Germinate Application

Request for Proposals (RFP): UGA GERMINATE – Grants for Emerging Research through

Mentorship, Integration, and Team Science Seed Funding Program

 

Purpose: To foster high-impact research by pairing junior researchers with established senior faculty across different UGA campuses (Athens, Tifton, and Griffin), leveraging diverse expertise and specialized facilities.

1. Eligibility & Team Composition

Proposals must be submitted by a collaborative team meeting the following criteria:

  • Multi-Campus Requirement: The two primary investigators must be based on different UGA campuses (e.g., Tifton/Athens, Griffin/Athens, or Tifton/Griffin).
  • Career Stage Pairing: The team must consist of one junior faculty member and one senior faculty. Priority would be non-tenured, tenure-track faculty.
  • Purpose: The partnership should focus on a specific research problem or question that requires the integration of diverse methodologies and/or the use of specific core facilities/capabilities/field sites available at the partner’s campus.

2. Budgetary Guidelines

Total requests should not exceed $12,000 per project although well justified requests over $12,000 will be considered. Funds are intended to facilitate residential intensive training, generation of data, and shared research activity.

 

  • Travel & Lodging: Priority funding for faculty and/or trainee (grad student/post-doc/staff) travel between campuses, including lodging and per diem during research intensive experiences.
  • Personnel: Limited salary and benefit support for personnel effort for the project will be provided. Personnel costs (salary only) are capped at $5,000 total. The need for salary support should be well justified. No fringe benefits should be requested.
  • Instrumentation: Fees for campus core facilities or specialized equipment or field sites. A clear justification of why this equipment or use of facilities or field sites is essential to the project is required.
  • Supplies: Funds for consumables directly related to the collaborative experiments.
  • Note: Due to the short timeline of these projects, it is advisable not to budget publication costs.

 

The budget should be submitted using the attached budget template (in excel) and must include a budget narrative. All budgets must be approved by your business office prior to submission of the proposal.

 

Split your budget between FY27 and FY28.

3. Proposal Requirements

  • Each project must have a PI and at least one Co-PI. As this is a mentoring focused-program, preference will be given to proposals led by junior faculty.
  • Proposals must be succinct (maximum 2 pages, Times Roman 11 font, 1 inch margins) and include:
  • Scientific Merit: Brief overview of the research question, the interdisciplinary approach, and projected outcomes. References may be included.
  • Collaboration and Mentoring Plan: Detail how the PI and Co-PI will interact, share technical knowledge, and why this is a strategic collaboration. Explain how the collaboration will support the long-term success of the junior faculty member. *If the PI and Co-PI are currently collaborating or collaborated previously, explain how the proposed GERMINATE collaboration is novel.
  • Timeline: Provide a timeline for the project that includes planning stages, data acquisition, data analysis, and outcome (proposal or manuscript).
  • Sustainability Goal: A specific plan and timeline for a joint external grant proposal (e.g., USDA, NSF, DOE) or a joint publication within 12 months of the award.

 

  1. Provide a 2-page biographical sketch for each PI and Co-PI. Format should mirror that of an NSF or USDA biographical sketch and include up to 10 relevant publications demonstrating expertise of each PI/Co-PI.

 

  1. Name and Contact information for PI’s business office who will manage the project funds.

 

NOTE: Proposals that are (1) not in the requested format, (2) over the page limit, (3) lack all requested components (scientific merit, collaboration and mentoring plan, timeline, sustainability plan, budget, budget narrative), (4) lack biographical sketch, or (5) lack name and contact information for the PI’s contact business office will be returned without review.

 

  1. Reporting & Accountability

Awardees must complete a short progress report during or at the end of the project:

  1. One paragraph summary of project activity
  2. Description of manuscript or proposal developed or to be developed
  3. Join the Plant Center
  4. Present a Lighting talk at the annual Plant Center Fall Retreat

 

NOTE: Any awardees that fail to provide reporting documents or lightning talks will be ineligible for subsequent funding from GERMINATE.

 

5. Submission Timeline

  • Proposals Due: January 15, 2027
  • Award Notification: February 15, 2027
  • Project Period: March 1, 2027 – June 30, 2028

 

  1. Application Portal

Upload your application packet as a single PDF to https://uga.questionpro.com/PCGerminate by midnight January 15, 2027.

 

You will upload two documents:

  1. Combined PDF with 2 page proposal (includes scientific merit, collaboration plan, timeline, sustainability goal), biographical sketches, Business Office name and contact info, budget narrative. References can be included in the 2 pages and in abbreviated form.
  2. Budget in excel file.

 

  1. Award Administration

Funds will be transferred to the PI’s home business office.  Applicants are expected to coordinate with their unit’s business office prior to submission and award to ensure they are aware of the funding and prepared to manage the associated financial and administrative responsibilities.

 

  1. Scientific Merit & Technical Justification

This section is designed to help applicants clearly articulate the “why” and “how” of their collaboration. A strong proposal will demonstrate that the research cannot be completed effectively without the specific partnership and resources requested.

  1. Project Overview and Innovation
  • The Problem: What is the critical gap in plant science research that this project addresses?
  • The Approach: How does this collaboration bring together two distinct methodologies (e.g., combining Griffin’s field-based stress physiology with Athens’ molecular/genomic capabilities)?
  • The Impact: How will this study advance the field and position the team for a larger external grant?

 

  1. Synergy and Career Development
  • Knowledge Transfer: Specifically, what technical skills or specialized protocols will the junior PI and their trainees acquire from the senior PI’s lab (and vice versa)? Proposals should have robust integration of research activities between these senior PI and junior faculty member such that there is knowledge transfer between the two labs.
  • Mentorship Plan: Describe how this partnership provides the junior faculty member with a unique platform for professional growth and institutional visibility. In addition to scientific knowledge, what will the mentorship by the senior faculty entail?
  • New Collaboration: Describe how this project fosters new collaborations and initiatives between faculty.

 

  1. Resource and Instrumentation Justification
  • Facility or Field Site Access: Identify the specific core facilities or field sites or instruments (if applicable).
  • Technology: Identify the technology and resulting data to be generated.
  • Necessity: Explain why these specific tools/resources are essential for the project’s success and how the budget for “fees” will be utilized.

 

  1. Strategic Output and Timeline
  • The “Target” Grant: Name the specific federal, state or other funding agency and the program solicitation (e.g., USDA-NIFA AFRI specific program) the team will target.
  • Publication: Name the title and journal to which the output from this seed grant will be published.
  • Timeline: Use a simple format to show the path from data collection to submission of manuscript or proposal