UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Center for Social Data Analytics (C-SoDA) is currently accepting proposals for seed grants to support projects during the 2025-26 academic year that advance the field of social data analytics. Research aims for Accelerator Awards Seed Grants can include, but are not limited to, innovative substantive applications of advanced analytics; the curation of new social data resources; and/or the development of new methods for social data analytics.
There are two broad types of awards:
- Faculty Awards for which at least one faculty member serves as a principal investigator (PI). Awards range from up to $10,000 for projects with one faculty member serving as PI to up to $15,000 for projects with more than one faculty member serving as PI.
- Doctoral Awards for which each PI is a doctoral student. Awards range from up to $1,500 if none of the PIs has been admitted to either the graduate minor or dual-title program in social data analytics to up to $3,000 if one or more of the PIs has been admitted to either program.
At least one PI on each proposal must be affiliated with the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts. Projects that present a plan to spend funds by the end of the current fiscal year — June 30, 2026 — will be prioritized, though funds are allotted for a total of 12 months from the award issue date.
Proposals should not exceed five single-spaced, 11 point font pages and should include a project description, project timeline and itemized budget justification. Faculty proposals should include a plan for seeking external funding for a broader project related to the proposal; doctoral awards should include a description of the paper that will be submitted for publication, timeline for submission and discussion of suitable high-impact outlets.
A CV and one- to two-sentence note of support for each PI and documentation of Institutional Review Board submission or approval for human subject research, if applicable, should accompany the proposal.
Grant applications and/or questions about the program should be submitted to C-SoDA director Bruce Desmaris no later than Oct. 15.