The Office of the Executive Vice President for Research (EVPR) is now taking applications for its 2027 RISE seed funding program. RISE provides one-year seed funding of up to $120,000 for new research collaborations led by Columbia faculty who are working across disciplinary boundaries to approach a shared research challenge.
RISE is designed to support proposals that are early-stage, high-risk, cutting-edge, basic research, and intended to spark collaborations that may lead to new research directions, strengthen Columbia’s research capacity, and attract future external funding.
Eight teams received RISE awards in the 2026 competition. These include teams that are bringing together applied physics and engineering to study quantum transport in 2D materials; neuroscience and AI to reverse engineer visual cortex learning, and architecture and engineering to develop bio-stabilized building materials, among other highly interdisciplinary projects that all challenge conventional scientific approaches.
“We’re investing in ideas that rise,” noted the EVPR Office of Research Initiatives and Development, which oversees the RISE program, in their launch email. “Rising impact, through research that addresses complex challenges. Rising collaborations, across disciplines, schools, and sectors. Rising researchers, by building the next generation of scientific and academic leadership. Rising funding potential, through early support that sparks future investment.”
Applications for the 2027 RISE cycle are due by October 26, 2026. More information and application instructions are available via InfoReady.
