Our November 4 and 5 Seed Grant Info Sessions have passed, but you are welcome to review the slide deck we used during the sessions.
The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society annually invites members of the Dartmouth community to apply for faculty pilot and development grant funding for research and/or teaching proposals. Projects are selected for funding through a competitive process and with the expertise of energy and climate faculty across the university. These 1-2-year projects seed new research, accelerate existing research, and support education and engagement initiatives in a wide array of energy, climate, sustainability, health, and society related topic areas.
The Institute aims to drive the creation of ideas, technologies, and policies that will improve the availability and efficient use of energy for every person on the planet. The Institute is a catalyst leveraging the university's strengths in energy and climate research and education across every discipline. The Institute serves as a convener for faculty, students and experts, and invites and hosts external stakeholders – including community members, industry executives, researchers, and scholars – to explore society's pressing challenges and foster creative solutions at the interface of energy, climate, sustainability, health, and society.
The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society seeks proposals for research and education on climate and energy challenges faced by society – and the societal challenges posed by climate and energy. The Institute welcomes diverse climate and energy-related projects from all disciplines. Proposals that require and engage an interdisciplinary perspective and research team and may have an impact in solving or lessening the climate crisis within the next 5 – 10 years are especially encouraged and can garner up to $100,000 of support over one or two years.
Applicants are encouraged to consider the critical barriers that are hampering implementation of impactful solutions that are sustainable, resilient, and equitable and to develop proposals that could overcome those barriers or shed new light on how they might be addressed. The Institute encourages interdisciplinary teams of applicants to develop unique and innovative approaches that are hard to fund with more narrowly focused or restricted sources of grant monies. It is expected that the proposed projects, once completed, will lead to additional, outside research support.
The Institute welcomes proposals from all Dartmouth faculty, of any rank, as well as from Dartmouth staff and postdocs.
Principal investigators (PIs) should indicate whether they are considering the inclusion of collaborators from outside Dartmouth in the pre-proposal (Note: we cannot fund outside collaborators). Postdoc proposals must include a letter of support from a faculty mentor. Preference will be given to interdisciplinary, multi-departmental team proposals.
Applications that fall into one or more of the below categories may be submitted. Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged.
Innovations in research and technology to find implementable solutions to the climate crisis. Thinking about policies, markets, and financing structures that promote innovation and facilitate deployment in a way that is affordable and environmentally responsible; developing stakeholder skillsets to excel at this.
Examples include but are not limited to: climate modeling, policy and regulatory innovation, new energy technologies that advance decarbonization, unique approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation, climate and health research (medical aspects).
Assessing the societal impacts of both our current energy systems and new innovations is a complex endeavor, especially given disparity among individuals and groups of people. Identifying and advancing solutions that not only benefit large numbers of people, but that importantly promote justice as we transition our energy systems?
Examples include but are not limited to: climate-health research (social aspects), environmental humanities, social impacts and environmental justice, climate communications, solutions to advancing climate action.
Our energy and society issues affect a diversity of stakeholders, many of whom do not communicate or have been adversaries. In our changing world, opportunities exist to revisit perspectives and bring together parties to develop creative solutions technologically and socially.
Examples include but are not limited to: climate-smart housing and supply chain infrastructure, transmission policy and permitting reform, solar or energy storage manufacturing supply chains.
The Institute especially encourages applications working with minority-serving institutions, rural underserved, or Indigenous communities.
The total award pool is approximately $500,000. Anticipated award levels are:
Applications will be accepted on the following timeline:
Step 1: Pre-proposal presentation with budget outline. Due December 9, 2024
Format: Five-minute virtual presentation (6-8 slides — suggested template here) to the review committee.
Submit pre-proposal materials here.
Applicants will give a five-minute presentation during the week of January 26, 2025 to the review committee followed by a 10-minute Q&A.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their ideas with Institute staff, especially with the Irving Institute research leadership, before submission and to develop their presentations in collaboration with the Institute for strong, fundable proposals. Note that pitches will be recorded during the presentation. Slide decks and videos will be used for selection of finalists and may also be posted online at Dartmouth websites for promotional and marketing purposes.
