UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Faculty at Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses are invited to apply for four seed funding programs designed to strengthen research capacity, foster mentorship, and expand opportunities for undergraduate students. Offered through the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses (OVPCC), the programs provide support to help faculty advance their scholarship and prepare competitive proposals for external funding.
“Investing in faculty research at the Commonwealth Campuses strengthens discovery, fosters collaboration, and creates valuable opportunities for students,” said Renata Engel, interim vice president for Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor. “These programs are an important step in supporting faculty success and expanding the impact of their work.”
Opportunities are open to all tenure-line and teaching faculty, with proposals for the Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research, Research Mentorship, and Research Experiences for Undergraduates seed funding programs due Sept. 26. Applications to the Internal Mock Review funding program will be accepted on a rolling basis until funds are expended.
Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research
The program provides planning grants of up to $8,000 for interdisciplinary research development activities. Funding may be used to support pilot studies, preliminary data collection, research-related travel, and other activities that strengthen proposals to external sponsors. Principal investigators are encouraged to align projects with federal research priorities, to engage undergraduate and/or graduate students and to build multidisciplinary teams by collaborating with faculty at their campus or other Commonwealth campuses, University Park, Penn State Research Institutes and/or the College of Medicine.
Research Mentorship
Targeted toward early-career tenure-line or teaching faculty within four years of their first appointment, the program pairs assistant professors with senior faculty mentors to develop a three-year research career plan and prepare a competitive external funding proposal. Grants of up to $3,000 are available, supporting both the mentee and mentor in the collaboration to develop a joint proposal for submission to an external funding agency.
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
Open to faculty submissions to support their undergraduate students in research, the program encourages interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students at Penn State Commonwealth Campuses. Funding, which covers student wages, fringe benefits and travel to present findings at the 2026 Undergraduate Exhibition at University Park, supports undergraduate research projects during the 2025-26 academic year and offers two tracks:
- Federal Work-Study (FWS) Track: Up to $6,000 in funding jointly supported by OVPCC and the FWS program is available to support up to three eligible students.
- Regular REU Track: Up to $2,000 is available to support projects involving at least two undergraduate researchers.
Internal Mock Review
The program helps early-career faculty strengthen draft proposals through feedback from experienced grant recipients, aimed at enhancing proposal competitiveness. Potential mock reviewers should be tenured faculty with current or prior experience in managing sponsored research funding, ideally including awards from federal agencies. Reviewers receive $200 per proposal, and faculty may request up to two reviews through fiscal year 2026.