal, and protected/distraction-free time to meet critical writing goals driven by proposal submission deadlines.

SAFES Research Development Project Manager: Provide funds to hire the equivalent of up to ~0.5 FTE post-doc salary (or other staff person) to serve as a research development specialist/project manager for all aspects of putting together a large, interdisciplinary proposal. This could include: (i) attending CII meetings and helping with team facilitation; (ii) conducting literature reviews/background research; and (iii) drafting proposal text and collecting necessary information for PI’s (especially background information, COI’s, current and pending support, methods, etc.). Responsibilities could also include mentoring an undergraduate or graduate research scholar on the team.

Team-Building Activities

Travel: Funds for travel to conferences/workshops and/or bring targeted external experts who are desired collaborators to campus. A specific goal for how the outcome of the travel would turn into a proposal would be needed for these funds to be given.

CII Team-Building Activities: Provide funds to support team-building activities within the CII, such as the development of a seminar series, lightning talks, or field trip. Funds could be used to support catering needs (e.g., lunch, coffee, snacks, etc.), meeting room space, and/or travel to an off-campus location of interest related to the CII research development goals (e.g., Fuller's Overlook, Research & Extension Centers, etc.)

Convene Workshops: Host workshops to generate big, innovative, new ideas among CII members and collaborators. Funds could help cover venue and food, consultants, outside speakers, external facilitation services as needed to take the burden off faculty and staff. Additionally, funding could be used to support travel for CII members who are at a Commonwealth Campus, one of the Penn State's Research & Extension Centers (RECs), or at other universities, etc., to come to University Park to join these meetings.

Convene “Shared Discovery” Workshops: Using the unique "Partnerships & Engagement" pillar of SAFES, funds could be used to identify and invite external partners to engage with researchers around proposal ideas and research themes. This would help frame research questions/methodologies that address priority questions of decision-makers and stakeholders. This could include working collaboratively with stakeholders of governmental agencies to develop a framework or strategy for the research to meet “Broader Impacts” goals of the funding agencies through “shared discovery” and the co-production of new knowledge. These workshops could result in “buy-in” from certain key stakeholders who may be willing to participate in external councils and/or advisory board to support and inform the research, as well as help disseminate the outcomes for broader impact. Funds could help cover venue and food, consultants, outside speakers, external facilitation services as needed to take the burden off faculty and staff. Additionally, funding could be used to support travel for CII members who are at a Commonwealth Campus, one of Penn State's Research & Extension Centers (RECs), or at other universities, etc., to come to University Park to join these meetings.

Capacity and Impact-Building Activities

Seed Grant Funds: Provide enhanced “seed grant” funds to incentivize new research activities or further advance research activities within the CIIs that accelerates and elevates current research activities. This could be used to support preliminary data collection/analysis, acquire small instrumentation and/or equipment to better position the team to be competitive for large external funding sources.

Policy-Relevant Research Development/Impact Support: Provide comprehensive support to help the CII design, conduct, and disseminate policy-relevant research. This could include support to: (i) develop policy briefs, memos, or public-facing reports on policy-relevant research findings; (ii) receive customized briefings on current legislative or regulatory priorities at the local or state level; (iii) coordinate meetings with local or state level policymakers and cover associated travel costs; (iv) receive training for effective communication with policymakers and other non-technical audiences; or (v) develop a CII-specific board of advisors/practitioners to enhance research application and impact.

Student or Postdoctoral Training Support

SAFES Graduate Student Scholar: Develop a new graduate-student focused program and invite outstanding graduate students in our college to help provide research development support, which would mentor/train a pipeline of research development specialists. This Scholar could help with the following: (i) strategic intelligence to anticipate and identify funding opportunities; (ii) stay on top of requests for information that appear in the federal bulletin or registrar; (iii) attend CII meetings and help with team facilitation; (iv) conduct literature reviews/background research; and (v) draft proposal text (especially background information, methods, etc.).

SAFES Undergraduate Research Scholar: Invite outstanding undergraduate students to help provide research development support on hourly wage payroll, seeding the initial pipeline of research development specialists. Example responsibilities of this Scholar could be to: (i) attend CII meetings and help with notetaking; (ii) help with team facilitation, (iii) conduct literature reviews/background research, and (iv) organize the proposal development process (i.e., set up an organizational structure in Teams to collect proposal files, support documents, etc.).

Graduate Student Support: Offer up to two semesters of graduate student support (either tuition or stipend) to a CII Convener/Associate/Affiliate as a reward or incentive for that faculty member to serve as the PI of a large external grant. This could either be offered to a current graduate student or used by the CII as matches for proposals that would benefit from re-allocating those resources to other budget line items.

QUESTIONS

Questions regarding applications of the Seed2Sustain Program should be directed via email to safes@psu.edu.