Interdisciplinary Seed Grants Program

What: The Office of the Executive Vice President for Research is piloting a seed funding program to bring together people from different disciplines to advance knowledge on issues of common concern facing humanity and society.  This program is intended to support innovative cross-disciplinary, collaborative research led by faculty in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, in partnership with faculty in all other disciplines.  Projects in all areas are welcome, but we are especially welcome proposals that intersect AI with any other discipline of study. 

Proposals should focus on topics that require complementary approaches and perspectives from diverse areas of intellectual expertise, where no one disciplinary approach suffices. Supported activities may include, but are not limited to: scholarly research; workshops intended to build partnerships within and outside of Columbia, e.g,. with community-based organizations; hackathons; design contests; honoraria for guest speakers; etc. In all cases, project leads must present a clear description of the novelty of interdisciplinary approach, expected outcome of the proposed activity (grant application, white paper, program development, etc.), intended use of award funds, and projected timeline. 

Topic of Interest: For this cycle, we especially welcome proposals that intersect AI with any other discipline of study.

Funding: Awards will be offered in two tracks:

• $20K-40K for projects that will result in white papers, publications, workshops, mash-ups, hackathons
• $40K-80K for research projects requiring personnel (grad student/postdoc) support

Who: We require the following:
Proposing teams must be led by two full-time Columbia faculty in different schools and working in different disciplines.

• At least one of the leads must be a full-time faculty member working in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.
• Postdocs or graduate students may participate, but not as co-leads.
• Projects led by only STEM researchers will not be considered.
• Projects that have already secured funding will not be considered.
• Strong preference for new collaborations. This can be a group that has recently formed but has not obtained funding, co-authored papers, or co-taught courses.

Faculty from all schools, including the professional schools, at Columbia are encouraged to apply. We especially encourage teams that incorporate diverse intellectual approaches to a common topic, e.g., faculty from the arts partnering with faculty from STEM; faculty with a theoretical bent partnering with faculty engaged in field/clinical research.

Applicants are encouraged to secure additional support for the planned activity from their department or school (i.e., meeting space, administrative support, etc.).

When: Internal Deadline – 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 30, 2024

How: To apply, please visit the internal application and instructions on our InfoReady Review site at: https://columbia.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1953355. Please click the “Columbia University Login” button to view instructions and begin your application.

Questions: Greg Culler and Casey Rollins at [email protected]