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Vanderbilt - Liverpool Joint Research Seed Grant

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Vanderbilt-Liverpool Joint Research Seed Grants

Vanderbilt-Liverpool Joint Research Seed Grants provide financial support of up to $10,000 USD for new and innovative faculty research endeavors that involve global engagement and collaboration with the University of Liverpool. The grants are meant to seed projects with larger funding capacities. Applications for the 2026-2027 year are due by October 30, 2026.

PLEASE NOTE: The application portal will launch early October 2026.

Funding for the 天美传媒官网-Liverpool Seed Research Grant Program has been made possible by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation and the School of Engineering.

Fund Uses

The 天美传媒官网-Liverpool Joint Research Seed Grants may generally be used for:

  • Organizing collaborative research/working groups in the US and abroad for the purpose of competitive grant-writing and publications
  • Travel
  • Capital expenses
  • Graduate student wages
  • Term-limited consultants
  • Materials/supplies

Unallowable uses generally include:

  • Book subventions
  • Salaries for faculty or PI-eligible professional research staff (as designated by their dean and OVPRI)
  • Tuition or financial aid support for students
  • Subcontracts or staff effort at other institutions (awarded funds are intended to be spent at VU)

Eligibility and Requirements

We encourage you to reach out to ovprfunding@vanderbilt.edu with questions about the application in general.

  • All full-time, VU-employed (Provost-reporting) faculty are eligible. Additionally, full-time, VU-employed professional research staff who have been designated by their dean and OVPRI to hold positions comparable to research faculty may apply. 聽All other staff, students, and post-docs are ineligible.
  • PIs may submit up to one proposal per year as lead PI.聽
  • Funds may not be used to support faculty and PI-eligible professional research staff salaries.聽
  • PIs are not eligible to submit another proposal until all reporting requirements have been met.聽
  • Awards are based partly on need. As a result, each participating faculty member must disclose institutional resources available in the form of start-up funds or other discretionary research funds. All institutional research-support funds, including endowed chair funds, annual allocations, and other such sources, must be noted.聽
  • All funds must be used within twelve months of the award start date. There is np carry forward.聽
  • Recipients must provide an update on the status of their research, including a brief statement and any relevant images, by the end of the award period.
  • A clearly defined description of the project including the identification of the primary applicants (a minimum of one co-applicant from Vanderbilt and Liverpool).
  • Collaborators in Liverpool must submit a separate email to Kerry McElroy at kerry.mcelroy@liverpool.ac.uk

Priority Themes:

  • Music and Creative Industries - music, museum studies, film
  • Defense and security - cybersecurity, intelligence, data & algorithms, defense & secure systems engineering
  • Healthcare and Life Sciences - drug discovery, therapeutics, infection health data science
  • Energy, Climate, and Sustainability - climate change mitigation & adaption, infrastructure resilience and risk, clean energy systems, environmental modelling, carbon capture & storage
  • Engineering - projects that catalyze joint projects between Vanderbilt鈥檚 School of Engineering and University of Liverpool faculty
  • Slavery studies - North American Slavery, French Slavery, British Slavery, modern slavery, Abolition studies, Haiti Studies聽 Other areas may be considered.

Guidelines for Review

Proposals that include the following criteria will be viewed favorably:

  • It lays the foundation for continued collaborations (funding, publications, and research)
  • It includes a feasible work plan with achievable milestones and highlights one of the following outcomes
    • Joint proposals for funding from national funding agencies.
    • Joint proposals for funding and engagement with business, industry or cultural organizations.
    • Joint submissions to high-impact academic journals.
    • Joint research and/or activities leading to new IP, prototype development, or large-scale studies/datasets with social impact.
    • Joint proposals to city, regional government or other external organisations for civic, social or creative impact.
  • It includes a well-thought-out and justifiable budget
  • It promotes a spirit of global collaboration

Proposals are reviewed once per year. Award decisions will be made by the end of December 2026.

Application Checklist

All proposals must be submitted through the InfoReady Application Portal.

Part 1: Applicant Information

  • Lead Faculty First and Last Name
  • Lead Faculty VUnetID
  • Lead Faculty School/College and Department
  • Lead Faculty Appointment Title
  • Project discipline (Science and Medicine, Engineering, Arts and Humanities, or Social Science)
  • Total Funding Requested
  • Liverpool Co-PI name
  • Liverpool Co-PI email address

Part 2: Proposal Information

  • Proposal Title
  • Project Abstract聽(100 words)
  • Collaboration (250 words):聽
    Please provide a short description of how your proposal supports and embodies global engagement and collaboration with the University of Liverpool. (250 words)
  • Research Questions (750 words)
    Briefly explain your proposed project, the research question(s) it addresses, and the methodological approach and rationale of your project. Also discuss the significance and impact of the work proposed on your field and subfields. References are not required, and any included will count toward the word count, though you may upload an optional references/bibliography document to this application. Please make sure that your response is free of field-specific jargon and will be accessible to the review committee.
  • Research Trajectory & Deliverables聽(500 words)
    How does this project fit into your research trajectory? Please explain your plans for future external sponsorship, any deliverables that will result from the proposed work, and collaborations that this work will facilitate. (500 words)
  • 奥辞谤办辫濒补苍听(500 words)
    Describe your workplan, timeline, and notable benchmarks.
  • Postdoc Support聽(500 words max) - Optional
    If hiring a postdoc, please explain a) the necessity of the postdoc to the project, b) the work the postdoc will be doing on the project, c) if a postdoc has already been selected or will be a new hire, d) if hiring a new postdoc, please discuss the desired qualifications of the postdoc, and e) a sustainable plan for supporting the postdoc after the Seeding Success Grant ends.
  • Roles/Contributors聽(500 words max)
    If applicable, please describe the role of all individuals listed on the project, including the PI and any co-collaborators. Be sure to include聽name, job title, organization.
  • Budget Justification聽(500 words max)
    Please explain and justify what the requested funds will cover, if awarded. This section should correlate to the attached budget.
  • Disclosure of Internal Funds
    Disclose the specific dollar amounts of all internal funds currently available (start-up funds, annual allocations, endowed-chair funds, other internal awards, etc.) for each VU faculty member listed. Indicate why these monies cannot be used for the proposed project expenditures and if there will be any cost-sharing on the part of the PI/co-investigators from those internal funds.
  • Liverpool Partnership History
    Have you previously collaborated with the person listed above? If so, please state the circumstances and any outcomes from the collaboration.
  • Liverpool Partnership Sustainability
    Elaborate on the possible pathways for continuation of the collaboration beyond this award and beyond the Co-PIs. Describe how this seed grant will help build towards larger national and/or international funding opportunities. Identify specific funding opportunities (include URL) and timelines for applying.
  • Thematic Areas:
    • Music and Creative Industries
    • Defense and Security
    • Healthcare and Life Sciences
    • Energy, Climate, and Sustainability
    • Engineering
    • Slavery Studies

Part 3: Additional Document Uploads

  • Detailed budget
  • Scholarship and Sponsorship Information
    *Please provide a document that lists the relevant publications of each collaborator*
    All VU faculty listed on this application must upload a list of their five most recent and relevant (to this project) publications or works. Please do not upload entire copies of these publications; citations are sufficient. All VU faculty listed on this application must also include a list of all external sponsorship from the last five years, including Project Title, Sponsoring Group/Agency, Grant or Award Type, Individual role, Dates of Award, Total Award Amount