Ignite Interdisciplinary Grants

Ignite Interdisciplinary Grants

The Ignite Interdisciplinary Grant program (formerly Tier 2 Interdisciplinary Grant) is designed to catalyze interdisciplinary research projects that are aligned with the Here and Next priority areas. These grants will address complex transformative problems that require an interdisciplinary approach; are currently not funded; and have a potential for increased funding, either through the federal government or through substantial foundation or philanthropic support. The types of projects proposed can range from proof of concept or feasibility studies, to the development of new, interdisciplinary teams leading to the formation of large, collaborative research projects. These funds can be used to gather pilot data with the goal of successfully competing for future sponsored research opportunities.

Award Period: 1 year

Award Cap: Up to $50,000

Deadlines and Cycles: Fall Cycle applications were due September 27, 2024, and are currently under review. The Spring 2025 deadline is February 14, 2025; the application for the spring cycle will be released in November 2024.

If you have any questions about this program, please email researchseedfunding@wustl.edu.

Fall 2025 Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals document contains the full information about the Ignite Interdisciplinary Grant application procedures, review criteria, reporting requirements, etc. Please reach out to researchseedfunding@wustl.edu with any questions.

Application Materials

All applications must be submitted via the InfoReady system. The deadline for Fall 2024 Ignite Interdisciplinary Grants was September 27, 2024. Applications are currently under review and applicants will be notified of funding decisions in December.

The Spring 2025 Application Portal will be released in November 2024.

Project Description

Project descriptions should be written to a general academic audience, free of jargon and understandable to the non-expert. In no more than three pages, single spaced, applications describe the following, considering the merit-review criteria in the CFP: 

  • What is the research proposed? How is it new and innovative?   
  • Who are the researchers involved, what are the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team, and how is their interdisciplinary knowledge critical to the project’s success? In other words, how is the interdisciplinary knowledge critical to the project’s success?  
  • How does this project represent a new line of inquiry for the team? (Keep in mind that this is seed funding and Ignite Grants will not be made to already funded work.)  
  • What activities does the team propose to undertake during the award period?  
  • What are potential sources of external funding and how does the proposed Ignite Grant activities increase the team’s likelihood of success with those specific opportunities?  
  • How does the proposed work fit with the Here and Next Priorities of Research Excellence selected?  
  • Applicants should consider including at least one figure to convey the significance of the issue and the impact of their proposed approach. 

Budget Information

Please note: These awards are intended to fund research of Washington University faculty and not meant to fund collaborators outside of the University. 

  • Up to $50,000 over one year 
  • Allowable costs are:  
    • Non-faculty personnel (postdoctoral fellows, students, and staff) 
    • Research materials (such as data sets, lab supplies, etc.)  
  • Non-allowable costs are:  
    • Faculty salary 
    • Course Relief  
    • Equipment or capital expenses 
    • Indirect costs 
  • Generally unallowable costs are*: 
    • Funding for travel is not allowed. 
    • Global Health Research Projects Only: If these impose a significant restriction for the conduct of a global research project or engagement of a community partner, please email researchseedfunding@wustl.edu.   

Ignite Interdisciplinary Grant Awardees

2023-2024

Fall 2023

  • AI for Examining and Predicting Family Involvement with Child Project System 
    Digital Transformation and Public Health Co-PIs: Eunhye Ahn, Brown School; Yevgeniy Vorobeychik, McKelvey School 
  • Using Mobile Health Technology to Assess Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy  
    Digital Transformation Co-PIs: Jacob Greenberg, School of Medicine; Caitlin Kelleher, McKelvey School; Brian Johnson, School of Medicine 
  • Improving Student Mental and Behavioral Health in High-Poverty Schools: A Community-based Participatory Research Project 
    Environmental Research, Digital Transformation, Research Impacting the St. Louis Community Co-PIs: Jason Jabbari, Brown School; Kelly Harris, School of Medicine 
  • Developing a contracting measurement tool for decisionmakers who are scaling up evidence-based treatments in publicly funded children’s mental health 
    Public Health Co-PIs: Rebecca Lengnick-Hall, Brown School; Elvin Geng, School of Medicine; Nicolas Argyres, Arts & Sciences 
  • The Impact of Economic Inequality on Chronic Disease Risk Factors 
    Environmental Research and Public Health Co-PIs: Stephen Roll, Brown School; Yung Chun, Brown School; Kia Davis, School of Medicine; George-Levi Gayle, Arts & Sciences 
  • Asylum Support Initiative: Providing forensic evaluations through a community-academic partnership 
    Public Health, Global Health, and Research Impacting St. Louis Community  Co-PIs: Kim Thuy Seelinger, Brown School; Julia Lopez, School of Medicine; Katie Meyer, School of Law 
  • Measuring Spatial Inequities in urban communities 
    Environmental Research and Public Health Co-PIs: Rodrigo Siqueria Reis, Brown School; Nathan Jacobs, McKelvey School  
  • Leveraging AI to optimize mHealth’s Impact for reducing opioid-related overdose deaths in Missouri 
    Digital Transformation, Public Health, and Research Impacting the St. Louis Community 
    Co-PIs: Hannah Szlyk, School of Medicine; Chenguang Wang, McKelvey School  
  • Smart Kitchen to Support Independence for People with Subjective Cognitive Decline 
    Digital Transformation, Public Health Co-PIs: Lisa Tabor Connor, School of Medicine; Chenyang Lu, McKelvey School; M. Carolyn Baum, School of Medicine 
  • The environmental sources of the infant nasal microbiome 
    Environment Research and Public Health  Co-PIs: Leyao Wang, School of Medicine; Jian Wang, Engineering 

Spring 2024

  • Cognitive Landscapes: Integrating Minecraft and AI for Enhanced Behavioral Analysis 
    Digital Transformation Co-PIs: Dennis Barbour, McKelvey School of Engineering; John Zempel, School of Medicine
  • Neurogenic modeling of acute fentanyl toxicity in Drosophila   
    Public Health  Co-PIs: Yehuda Ben-Shahar, Arts & Sciences; Jose Moron-Concepcion, School of Medicine
  • Migration, Urbanization, and the Microbiomes of the Galapagos Giant Tortoises  
    Environmental Research Co-PIs: Fangqiong Ling, McKelvey School of Engineering; Jonathan Losos, Arts & Sciences 
  • Adapting novel wearable postpartum hemorrhage sensors and device workflow for a pilot study in Nigeria 
    Global Health Co-PIs: Christine O’Brien, McKelvey School of Engineering; Mark Huffman, School of Medicine; Zainab Mahmoud, School of Medicine
  • Tia Zaa Bohima! (Let’s Learn Together): Making risks associated with child labor visible in schools and communities in Northern Ghana 
    Global Health  Co-PIs: Ozge Sensoy Bahar, Brown School, Penina Acayo-Laker, Sam Fox School 
  • Understanding the preferences for quality of inpatient psychiatric care among patients, family, and providers, and the public using a discreet choice experiment 
    Public Health Co-PIs: Morgan Shields, Brown School; Derek Brown, Brown School; Kevin Xu, School of Medicine
  • Hypertension and social determinants of health (SDOH) in the Greater St. Louis Area 
    Public Health Co-PIs: Lindsay Underhill, Brown School; Jenna Ditto, McKelvey School of Engineering 
  • Understanding the Interplay of Co2 capture and air quality 
    Environmental Research  Co-PIs: Lu Xu, McKelvey School of Engineering; Sophia Hayes, Arts & Sciences