Seed Funding

Amount: Up to $20,000
For: Faculty
To be awarded: Annually, 2024-2028

Over the course of the 5-year project, Interface of Change will award 28 grants of up to $20,000  each to Univeristy of Alaska faculty and faculty from project partner institutions to seed new areas of inquiry and potentially transformative research that expand upon Interface of Change research areas. We will prioritize awarding proposals that develop from needs identified at Interface of Change annual Community Participatory  Workshops, and awardees are encouraged to collaborate with community partners and participate in annual Community Participatory Workshops.

In years 3-5 of Interface of Change, we will prioritize research seed award proposals that would contribute to Alaska EPSCoR's capacity-building and project sustainability goals, especially those that could potentially be a a good fit for an NSF EPSCoR E-RISE RII proposal.

 

Amount: Up to $4,000
For: Graduate students
To be awarded: Annually, 2024-2027

Interface of Change will also award 22 similar research grants of up to $4,000 each to graduate students, in project years 1-4.

Funded research seed awards:

Josianne Haag
PhD Oceanography Student
UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
Project Title: Tracing the organic matter source of continental shelf surface sediments in the northwestern Gulf of Alaska

Amount: $5,000
For: Educators
To be awarded: 2025 and 2027

Education and broadening participation seed funding will be awarded in project years 2 and 4.  A series of three $5,000  seed awards will support projects that help to achieve education and broadening participation goals.

Amount:$5,000
For: PWSC undergraduate students
To be awarded: Annually, 2024-2028

Funding will be available for first and second-year undergraduate students at the Prince William Sound College to have the opportunity to develop and engage in a research project with the Interface of Change project.

Amount: Up to $10,000
For: Researchers and community partners
To be awarded: Annually, 2024-2028

Economic Development seed awards will support Interface of Change researchers in advancing their research for real-world applications. These seed awards will be offered under three submission "tracks."

Track #1: Researcher outcomes for impactful solutions.

To be awarded: 2025 and 2027

Track #1 Economic Development Seed Awards support transitioning research outcomes into impactful community solutions that directly benefit Interface of Change regional community partners. An example of an idea for a proposal under this track might be an innovative process for mariculture spore collection. These awards will be offered in years 1 and 4 of the project.

Track #2: Interface of Change community businesses to work with researchers.

To be awarded: 2026 and 2028

Track #2 Economic Development Seed Awards will support Interface of Change community  businesses to work with researchers to build sustainable products and services to grow their business  and their community’s economy.  These awards will be offered in years 2 and 5 of the project.

Track #3: Build partnerships to pursue NSF I&E opportunities.

To be awarded: 2027

Track #3 Economic Development Seed Awards will support Interface of Change researchers in building partnerships to pursue NSF innovation opportunities for academic-business partnerships, such as the PFI, SBIR, and STTR  awards. Funded teams will be required to participate in UAF Center ICE NSF I-Corps to further develop  their ideas. Funds under Track 3 will support researchers to prepare for future NSF funding opportunities and to align collaborations with innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities available under the NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. Awardees will  be required to submit at least one proposal based on funded work. These awards will be awarded in year 3 of the Interface of Change project.