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INCLUDE Seed Grant

Include Grants  seek to stimulate interdisciplinary research that broadens the scope of the CAMM and to develop full-scale IRGs to be incorporated into the Center.  Technical overlap with the current CAMM IRGs is not required for the proposed research. However, synergy with the mission of CAMM is preferred, through shared facilities, neutron scattering techniques, incorporating theory/modeling into the design of new materials, etc. (Figure 1). These proposals should fall within the program scope of the Division of Materials Research at NSF. We invite proposers to communicate with the CAMM Director to discuss competitive topics.  These grants will support small interdisciplinary groups of one PI and two or more Co-PIs per team. Each Include team is expected to form the core membership of a future IRG and to join CAMM events to increase their understanding of how the center works within the UT ecosystem. Proposed projects should be broad and interdisciplinary while maintaining a focus on a central theme to meet the requirements of a full IRG.

 

Figure 1. Common threads and high-level activities braid expertise in CAMM for the exploration of next generation materials and manufacturing techniques.

Download the Call for Proposals

Awards will be up to $50,000 in direct costs per grant per year. The initial funding period is one year, but a successful INCLUDE Grant team may apply for renewal in the next year’s open competition of the CAMM Seed Grant Program.

CAMM Research Seed Grant Program call 2025

Eligibility

  • An applicant may serve as PI on only one proposal in response to this Call for Proposals. The PI must hold a faculty-level appointment at UT. All proposed research must be clearly distinct from ongoing externally or internally funded research.
  • Currently funded PI’s with unspent funds cannot apply to this call.

Proposal Submission

Proposals for all funding tiers are due by August 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM EDT. Submit your proposal as a single PDF file through the submission box below.

A proposal submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed or considered.

Proposal Preparation Instructions

Use a minimum 11-point font size, single line spacing, and 1” margins throughout

  • Cover Page (1-page maximum) including:
    • Identification of the Funding Tier (EXPAND, INCLUDE, or TRANSLATE)
    • Proposal title
    • Names, titles, and departmental affiliations of PI, and Co-PIs and collaborators
    • Contact information for the PI only (mailing address, email, phone, and fax numbers)
    • Proposal abstract (200 words maximum)
  • Project Description (3 pages maximum) including:
    • Objectives of the proposed research project
    • Description and scope of research
    • Work plan and methodology
    • Expected outcomes
    • Research facilities that may be used to conduct the research
  • A coherent management plan (1 page maximum)
    • Detailing how the project will be executed as a team including the expertise and synergy among team members to enable research
  • References Cited (no page limit)
  • Budget Information (1 page maximum): Provide a detailed budget for the proposed research and a brief budget justification.
  • SciENcv – SciENcv for the PI (2 pages)
  • Quad Chart: Download the template & instructions – CAMM Seed Program Quad Chart

We will not accept proposals longer than the stated page limits and/or without all the information outlined above.

Budget Restrictions

These seed grants are intended to primarily support student and/or postdoctoral researcher salaries and benefits, tuition, materials and supplies, and instrument user fees.

 

The following expenses are NOT allowed (all Funding Tiers): equipment, faculty salaries and benefits; computers, and food and entertainment.

Terms & Conditions

All selected proposals are subject to terms and conditions, including reporting requirements, that will be specified when the awards are made.

  • All publications that result from seed funding must appropriately acknowledge CAMM and NSF support:

“This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center program through the UT Knoxville Center for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (DMR-2309083).”

  • PIs are required to submit reports consisting of one page of text and one “highlight” slide in April of the year following funding for inclusion in the annual report. The exact deadline and requirements will be communicated to the PIs of the seed grants awarded.
  • All purchases, travel, and HR appointments will be conducted in the investigators’ home departments.

Contacts

Amber White amberw@utk.edu or Professor Alan Tennant dtennant@utk.edu with any questions.