When college funds are available, we aim to provide matching support for seed funding offered by other units within Penn State (e.g., colleges, institutes, centers). These funds are intended to support the research activities of individuals who have research responsibilities as part of their faculty appointment. The funding is for support of activities that will lead to new proposals for external funding to expand these efforts.
Matching funds from the college must typically be used to support students, but it may also cover other expenses required for the research, e.g., human subject payments as required. Equipment or software is only covered if the proposal can make a case that it is absolutely necessary and not otherwise available. Other expenses may be covered on a case by case basis at the discretion of the college. Travel to conferences is generally not covered. If a paper produced by the research has been accepted for presentation at a top conference, the PIs need to apply for a supplement later on that may be funded at the discretion of the college, but typically, the college will not fund travel while matching seed funding.
The College will provide the following:
- A 1:1 match for grants that only involve IST faculty.
- For projects that involve faculty from other colleges, the match will be proportional to the ratio of the
- number of IST faculty to the total faculty involved in the project. Here the goal is for the other colleges will also provide a match, so the end result would be a 1:1 match (or more).
- Matches of up to $15K will be approved by the Associate Dean for Research.
- Matches of more than $15K require additional approvals, which are initiated by the Associate Dean for Research.
Approved by: Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Affairs
Dr. Carleen Maitland
Updated: 6/16/2025
Approved by: Dr. Andrew Sears, Dean, 10/12/2018
Revised & Approved by: Dr. Andrew Sears, Dean 04/13/2020