We invite COEIT Interdisciplinary Proposals (CIP) from COEIT faculty to cross pollinate ideas for use-inspired research, fostering collaborations across departments and units within COEIT and preparing for future external grant proposals or foundation funding. In selecting the awardees, emphasis will be on interdisciplinary teams and innovative ideas to increase future external funding. External Collaborators are welcome but not required, and may not be funded using College funds. The CIPs will foster cross-cutting contributions across disciplines, nurture new research ideas, and diversify future funding sources to address impactful societal problems. The competition is open to all COEIT tenured and tenure-track faculty, instructional faculty, and research faculty. Proposals for funding must include collaborative groups across departments.
We invite following types of CIPs:
- Research project: Ideal for a well defined interdisciplinary problem. Budget is up to $20,000 for no more than 1 year. These are suitable for standard projects but we also welcome center scale ideas for future external large grant submissions.
- Seed funding: This category is for projects that are ramping up or nearing completion with an existing partnership or are ready for transition to practice. Budget is up to $3000.
We anticipate funding multiple projects depending on the scope of the projects. There are no limitations on categories for use of funds, but the budget should be clearly justified. It is an expectation that each project will submit a collaborative proposal for external funding at the end of the project but no later than within a year after completion of the project. A report with outcomes will be required at the end of the project period. While preference will be given to new proposals, previous CIP awardees are also eligible to apply. If you are a past CIP recipient, please clearly outline activities from your past CIP award(s) and external funding or scholarly activities (one additional page), and why this work is novel.
Submission Requirements:
Applicants should submit a proposal including the following:
- Team members from at least two COEIT departments.
- Two-page project description (excluding references) including research description, team expertise as it relates to the project, timeline, deliverables, budget, and concrete plans for future funding. If you are a past CIP recipient, please include an additional page to summarize activities and outcomes from your prior CIP award(s).
- Two-page CV for each team member (in one document).
Review process:
Review will be performed by a group of faculty members across COEIT departments. The review process will focus on the merit of the proposed idea, its potential impact, and potential for future external funding. Final decisions based on these reviews will be made by the Dean’s office, and will include input from chairs. Plans for acquiring future funding will play a key role in the final decisions of awarding these grants. We also encourage considering diverse programs and sources as you plan for acquiring future funding.
Deadline: June 1, 2025
Announcements expected: July 15, 2025
Funding Period: August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2026
Submission: 2025 COEIT Interdisciplinary Proposal form
For questions, please reach out to vjaneja@umbc.edu