Building Your Team
Each year in the Spring, a Call for Proposals is shared from the VIP Program staff for Catalytic Seed Funding that is awarded in the following August. Seed funding is intended to support the development of new VIP Teams in their first year, and a maximum of four teams per year are selected for four years. We will have 16 teams by the August of 2028!
Teams are currently only being formed from VIP Program-funded projects during the proposal window.
The call for 2026-2027 VIP Teams is open.
Go to the Application Review the Application as a PDF
Note: This PDF is provided for planning purposes only. All applications must be submitted through the online portal via SurveyMonkey Apply to be considered .
Informational webinars on the VIP Program and the VIP Seed Funding opportunity:
Evaluation criteria include:
- Sustainability of a VIP Team for many years beyond the Year 1 seed funding
- Feasibility
- Artificial Intelligence/Data Science research integration
- Cross-college collaboration towards convergent research
- Long-term scope of project
- Large scale of the research team
- Vertical integration of people, processes, or product development
- Minimum of 5 to 7 NEW degree-seeking FTIC Freshmen or Sophomores involved in the VIP Team
- Budget funding directed towards student support