The Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology catalyzes new research collaborations by connecting faculty across disciplines and helping them launch innovative projects that address sustainable energy challenges.

Through its Seed Grant Program, VIEST provides short-term funding to launch new cross-disciplinary collaborations between faculty in the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Seed Grant Opportunities for 2026-2027

1. Strategic Seed Grant Program

Program Guidelines

• Strategic seed grants support new collaborative research projects that expand the scope and impact of energy research at Penn. Project teams must include at least three Penn faculty members eligible to serve as PI on external grants with appointments in SAS or ENG.
• The Letter of Intent (LOI) stage is intended to identify projects that align strongly with the goals of the VIEST Strategic Seed Grant Program and warrant development into a full proposal. Selected teams will be invited to submit a detailed proposal, including a project plan and budget.
• Competitive projects will demonstrate the potential to engage a broad community of Penn researchers and serve as the foundation for larger multi-investigator or center-scale external funding opportunities.
• Proposals must address research challenges that align with established sponsor priorities and for which identifiable external funding opportunities are expected within the seed grant period or the near term.
• Budget guidelines: Budgets are not required with LOI submissions. Full proposal requests may be for $25,000 - $250,000, for up to a one-year period. Allowed expenses are graduate student and postdoc support, research supplies and services (no faculty salary).

Application Deadlines

• 1/15/2027 for Summer 2027 start date
• 4/15/2027 for Fall 2027 start date

Download Strategic Seed Grant LOI Guidelines

Submit a Strategic Seed Grant LOI on InfoReady

2. Rapid Response Grants 

Program Guidelines

• The VIEST Rapid Response Grant Program is intended to provide rapid support to assist the development of competitive external funding proposals by supporting generation of preliminary data, emerging scientific discovery, or new interdisciplinary collaborations.
• Proposals must align with current sponsor priorities and have identified external funding opportunity deadlines within the funding period or the verynear term.
• Project leads must be Penn faculty members eligible to serve as PI on external grants with appointments in SAS or ENG.
• Budget guidelines: Requests may be for up to $25,000 for up to a six-month period. Allowed expenses are graduate student and postdoc support, research supplies and services, instrument usage, or travel (no faculty salary).

Application Deadlines

• Requests accepted on a rolling basis, subject to availability of funds.
• Reviewed every two months (first review begins 10/1/2026, thereafter reviews anticipated in early December 2026, February 2027, April 2027, and June 2027, depending on proposal demand).

Download Rapid Response Grant Application Guildelines

Apply for the Rapid Response Grant on InfoReady

3. Director’s Opportunity Fund 

Program Guidelines

• The VIEST Director’s Opportunity Fund is intended to assist in the development of competitive external funding proposals by rapidly supporting the generation of preliminary data, workshop convenings, planning meetings, or proposal development consultants.
• Proposals must align with current sponsor priorities and have imminent external funding opportunity deadlines.
• Project leads must be Penn faculty members eligible to serve as PI on external grants with appointments in SAS or ENG.
• Budget guidelines: Requests may be for up to $5,000 for up to a three-month period. Allowed expenses are research supplies and services, instrument usage, travel, on-campus business meetings, or consulting services. 

Application Deadlines

• Requests are accepted on a rolling basis, subject to availability of funds.
• Proposals will be reviewed upon submission. We aim to communicate funding decisions within one week of submission, though timing may vary depending on the nature of the request and reviewer availability. 

Download Director's Opportunity Fund Application Guidelines

Apply for the Director's Opportunity Fund on InfoReady


 

Funded Seed Projects

• Chemical Upcycling of Post-Consumer Polymer Waste to Reduce Energy Use and GHG Emissions

  • Karen Winey, Karen Goldberg, Raymond Gorte, Marisa Kozlowski & Daeyeon Lee

• Engineering Away CO2 with Mine Wastes

  • Jennifer Wilcox, Eric Stach, Aleksandra Vojvodic

• Enhancing Photo-Catalysts for Highly-Selective Energy Transformation

  • Aleksandra Vojvodic, John Vohs, Chris Murray & Eric Stach

• Functionalization of C-H Bonds Using Cerium Photo-Catalysis

  • Eric Schelter & Patrick Walsh

• Heterogenizing Homogeneous Catalysts for Energy Applications

  • Karen Goldberg, Ray Gorte & Aleksandra Vojvodic

• Nanoporous Active/Inactive Composites for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Battery Anodes

  • Eric Detsi, Eric Stach & Andrew Rappe

• Tri-Continuous Carbon-Based Electrocatalysts (TRICE) for Efficient Oxygen Evolution and Oxygen Reduction for Energy Storage

  • Dohyung Kim, Daeyeon Lee, Thomas Mallouk, Eric Stach, Kathleen Stebe & John Vohs

• Understanding and Engineering Nanoscale Transport in Self-Assembled Membranes for Precise Separations

  • Jessica Anna, Chinedum Osuji, Amish Patel & Karen Winey