Special Programs

The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is accepting proposals to support interdisciplinary research, visioning, and planning activities on ambitious topics related to sustainability, energy, and environment. The iSEE seed funds are available to promote meaningful research collaborations among faculty and scientists across campus and to raise the national visibility of U. of I. and the research team in the topic area. The specific goal of the funding is to expedite the coalescence of interdisciplinary research teams that touch on any of the thematic areas of interest to iSEE and to develop multiple strong, large-scale (>$1M) proposals that can be submitted for external funding through iSEE in 2026-27.

Three types of proposals are invited:

• Seed Research projects are limited to a maximum of $30,000 for one year. Funding may support research assistantships for graduate students, postdoc time, data purchase, travel, and/or other necessary expenses that support growth of the initiative. Faculty summer salary and equipment are excluded from this funding.
• Campus as a Living Laboratory (CALL) projects are limited to a maximum of $30,000 for one year. CALL projects link faculty researchers to sites or initiatives on campus that are relevant to objectives in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP). CALL researchers are also expected to leverage the seed funding to develop interdisciplinary external funding proposals through iSEE.
• Visioning and Planning Activities are limited to a maximum of $50,000 (total) spread over two years. Funding may support workshops and planning meetings hosted by the project team, in addition to activities similar to Seed Research and CALL projects. Year two funding is contingent upon meaningful progress in year one.

All proposals must meaningfully involve researchers from at least two different disciplines and two different campus units. Proposals should address research questions in one or more iSEE thematic areas of climate solutions, energy transitions, secure & sustainable agriculture, sustainable infrastructure, and water & land stewardship. Along with these themes are the cross-cutting topics of circular bioeconomy and policy.

Successful applicants for the seed funding and CALL projects will be expected to submit external funding proposals related to this seed funding through iSEE in 2026-27. Applicants for Visioning and Planning Activities proposal should explain how their activities will promote multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations that need a long lead time to develop a team to submit a proposal for a large, team-based Center-type grant.

Successful external funding proposals submitted through iSEE will not affect indirect cost recovery to the home department of the PIs. iSEE will provide personnel support for event planning, proposal development, and, in the case of successful external proposals, post-award management. Recipients will also work with iSEE to communicate the findings of their activities, research, publications, and other outcomes.

The deadline for proposal submissions is 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Applicants will be informed about final funding decisions by mid-May, with a start date for funding beginning or after August 15, 2026.

Please see the iSEE: Seed Funding for Interdisciplinary Research Teams 2026 RFP for additional details about the program.

Questions about this RFP may be addressed to Jeremy Guest, iSEE Associate Director for Research at jsguest@illinois.edu.

Eligibility

All proposals must involve applicants from at least two different disciplines and two different campus units.

PI Requirements

Successful applicants for the seed funding and CALL projects will be expected to submit external funding proposals related to this seed funding through iSEE in 2026-27. Applicants for Visioning and Planning Activities proposal will be expected to explain how their activities will promote multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations that need a long lead time to develop a team to submit a proposal for a large team-based Center-type grant.

Successful external funding proposals submitted through iSEE will not affect indirect cost recovery to the home department of the PI. iSEE will provide personnel support for event planning, proposal development, and, in the case of successful external proposals, post-award management. Recipients will also work with iSEE to communicate the findings of their activities, research, publications, and other outcomes through the Institute website on an ongoing basis.

Proposals are invited from faculty and scientists who are currently eligible to serve as PIs on proposals for external funding (e.g., tenured/tenure-track faculty, research professors, research scientists). Postdocs are not eligible to apply.