Projects from water quality and brain health to miniature microscopes and quantum science receive $900K in seed grants
Research & Innovation Seed Grants, awarded by CU ǸԹ's Research & Innovation Office (RIO) and the Office of the Provost, will fund 15 new projects for up to $60,000 each.
Now in its 17th year, the Research & Innovation Seed Grant program stimulates new and exciting areas of research and creative work on campus, as demonstrated by the awarded 2025 projects.
“The Research & Innovation Seed Grant program continues to stimulate collaboration and progress in research, scholarship and creative work across CU ǸԹ,” said Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation and dean of the institutes. “While federal funding priorities vary over the years, this program has consistently provided opportunities for our faculty to explore new and exciting directions, many of which eventually drive advances that benefit society broadly.”
This year’s seed grant program
Awarded project highlights
Projects awarded in this cycle demonstrate the diversity of exploration encouraged through this program. A few highlights from 2025:
- Sustainability: Searching for novel microorganisms capable of accelerating plastic degradation in soil and exploring sustainable waste-stream plastics with low carbon content and cost
- Biosciences: Proteome-wide associations and changes with age-related frailty and a conformable ultrasound solution for simultaneous embolic monitoring of vessels feeding the brain
- Quantum Science and Technology: Miniature microscope with wobulation to study dopamine release and bridging mid-IR and telecom bands with entangled photons for molecular sensing
- Social Sciences and Humanities: Bioarchaeological Synthesis of Deviant Burials in Early Medieval Central Europe and A Political Asylum Documentary
The 2025 cycle attracted 104 proposals—up from 85 last year—which were evaluated by a record 12 review panels.
The program and projects signify an investment in the future research and scholarly or artistic vitality of the university. Awardees come from disciplines across the university—including ventures involving interdisciplinary work that will foster collaborative interaction among faculty—as well as disciplines not traditionally connected to sponsored research.
Long-term impact
Including the 2025 investments, the program has provided more than $18.7 million to fund more than 400 innovative projects across campus since 2008.
Seed grant projects have resulted in measurable impacts including published manuscripts, artist residencies, inventions and tens of millions of additional funding dollars for CU ǸԹ research, scholarship and creativity.
Other seed grant impacts across campus are equally powerful. New data, partnerships and research directions are often achieved, yielding opportunities that may otherwise not be available. Funded projects also provide undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and other investigators with critical research development and creative work experiences.
For more information on this program and other funding opportunities, visit the Research & Innovation Office Seed Grant webpage o subscribe to the bi-weekly RIO Bulletin.