Full Call for 2025 SPROUT Proposals

Support for Promising Research Opportunities and Unconventional Teams (SPROUT) Awards

An Initiative of Cornell Engineering's Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies

Cornell Engineering is pleased to announce a continuing, internal funding opportunity directed at supporting teams of investigators pursuing novel research at the intersection of multiple fields. From early demonstrations of collaborative success through establishment of an external funding stream, these awards are intended to grow research partnerships that span disciplines within Cornell Engineering and university-wide. This investment is expected to result in submission of a proposal to an external agency.

For the upcoming year, annual funding will support one Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) for one full year (July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026), with up to $2,500 available for expenses available to teams that are entirely based in Ithaca, and up to $5,000 for teams that span multiple Cornell campuses. This funding is available to demonstrated, but fledgling, collaborations to help mature these efforts to successfully pursue competitive, external funding to fully sustain the project. Teams will be eligible to receive two cycles of funding under the SPROUT award mechanism. Previous SPROUT-supported teams are eligible to apply for a second round of funding, but must demonstrate that a proposal to continue the work has been submitted or will be submitted before the end of the first funding period. Please be sure to submit the shorter application for “previously supported SPROUTs.”

Criteria for application: Two or more faculty must be invested in the project. Faculty members can only be associated with one submission. The faculty lead for the project must have an appointment in Cornell Engineering.

What is a SPROUT?

Support for Promising Research Opportunities and Unconventional Teams (SPROUT) awards provide financial assistance for interdisciplinary projects that were submitted to an outside agency, reviewed well, but were ultimately not selected for funding. Evidence of a positive review must be presented. Support will also be considered for collaborative projects that resulted in publication of a peer-reviewed article since 2023. However, priority will be given to projects in the former category.

How can I use the funds?

Funds are intended to support one GRA to help advance the project to full proposal stage. Additional funds can be used for supplies that support the project, but other expenses, such as faculty summer salary, are not allowed. The goal of this investment is to nurture interesting projects whose scope is outside of the work supported by presently funded sponsored projects.

How to apply?

Renewal requests for previously funded SPROUTs: Provide evidence of any submitted (or soon to be submitted) proposal that was the intended outcome of the original SPROUT award. Please also submit a one-page request for additional support that details progress on the project. Follow instructions for “previously supported submission.”

For new applications, or those that did not receive prior SPROUT support: In addition to the appropriate cover sheet, please submit a two-page proposal describing the project, its impact, and how the priority research directions in the College are advanced, paying special attention to these points:

Justify why the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and provide the approximate relative weight of contribution from each faculty member.
Explain how this project is interdisciplinary, and how this cross-disciplinary effort can advance the field beyond traditional approaches.
Articulate the planned path to compete for external funds to support the project in its next stages after the sprout funding. Please include specific funding opportunities that you will apply for.

Within the body of the proposal, please elaborate on your prior collaborative efforts. If you provided a link to a collaboratively published paper, please indicate how this funding will directly lead to a proposal submission. For a declined proposal, please provide a brief summary of reviewer comments that can be addressed through support from the SPROUT program.

For this cycle, there is no need to create a budget. On the Qualtrics form, simply indicate whether you would like to apply for a full SPROUT award or a half sprout award (0.5 GRA plus $1250/$2500). There is no Facilities and Administrative (F&A) support for these internal projects.

Use these links to apply:

Submission form for new and renewal SPROUT proposals April 22, 2025 deadline

Submission form for Summer SPROUT proposals April 7, 2025 deadline

Timing:

This SPROUT cycle runs for a full year. Funds will be available from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. Proposals are due on April 22, 2025. Summer SPROUT runs May 2025 through August 2025.

For FAQs, please see: engineering.cornell.edu/sprout