LSU Announces Largest-Ever Investment in Seed Funding for Faculty Research
In January 2023, Louisiana State University (LSU) announced its largest-ever investment in seed funding for faculty research through the Provost’s Fund for Innovation in Research. A total of $1.1 million was awarded to 33 projects involving 77 faculty members across eight colleges and schools. These projects align with LSU’s Scholarship First Agenda and focus on five strategic priority areas—agriculture, biomedicine and biotechnology, coast and environment, defense and cybersecurity, and energy—collectively known as the LSU Pentagon.
The Provost’s Fund offers two primary types of grants: Emerging Research Grants for individual investigators and Big Idea Research Grants for interdisciplinary teams. The Big Idea grants are structured in three phases, providing up to $250,000 to support the development of large-scale, nationally competitive research proposals.
This initiative aims to transform innovative ideas into impactful research programs that can attract external funding and enhance LSU’s national research profile. The funded projects address critical issues such as developing new antibiotics, exploring low-carbon energy alternatives, and removing persistent environmental pollutants.