TRISP Seed Funding

TRISP Proposal Deadline:

February 5, 2018

TRISP Overview:

The Office of Industry and Government Partnerships is pleased to announce the third annual Targeted Research Internal Seed Program (TRISP). Serving as a catalyst for UNC Charlotte faculty, TRISP offers internal funds intended to (1) help generate more compelling grant submissions to federal agencies, (2) initiate new intellectual directions for our faculty, and (3) foster new relationships across colleges, departments or centers. Key considerations include the likelihood that the project can be leveraged to obtain new externally-funded research from mission-oriented funding agencies such as DoD, DoE, DoT, DHS, etc. (typically not NSF or NIH), and whether the project cannot be otherwise initiated using regular department or college resources. An ideal project would apply for external funding within 6-10 months following seed funding. Although single Principal Investigators (PIs) are also encouraged to apply, we are particularly keen on using this funding mechanism to promote interdisciplinary collaborative teams. For the purposes of the TRISP Program, interdisciplinary means crossing department or college lines. Two or more investigators from the same department will not be competitive. Teams with seed funding who generate preliminary results and gain experience working jointly have proven more successful when they later compete for multi-investigator and/or multidisciplinary grants.

Awards in the 2017 competition were made to individual researchers and collaborative teams representing eight departments: Physics and Optical Science, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, Computer Science, Psychological Science, Geography and Earth Sciences, and EPIC/Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The Office of Industry and Government Partnerships’ Targeted Research Internal Seed Program (TRISP) offers two tiers of funding: 1) larger grants of up to $60K that require collaboration between two or more faculty members and require interdisciplinary research, and 2) smaller grants capped at $12K that are typically for one PI. As part of the application process, PIs are required to identify potential funding opportunities and program managers; recipients are generally expected to apply for external funding, ideally from mission-oriented funding agencies, within 6 to 10 months following an award.

Please direct questions and all TRISP application materials to CRI-Grant@uncc.edu.

Important Application Links:

TRISP ApplicationQuad Chart TemplateBudget PageReporting Template
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