LSE-Georgetown University Research Seed Fund

• Call opens: 13th March 2025
• Applications close: Friday 16th May 2025 (4pm BST, 12pm EST)
• Outcomes announced: By the end of June 2025
• Projects commence: No later than 31st August 2025
• Projects complete: No later than 31st August 2026

• Discrete pilot research with one researcher from each institution or a larger team.
• Studies that evaluate the societal, economic, and environmental impacts of existing policies or proposed interventions.
• Expansion of existing LSE and Georgetown University research to provide further comparative analysis or greater impact with academic audiences.
• Collection of data and development of data resources for future analysis and research.
• Intensive research workshops or joint conferences.
• Short-term research visits for faculty.

All applications will be peer-reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria. A joint selection panel comprised of academics from LSE and Georgetown University will be responsible for reviewing and deciding on awarded projects.  

Successful applicants will be required to submit a brief post-award report summarising the activities, achieved outcomes, and future collaboration plans. 

Download the application form here. 

All fields are mandatory and must be completed before the application can be submitted. 

One joint application form should be submitted to Global@lse.ac.uk by Friday 16th May 2025 (4pm BST, 12pm EST).

The following documents (as a PDF) must be submitted as part of the application:

1. LSE-Georgetown University Research Seed Fund application form
2. CV of LSE Principal Investigator (max 2 page each) 
3. CV of Georgetown University Principal Investigator (max 2 page each) 
4. LSE Head of Department/Centre Director support letter
5. Georgetown University Head of Department/Centre Director support letter 

 LSE eligibility and procedure:

• To be eligible, a research project must involve at least one researcher from each institution. Prior collaboration history is not essential.
• Applicants at both institutions must have a contract of employment in place until at least one year beyond the end of the project, and be able to demonstrate continued links with their respective institutions into the future, in order to ensure that post-award assessment and regular communications can be carried out for all awarded projects. Changes to contracts must be communicated to LSE’s Global Research Partnerships & Alliances Manager at Global@lse.ac.uk ensure compliance with this rule.
• All schemes are open to Faculty, Research and Policy Staff, Teaching Staff and Fellows as listed in LSE HR Role Profiles, including practice roles. We would not be able to provide funding for the PI past their current funding date as our funding cannot be used to affect HR staff contracts.
• Teaching Staff must demonstrate the proposed project is in line with their teaching field. 
• Current students at LSE, LSE Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), Emeritus faculty, and Guest Teachers and Visiting Scholars are not eligible to apply; however, they may participate in the project.
• Applicants must confirm that they have the full support of their host academic unit as part of their application. An award letter co-signed by the hosting unit lead will be required at award stage.

LSE cost eligibility

Please contact the Global Research Partnerships & Alliances Manager at LSE (global@lse.ac.uk) and as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks before the submission deadline. This is essential if you are including any staff costs in the budget. Staff who do not request support from their designated contact may experience delays in their funding decision and project kick-off. 

The following costs are eligible for this scheme:

• Directly incurred non-staff costs such as travel, fieldwork, consumables, goods, equipment, services, and consultants (including associated fees and taxes).
• Hourly Paid Staff costs for occasional research assistance and clerical support.
• Directly Incurred salaried research and policy staff costs.

Specialist costs to make project activities more accessible that are not already covered by LSE support are also eligible, such as:

• Costs for care of dependents where it is unavoidable.
• Costs to make adjustments within travel and accommodation bookings for staff who need them.
• Cost to make sure outputs are accessible (both for researchers and stakeholders, such as braille printed books or pamphlets). 
• Costs of specialist contractors that are working on EDI supporting activities, such as audio transcription for events, etc. 
• Costs to make events more accessible including specialist venues and supporting staff.

The following costs are not eligible under this scheme:

• Directly allocated salaried staff costs.
• Collaborator and partner staff costs. 
• Indirect (overheads) and estates (space) charges of LSE and Georgetown University or any other Partner and Collaborator.
• Open Access fees and article processing charges covered by the Open Access Fund
• DI teaching contract or hourly paid teaching costs are not eligible. No funding can be requested for visiting scholars, as those are unpaid affiliations.

LSE examples of permissible costs 

• Research assistance both hourly paid and salaried which is linked to roles in the project.
• Staff time, for Directly Incurred staff, to undertake research, write up outputs and engage with partners and collaborators.
• Data collection/fieldwork in the UK, US and overseas including associate travel, expenses and service provision if this is being outsourced.
• Purchasing datasets for use in the research.
• Travel, subsistence and accommodation costs.
• Participant payments and/or incentives as part of formal surveys or for community groups and beneficiaries involved in the research.
• Consultancy services in the UK, US and overseas which must include applicable taxes and fees.
• Goods and services required from suppliers including surveys or transcription and translation services which must include applicable taxes and fees.
• Attendance at conferences, symposia and other networking and dissemination events.
• Costs of hosting events and other dissemination activities.  
• Costs of software or licences required for development, research and collaboration.
• Small items of consumables.  
• Other project specific costs, such as equipment (where it is directly linked to delivering project objectives).
• Costs of proof-reading and copy-editing manuscripts.
• Costs for publishing monographs or experimental publishing outputs.

 LSE non-permissible costs 

• Salaries or salary supplementation of any kind. 
• Indirect and overhead costs.
• Course fees, stipends or scholarships for students.
• Infrastructure and equipment purchases, such as computers, including laptops and basic computing facilities such as printers, word processing and other standard software.
• Conference registrations unrelated to the dissemination of results.
• Costs already incured in the proposal.

GU eligibility and procedure:

• To be eligible, a research project must involve at least one researcher from each institution. Prior collaboration history is not essential. 
• Current students, Emeritus faculty, and Visiting Scholars are not eligible to apply; however, they may participate in the project.
• Applicants must confirm that they have the full support of their host academic unit as part of their application. An award letter co-signed by the hosting unit lead will be required at award stage.

GU eligibility and allowable costs:

All full-time Georgetown Main Campus Faculty are eligible to serve as lead researchers.  Teaching faculty should confirm with their Department or Unit Head that the proposed activity is consistent with their contractual obligations. 

Allowable costs include travel, materials and supplies, research assistants, data and data collection, etc. Funding cannot be used to pay faculty salaries or other direct compensation. All Georgetown expenses must  follow our policies for use of internal Georgetown research funds.

LSE staff should contact Global@lse.ac.uk

Georgetown University staff should reach out to viceprovostforresearch@georgetown.edu