Investing in innovation
The Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) Seed Grant Program is intended to foster basic and applied research on strategic interdisciplinary topics that leverage faculty expertise across the University. The Seed Grant Program strives to:
- Develop new interdisciplinary research teams and position them for high-impact research and substantial external funding success
- Pursue novel research in IEE’s research themes, especially high-risk proof of concept projects
- Promote research development and mentorship between junior and senior faculty
Since the seed grant program's beginning, its goal has been to sow investments in the beginning stages of new and innovative energy and environmental research. IEE has awarded funding to more than 450 researchers and 200 interdisciplinary projects across multiple Penn State colleges and campuses.
See last year's (2022) funded projects | Learn more about the 2023 program
The IEE seed grant gave us enough funds to do some preliminary testing, vet some ideas, and find a really promising application. We eventually applied for a patent, published a few papers, and leveraged this work to get a multi-year project with the Department of Energy.
Assistant Research Professor, John and Willie Leone Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering
Growing Impact Podcast
Growing Impact is a podcast that explores IEE seed grant-funded projects through short conversations with researchers about their work. Transcripts are also available for each episode. Visit our library of podcasts or listen/subscribe on your favorite platform, including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Spotify.
Return on Investment
2.5:1 return on IEE seed grants, or $2.50 for every $1 invested
150+ students supported with IEE seed grants
250+ scholarly publications or presentations related to IEE seed grants