Penn State Institute of Energy and the Environment — 2027 Seed Grant Program
The Penn State Institute of Energy and the Environment (IEE) invites research seed-grant applications on Climate and Natural Systems; Health and the Environment; Integrated Energy Systems; Equitable Communities and the Built Environment; and Water Sustainability. The program encourages interdisciplinary teams and high-risk proof-of-concept research that can lead to larger external awards. This is a legitimate internal university research grant, not a vendor procurement opportunity and not a grant open to unaffiliated nonprofits.
Funding
Up to $40,000 per seed-grant project for research work performed July 1, 2027 to June 30, 2028. Cross-college and cross-campus interdisciplinary collaborations receive priority; eligible single-PI and same-college teams can request the full amount but receive lower priority. A total competition pool was not published on the reviewed official 2027 page.
Eligibility
Lead applicants must be Penn State faculty with an appointment of 50% or greater at any campus, including tenured, tenure-track and fixed-term faculty. Collaborators may include people at other institutions, agencies and industry, but subcontracts outside Penn State are not allowed. A maximum of three investigators may be listed, including one responsible PI. Recipients of IEE Seed Grants in 2026 cannot serve as PI or co-PI in the 2027 call.
Deadline and submission
December 14, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). Applicants submit through the Penn State InfoReady portal. No preproposal stage is required. Include a maximum two-page project description with title, brief project overview, participating investigators, research approach, collaboration rationale, future external-funding potential and brief budget justification, plus permissible appendices such as PI biosketches and references.
Allowable costs and exclusions
Permitted costs include graduate and undergraduate research personnel, postdoctoral support, supplies, equipment, sample analyses, participant payments, eligible domestic project travel by Penn State participants and planning activities. Disallowed costs include faculty salary (regular, summer or supplemental), conference attendance travel and subcontracts to entities outside Penn State. Unspent funds will not carry forward beyond June 30, 2028. No general applicant cash-match requirement is stated in the official program guidance.
Official funder source and 2027 guidelines: https://iee.psu.edu/funding/seed-grant-program/2027 . Submission: https://psu.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/2040130 . Verified against the full public guidelines November 4, 2026. Any authenticated portal-only requirements must be confirmed before submitting an application.