Seed Grant Funding Tier
INCLUDE Grants
INCLUDE Grants seek to stimulate interdisciplinary research that broadens the scope of CAMM and supports the development of full-scale Interdisciplinary Research Groups that could 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, including shared facilities, neutron scattering techniques, incorporating theory/modeling into the design of new materials, and related approaches.
About INCLUDE
Building future CAMM research directions
INCLUDE proposals should fall within the program scope of the Division of Materials Research at NSF. Proposers are invited to communicate with the CAMM Director to discuss competitive topics.
These grants 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.
Funding
Funding and project structure
Award amount
Awards are up to $50,000 in direct costs per grant per year.
Initial period
The initial funding period is one year.
Renewal possibility
A successful INCLUDE Grant team may apply for renewal in the next year’s open competition of the CAMM Seed Grant Program.
Eligibility
Who can apply
- 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 PIs with unspent funds cannot apply to this call.
Proposal Submission
Submission deadline
Proposals for all funding tiers are due by Monday, August 25, 2025 at 11:59 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
What to include in your proposal
Use a minimum 11-point font size, single line spacing, and 1-inch margins throughout.
Cover Page 1-page maximum
- Identification of the funding tier: EXPAND, INCLUDE, or TRANSLATE
- Proposal title
- Names, titles, and departmental affiliations of PI, Co-PIs, and collaborators
- Contact information for the PI only, including mailing address, email, phone, and fax numbers
- Proposal abstract, 200 words maximum
Project Description 3-page maximum
- 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
Management Plan 1-page maximum
- Describe how the project will be executed as a team
- Explain the expertise and synergy among team members that will enable the research
Additional Materials
- References cited, no page limit
- Budget information, 1-page maximum, including a detailed budget and brief budget justification
- SciENcv for the PI, 2 pages
- Quad Chart using the CAMM Seed Program template
Proposals longer than the stated page limits and/or missing the required information outlined above will not be accepted.
Budget Restrictions
Allowable and unallowable costs
These seed grants are intended primarily to support student and/or postdoctoral researcher salaries and benefits, tuition, materials and supplies, and instrument user fees.
Not allowed
The following expenses are not allowed for any funding tier: equipment, faculty salaries and benefits, computers, and food and entertainment.
Terms & Conditions
Award requirements
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.
- PIs are required to submit reports consisting of one page of text and one highlight slide in the year following funding for inclusion in the annual report.
- The exact report deadline and requirements will be communicated to the PIs of awarded seed grants.
- All purchases, travel, and HR appointments will be conducted in the investigators’ home departments.
“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).”
Submit Proposal
Proposal submission form
Submit your INCLUDE Grant proposal as a single PDF file using the form below.
Submit Your Seed Grant Proposal
Contacts
Questions?
Contact Amber White at amberw@utk.edu or Professor Alan Tennant at dtennant@utk.edu.