Only K-State employees are eligible to serve as PI of an SEI Seed Funding Proposal. There is no restriction on the number of pre-proposals for which an individual serves as PI or Co-PI.

Allowable costs include salary/wages, fringe benefits, graduate student tuition, domestic travel, equipment, materials/supplies, services, and publication costs. Equipment purchased shall be the property of Kansas State University, tagged and inventoried, and made available after the project end date upon request by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Indirect costs and international travel costs are not allowable. No more than 40% of the requested funds may be used to support external collaborators.

At least one member of each proposing team shall attend and present a poster at the SEI Technical Interchange Meeting, to be held at K-State Olathe on September 2, 2026, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mileage and poster printing cost reimbursement will be provided for presenters. Additional travel reimbursements may be made on a case-by-case basis and should be requested during registration. Registration instructions and a poster template will be provided by August 1, 2026.

Poster template

The pre-proposal shall consist of a Qualtrics survey, subject to character limits indicated on the survey, with the following required entries:

1. Principal Investigator (PI) name
2. PI email address
3. PI phone number
4. PI’s primary departmental affiliation
5. Name(s) and primary departmental affiliation(s) of Co-PI(s)
6. Total funding requested
7. SEI Pillar(s) anchoring the proposal.
8. Proposal Title
9. Energy security problem addressed by project
10. Proposal executive summary
11. Energy security outcome(s) addressed by project in problem context
12. Workforce Development and/or Digital Engineering incorporation
13. Community, Industry, and/or Government Collaborator(s) and Role(s)
14. Innovation and scalability

Each pre-proposal will be reviewed by three to five individuals with expertise relevant to the most applicable pillar working group, one individual with expertise relevant to the most applicable crosscut working group (Workforce Development or Digital Engineering), and one individual with expertise relevant to the Community, Industry, and Government Engagement working group. Pre-proposals will be rated by each individual as Competitive, Borderline or Not Competitive, with a brief explanation for each rating. The top and bottom individual pillar working group-associated ratings will be discarded.

The SEI Proposal Selection Committee, comprised of members of the SEI Steering Committee, shall invite full proposals using information from the working group reviews, with consideration of broader SEI and University priorities. Incomplete or clearly unrelated pre-proposals shall not be considered for invitation. All reviewers are required to recuse themselves from reviewing their own proposals. SEI Steering Committee member(s) who submit a pre-proposal shall not serve on the SEI Proposal Selection Committee.

The full proposal shall consist of a single PDF file, submitted by upload to a Qualtrics survey, with the following sections:

1. Proposal Title
2. PI Name, Contact Information, and Departmental Affiliation
3. Energy Security Problem
4. Background and Approach. Include a succinct review of previous attempts to solve the problem, stakeholder-provided information/feedback, your planned approach with emphasis on innovation, and a clear explanation of why KSU is wellpositioned to create impact.
5. Funding Plan. Include a summary of the budget by major category with justification, address sustainability beyond the project period, and present a project timeline by calendar quarter with specific project milestones.
6. Project Personnel. Provide detailed information on project staffing requirements, including a table of all involved personnel that specifies role, affiliation (including primary department if affiliated with KSU), time commitment, funding source(s), and major activities.
7. Desired Outcomes. Enumerate project objectives and the energy security-related outcomes associated with achieving these objectives.
8. Project Focus Areas. Explain how your project relates to the SEI Foundation, Pillars, and Crosscuts. Address whether your proposed project is interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary in nature.
9. Evaluation Plan. Define quantitative and qualitative metrics for project evaluation. Describe how data will be collected and analyzed to assess impact.
10. Detailed Project Plan. Provide detailed information on project tasks (and subtasks, if applicable), including responsible personnel and resources, required to achieve desired outcomes according to the project timeline.
11. Risk Assessment. Assess project risks by likelihood and consequence. Suggest possible risk mitigation strategies.
12. Scalability. Describe how your project will be scaled to a large, consortium-level effort, including reference to specific funding opportunities to be targeted.
13. References

The full proposal shall adhere to the following formatting specifications:

• 1-inch margins
• 12-pt Arial font
• Single-spaced
• 10-page limit, not including the References section

Proposing teams may include additional supporting materials as appendices, but appendices may not be used to subvert the 10-page limit on required sections A-L.

Information regarding full proposal presentations will be provided prior to invitation of full proposals.

Information regarding the process for award selections will be provided prior to invitation of full proposals.

Proposers shall not submit or present any materials that consist of Export Controlled Information (ECI), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), or classified information. Proposers are advised that submission or presentation of information may constitute a public disclosure. Questions regarding intellectual property issues should be directed to Mr. Chris Brandt, Associate Vice President for Research for Tech Transfer and Commercialization, before submission of any associated pre-proposal or full proposal.

A final report on the funded project shall be submitted within 60 days of the project end date. Information on required final report content will be provided prior to the project start date.