FY26 STEM Research Seed Award
The ND EPSCoR State Office’s mission is to support efforts of participating institutions of higher education across the state that result in increased STEM faculty capacity and competitiveness and a stronger STEM pipeline that produces our next generation workforce, educators, and researchers.
In support of this mission, ND EPSCoR seeks to provide STEM research seed awards of up to $60,000 in direct costs (State funds, indirect costs not allowed) to researchers at ND institutions of higher education. Funding will be provided to faculty for the specific purpose of generating preliminary data needed to support the preparation of a STEM proposal for submission to a federal agency. Funds may be used for materials and supplies, student support (undergraduate and graduate), and operating services (e.g., recharge center fees for sample analysis). Proposals must provide an introduction and justification for the research including fit within the current State Science & Technology Plan, description of the research and data to be collected, the specific federal agency RFP to which a proposal will be submitted, and a short biographical sketch (2 pages) for all participating researchers. Priority will be given to multi-institutional (especially if PUIs and TCUs are collaborating), collaborative, interdisciplinary teams/research.
A. Eligibility
Applications must be led and submitted by a faculty member employed in the ND University System or ND Tribal College System. Applicants are welcome to collaborate with faculty from any North Dakota institution of higher education. Applicants/collaborators with past due final reports on other current/past ND EPSCoR-awarded projects are not eligible to compete.
B. Primary evaluation criteria
Scientific merit.
Broader impacts.
Fit within the current ND Science & Technology plan.
Submitted plan to sustain the proposed effort and leverage the proposed project outcomes.
C. Allowable expenses (total of up to $60K in direct costs)
Faculty salary (up to 0.5 month of summer salary) plus related fringe benefits;
Student salary and related fringe benefits;
Research supplies (including minor equipment);
Core facility or recharge center fees;
Domestic travel up to $4,000 (i.e. to collaborating institutions or field study sites, or for conference presentations).
Budgets over $60K in direct costs will be considered for an application involving a significant (>3) multi- institutional collaboration involving PUI and/or TCU partnerships; however, prior notification must be given to, and approved by Jim Doolittle in the ND EPSCoR Office before submission. Capitalized equipment, and visiting scholars/researchers are not allowed under this award.
D. Application requirements
Electronic submission: Submit items through NDSU’s InfoReady submission portal. A guide for accessing NDSU InfoReady is available here. Proposals are due no later than 11:59 pm CDT, January 30, 2026.
E. Checklist of requirements
Project Summary - One-page limit, double spaced.
Project Description: No more than four (4) double-spaced pages, font no smaller than 10. Required sections: 1) Introduction, 2) Proposed research, 3) Nature of any collaborations including the role and responsibilities of each collaborator, and 4) Anticipated results. An additional single-spaced page with literature cited can be included.
NSF-PAPPG compliant biographical sketch. (Learn more) Collaborations provide a biographical sketch for each collaborator.
NSF-PAPPG compliant Current and Pending form. (Learn more) Collaborations provide a Current and Pending form for each collaborator.
Budget form available through the submission portal. Collaborations add tabs for each collaborator and an overall project tab to the budget form (spreadsheet).
Budget justifications with a clear alignment to the budget form. Collaborations add separate budget justifications for each collaborator’s budget.
A tentative list of specific federal programs to which future proposals may be submitted as a result of this support.
F. Additional information
ND EPSCoR has approximately $480,000 in state funds to award through this solicitation. No F&A is allowed on awards utilizing state funds. Awards are planned be announced on or before March 15, 2026. The effective award dates will be from March 16, 2026 – August 31, 2027 (18 months) after which time all remaining funds will be relinquished. A no-cost extension will be possible with justification. A final report must be submitted to the ND EPSCoR office through the NDSU submission portal within 60 days of the end of the project performance period. Awards are contingent upon availability of funds from the State of North Dakota.
Please direct questions to Jim Doolittle at james.doolittle@ndsu.edu.