Projects that address climate resilience, bias in housing markets, and the use of large language models in hiring are among the 35 proposals selected to receive funding from the Cornell Center for Social Sciences (CCSS) Spring 2025 Seed Grant. 

In addition, this year CCSS launched the inaugural Grant Preparation Funds in collaboration with Cornell Research & Innovation to offer up to $115,000 to support preparation of major external funding proposals to foundations, nonprofit organizations, government grants or industry collaborations. 

New opportunities to earn funding through the Grant Preparation Funds and the CCSS Accelerated Research Funds are now open, with a deadline of June 1. 

Peter Enns, the Robert S. Harrison Director of CCSS, explained “these awards reflect the center’s deep commitment to enhancing research collaborations and facilitating opportunities for Cornell faculty to expand their research and positively impact society.”

Inaugural Grant Preparation Funds awardees

The inaugural Grant Preparation Fund award went to an interdisciplinary team led by Cristian Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, associate professor of information science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science; Natalie Bazarova, professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and Mor Naaman, the Don and Mibs Follett professor of information science at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and Cornell Bowers.

“The CCSS Grant Preparation Funds provide a major competitive edge and will help us better prepare for the next stages of our $15 million National Science Foundation Expeditions proposal,” said Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil. “Based on a successful preproposal review, we have been invited to submit a full proposal. The CCSS funds will provide critical support as we develop the full proposal and will also help us prepare as a team for an eventual reverse visit, which is the final stage of the selection process.” 

Spring 2025 Seed Grant recipients

This spring, CCSS funded 35 faculty research and conference proposals in part or in full, across 10 colleges and schools and 23 departments at Cornell. CCSS offers up to $12,000 for research projects and up to $5,000 in conference support.

Explore the full list of conference and research awardees on the CCSS website.

Apply by June 1 for up to $115K in funding

Cornell PI-eligible faculty in the social sciences are invited to apply for the next round of Grant Preparation Funds (up to $115,000) for teams developing large external grant proposals to foundations, nonprofit organizations, government grants or industry collaborations, and the next round of Accelerated Research Grants (up to $35,000) to support grant resubmissions, renewals or two-phase grants. Both opportunities are accepting applications until June 1, 2025. 

Additionally, CCSS accepts proposals on a rolling basis for the Hire a Grant Writer and the Roper-CCSS Data Conversion Grant programs. Seed Grants are offered twice a year in the spring and fall semesters. 

As part of its commitment to open science, CCSS requires all funded projects to make data and replication materials available. The CCSS Data Discovery & Replication team offers support to ensure these materials are archived, accessible and reusable by the broader research community.

Megan Pillar is the communications specialist for societal systems in Cornell Research & Innovation.