Seed Activities

Seed Grants in 2022-2023 are intended to advance the development of collaborative research that could become the nucleus for new CHARM Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) that are distinctly different from the current IRGs: IRG1 – Peptide Active Materials (PAMs), IRG2 – Hybrid Quantum Materials with Emergent Terahertz Functionalities (HQ-METs). Because CHARM is a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, the proposed research must be in line with efforts clearly supported by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Materials Research. Successful execution of the proposed research may lead to the potential for follow-on CHARM funding.

Each Seed Grant will provide up to $100,000 plus overhead costs for a one-year project and must include between 2 and 4 investigators. Preference will be given to teams led by a senior faculty member that include at least one early career faculty member and/or a non-University of Delaware (UD) team member. Preference also will be given to proposals that provide funding to support researchers that are not already supported by CHARM IRGs. It is expected that all seed proposers will contact the leader(s) of the appropriate IRG during the quad chart preparation process to gauge suitability of the seed proposal as distinctly different from the current IRG(s). The target start date for Seed Grants is by March 2023. Two seeds will be awarded in the 2022-2023 cycle. For more information on how to apply, review the CHARM 2022-2023 Request for Proposals and download the required Quad Chart for proposal development. The deadline for submissions is December 16, 2022. If you have questions about the current call, please contact Dr. Kim Bothi, CHARM Executive Director, at kbothi@udel.edu.