$1.2M in Seed Grants Awarded to 22 Research Projects by the Office for Research and Innovation

The Office for Research and Innovation at Stony Brook University has announced the recipients of the 2025 the OVPR Seed Grant Program. This marks the 11th cycle of the internal seed grant initiative, with OR&I awarding $1.2 million in total funding to 22 faculty-led research projects, setting a new record for the highest total funding distributed in a single cycle for this award.

The 2025 program received 100 applications from across Stony Brook University, including faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Renaissance School of Medicine, the School of Health Professions, the College of Business, the School of Social Welfare and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. The awarded projects span a range of disciplines and approaches, from proof-of-concept work to interdisciplinary collaborations that demonstrate strong potential for external funding.

The OVPR Seed Grant Program is designed to catalyze innovative research by supporting preliminary work that can lead to larger, more competitive extramural funding proposals. Faculty applicants submitted abstracts and short proposals outlining a timeline for transforming their early-stage ideas into high-impact research endeavors. Proposals were reviewed by a panel of faculty peers using standardized evaluation criteria focused on the merits of the proposed project and the likelihood of future external funding success.

This year's award rate was a historically high 22%. From its inception in 2018 through the end of FY 2024-25, the OVPR Seed Grant Program has received 743 applications and made 129 awards totaling over $6.7 million. The program, administered by the Office of Proposal Development (OPD), has completed 11 funding cycles to date and has achieved a return on investment of more than 9:1 based on external funding outcomes from completed projects.

"These awards represent Stony Brook's continued commitment to supporting faculty-driven research at its earliest and most promising stages," said Kevin Gardner, vice president for research and Innovation. "Our research enterprise is only as strong as the people and ideas that fuel it. By investing in bold, original thinking across disciplines, we're building the foundation for transformative discoveries and sustained external funding."

This year's recipients include faculty pursuing projects in areas such as energy-efficient data centers (College of Business and Computer Science), cancer therapeutics and pathology research (Renaissance School of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering), public policy and social welfare studies on transgender youth and healthcare access (Social Welfare, Political Science, and Journalism), quantum sensing technologies (Physics and Astronomy), and environmental monitoring of micro- and nanoplastics in the Hudson River (School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences). Awardees cited the importance of internal support in helping them launch new research directions, develop collaborations, and mentor students. Awardees cited the importance of internal support in helping them launch new research directions, develop collaborations, and mentor students.

The next OVPR Seed Grant Program cycle will be announced later this year with a tentative deadline some time during the academic year. Applications for this upcoming cycle will be submitted through InfoReady, the internal competition software launched last year to streamline submission and review processes. For more information about the awarded proposals or the OVPR Seed Grant Program and upcoming cycles of funding, visit the Office of Proposal Development's website.