Deadline for submission: Monday, March 31, 2025 at 5:00 pm 

CoHRR Seed Awards offer support for projects that "seed" or "pilot" new research projects that are larger in scope, and where faculty members hope to secure future external funding. In 2025, CoHRR is partnering with the Music and Auditory Research Laboratory (MARL) to issue one joint seed award that addresses the intersection of Sound+Health (broadly construed). This seed award targets new research and research collaborations that cut across the research focus and expertise in CoHRR and MARL. Funding will also be available for up to two seed awards for projects that fall within CoHRR’s areas of research only and that do not involve a collaboration with MARL.

Applications are accepted via InfoReady. The maximum allowable budget for the CoHRR seed awards is $12,000 and projects typically last 12-18 months. The CoHRR+MARL seed award will have a maximum budget of $20,000 shared across centers. In all cases, the seed awards are intended to fund new projects and are not designed to support already funded or ongoing research projects. The earliest possible start date for the current award cycle is June 1, 2025.

Eligibility 

All full-time, tenure-track faculty members within NYU Steinhardt are eligible to apply. Research Scientists who have Principal Investigator (PI) status are also eligible to apply. Those without PI status are encouraged to join a project team as co-investigators but cannot serve as project leads. Previous CoHRR seed grant awardees cannot re-apply for funding for the same project. If proposing a collaborative project between MARL and CoHRR, teams must include at least one faculty member affiliated with each center.

Evaluation

Proposals are evaluated by an interdisciplinary group of faculty reviewers. Higher priority is given to proposals from early-career investigators, interdisciplinary research, and research that centers individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized in health-related research.  

The evaluation considers the following criteria:

1. Significance and impact on the field(s) of research
2. Significance and impact on the career of the investigator(s)
3. Approach and feasibility of research plan
4. Fit with priority areas
5. Budget

Grantee Expectations and Benefits

Awardees of the seed awards program are expected to:

• Participate in CoHRR–sponsored activities whenever possible and engage in the Center’s intellectual community
• Present research to CoHRR community at a future Research Showcase
• Submit extramural grant applications that build on seed funds through CoHRR (or joint submissions with MARL in the case of the CoHRR+MARL seed award) 
• Alert CoHRR of publications, media coverage, and awards resulting from the project and acknowledge the Seed Award in any publications or presentations
• Sign off on financial reports generated by Center staff and NYU's central accounting office
• Agree to serve as reviewers for future competitions

How to Apply

Please submit your application via InfoReady by the deadline mentioned in the Call for Applications. Templates with instructions are provided for your convenience. All applications must include the following sections:

• Project description: following instructions found in the title page template and application template, submit a single document in Word or PDF format that includes a title page and sections on specific aims (1 page maximum), significance and innovation (1 page maximum), approach (1-3 pages that include a discussion of planned next steps in submission for extramural funding), and references cited
• NIH-style Biosketch(es) for PI and all senior/key personnel (or, in the case of CoHRR+MARL applicants, curricula vitae/CVs may also be submitted)
• Budget and budget justification (1 page max): please use the budget template and submit in Excel or PDF format
• Optional Attachments: letters of support from collaborators, external partners, or data collection sites

Budget

The maximum allowable budget is $12,000 for CoHRR seed awards (and $20,000 total for the CoHRR+MARL seed award). Budgeted expenses may include wages for student assistants, fringe benefits, travel related to data collection, fieldwork expenses, participant incentives, consultants, translation services, lab supplies/equipment, etc. Funds cannot be used to support faculty effort.

Human Subjects Information

All funded proposals that include the participation of human subjects as part of their research design must be reviewed and approved by the New York University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects (UCAIHS) or NYU Langone Health Institutional Review Board. Please indicate in your application for funding whether human subjects will be involved in your research, and, if so, the status of your human subjects application. The award cannot begin before approval has been obtained.