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Request for Proposals

FSU Quantum Early Support for Teams (FSU-QuEST)

Deadline to Apply: April 1, 2024

In alignment with the decisive commitment by President McCullough to make FSU a national leader in Quantum Science and Engineering and University’s bold investment in this research area, the FSU Office of Vice-President for Research announces a seed funding competition that aims to facilitate applications for ambitious research projects, such as center grants. The competition is open to any interdisciplinary team whose proposed research efforts will contribute to the mission of the FSU Quantum Initiative.

Purpose. The FSU Quantum Initiative seeks to fund ambitious small-team proposals to support FSU-led interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) that aim to develop external center-type proposals. Example programs of interest include, but are not limited to, the DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) and the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC). The submission of a center proposal through FSU to the federal agency, within one year of receiving the FSU-QuEST award, is a mandatory condition for obtaining this seed funding.

Award Information:

  • Award amount:  up to $100,000 per award
  • Number of awards:  1-2 per year
  • Team size:  3-5 PIs
  • Duration: up to 12 months
  • Submission Deadline: 4/1/2024
  • Award Notification:  5/1/2024
  • Award Start Date:  5/15/2024

Eligibility. Participation is open to all full-time, active-status FSU faculty who propose research related to FSU Quantum research themes (see https://quantum.fsu.edu/research/themes). As such, the goal of this program is not only to boost current research efforts but especially to nucleate new collaborations that can produce strongly competitive external center-type applications. FAMU-appointed engineering faculty members are also eligible to apply as long as the center grant is pursued through FSU. Students and post-docs are not eligible to be a PI or Co-PI on FSU-QuEST grants. Non-FSU co-PIs can be included on the project team but cannot obtain seed funding.

Proposal Submission. The proposals should be submitted to the Research Development office.  Please email your submission to rd@fsu.edu

  • The title page that includes the proposal title, the name of the PI and co-PIs, the total budget and duration of the seed project, and the proposal abstract of up to 300 words.
  • Proposed research (up to 3 pages), providing background information, research objectives, the rationale for the selection of team members, and relevant short- and long-term research plans for the FSU-QuEST grant and the follow-up external grant applications, respectively. The external program the team plans to apply to should be identified explicitly in the seed proposal, with the projected application deadline and anticipated budget for the external proposal.
  • The detailed budget with justification (1 page).
  • Curriculum vitae of the PI and all co-PIs, not to exceed 3 pages per CV (in the NSF or DOE format).
  • Current and pending funding information for the PI and all co-PIs, not to exceed 2 pages per PI.

Budget Information.

  • Faculty salary is not allowed under this solicitation, but it is acceptable to include support for an adjunct instructor to free time for the PI to develop an external grant application. If such an arrangement is made, a letter of endorsement by the chair of the home department should be included in the application.
  • The grant will support travel to a funding agency or to a potential collaborator, but conference travel will not be supported. Details and goals for planned travel should be provided.
  • Student support is allowed, including fringe benefits + health insurance subsidy, but not tuition.
  • Equipment purchases, including computers and computing equipment, are not allowed.

For questions, please contact Dr. Michael Shatruk at shatruk@chem.fsu.edu.