Pre-proposal presentations should provide:
Note: We encourage applicants to support salaries for graduate and postdoctoral researchers, research faculty and junior faculty. In general, senior, tenured faculty are not eligible for salary support.
This funding opportunity is internal to Dartmouth. Review/approval by OSP is not required.
By January 31, successful applicants will be invited to submit full proposals in April. Applicants who are not asked to submit a full proposal are encouraged to schedule a meeting with the Irving Institute research or academic leadership, to discuss possible approaches to strengthen or redirect their concept.
If you were invited, please submit:
By March 31, 2025: A single pdf file containing your full proposal package (see details below)
By May 15, 2025: A pitch deck consisting of 6-8 slides (suggested template here) for a 6-7 minute presentation.
Full proposals should expand on pre-proposals and include a verbal presentation as well as a short, written document. They should respond to feedback from the pre-proposal review to make a strong, succinct case for funding. In addition to expanding on the content of the pre-proposal, the full proposal should highlight:
Full proposal packages should consist of, in order:
1. A project title and team page, with names, faculty/student/community status, departmental affiliations, and email addresses for all core project participants.
2. A brief abstract geared toward a lay audience (150 words)
3. An abstract and specific aims page (1 page)
4. A text narrative of no more than 2000 words that contains:
5. List of references/citations
6. A detailed budget template and budget narrative
7. Background on key personnel.
Your final submission will need to include 6-8 slides for a 6-7-minute pitch presentation. A suggested template for a pitch presentation can be found here. Final slide decks will be due by May 15, 2025.
Submission form for selected finalists will be posted in late January 2025.
Expert Review Committee
An expert review committee will select proposals to be funded. Review committee members will be Irving Institute faculty affiliates; the tenure of each committee member will be restricted to 2 years.
Proposal Selection Criteria
The expert review committee will review all full proposals. Key selection criteria include:
Projects are expected to conclude on scope, on time and on budget. In exceptional cases, no-cost extensions may be requested in writing prior to the projected end date.
Use of Funds
Examples of how funding may be used include: seed new research projects or add new components to existing projects; support travel and supplies; hire student research assistants; pay for student employees; develop curriculum for new educational programs or classes; develop or purchase specific teaching aid(s) or material(s). Funds cannot be used to pay salaries of non-Dartmouth employees. Funds are not transferable when leaving the institution.
Funds Management
PI has sole responsibility for all expenditures. The Institute will provide regular summary reports and transaction-level details to PIs. Overages will be the sole responsibility of the PI and not the Irving Institute; any unused funds will revert to the Institute after the permitted funding period unless a no-cost extension has been granted. Awards may not be transferred to other institutions upon departure of the PI from Dartmouth.
Project Completion and Reporting
All recipients of Irving Institute funding are expected to provide annual progress updates and a final report. Awardees will become Institute Affiliates if not already part of the community, be profiled on the Institute website and in social media and are expected to meet with fellow Institute grantees to join the growing Institute community, share findings, discuss new directions for collaborative inquiry and activity and present at an Irving Institute event. Recipients are expected to share documentation of supplemental funding (grant proposals/award letters, fellowship awards, etc.) and to acknowledge Institute funding and support in any publication or publicity.
Each project will be considered complete, and its PIs will be eligible for possible future Institute funding when all of the following are submitted to the Irving Institute:
A) Final project report and financial summary – due within a month of funding period conclusion.
B) Web/social-media ready material, including photos, to share findings and lessons learned via Institute communication vehicles and a potential portal such as a grants SharePoint portal.
C) Full documentation of any/all project deliverables, including published papers, public presentations/exhibits/videos, class materials, etc.
Please review our FAQ or contact angelika.h.hofmann@dartmouth.edu