Accepting Proposals for the 2025-26 Local Engagement Seed Grants
The Global One Health Academy is excited to announce the call for proposals for the 2025-26 Local Engagement Seed Grants. These seed grants support NC State students, postdocs, faculty, and staff in their One Health-relevant projects that engage and benefit North Carolina communities.
Deadline: Monday, September 15, 2025 | 11:59 p.m.
Background
One Health is an interdisciplinary framework that recognizes the interconnectedness of humans, animals, plants, and the environment, and seeks to sustainably optimize health across these systems. Research that utilizes the One Health approach investigates problems from multiple angles, applying systems thinking to address complex global challenges, inclusive of the human communities the research is embedded within. To advance the goal of improving the health of individuals, communities, and ecosystems in North Carolina, the Global One Health Academy seeks proposals for innovative community-engaged research projects that leverage the One Health framework for local impact.
Award Information
Award amounts are available between $2,500 and $10,000, with three funding types/levels depending on the scope and goals of the project. Across all funding, a robust plan for community engagement is expected; in most cases, this should entail specific community partners being identified and agreeing to partner in advance of the application. All proposals must take a One Health approach and be centered on local engagement efforts in North Carolina. All awarded funds must be spent by June 30, 2026. It is anticipated that 3-5 awards will be made through this call, depending on award amounts.
There are three funding types available through this call, each with a complementary but distinct focus within the broader category of local engagement:
Communication/dissemination projects (supported up to $2,500)
This funding type supports innovative ways to communicate/disseminate prior One Health-related research findings to target audiences in North Carolina. For this funding type, it is not necessarily required that a partner be confirmed in advance, but the proposal should be explicit about who the target audiences are and types of partners that could enable reach to the targeted audiences.
Direct community engagement projects (supported up to $5,000)
This funding type supports activities that directly engage with communities in North Carolina to inform research and implementation, including but not limited to needs assessments, focus groups, workshops, and educational activities that are beyond the scope of the communication/dissemination projects discussed above. For this funding type, community partners must be clearly identified and should submit a letter of support to demonstrate their participation if the project is funded.
Pilot/implementation projects (supported up to $10,000)
This funding type supports new or expanded primary research projects and pilot testing of research-based interventions for local impact. The ultimate goal of pilot/implementation projects should be to tangibly improve individual, community, and/or ecosystem health in North Carolina using the One Health framework. For this funding type, community partners must be clearly identified and should submit a letter of support to demonstrate their participation if the project is funded.
Projects that propose to engage local communities exclusively through sharing of research findings (e.g., outreach) may be appropriate for the communication/dissemination category. Projects proposed in all other funding categories should demonstrate higher levels of community engagement, to include two-way communication flows and meaningful inclusion of community partners in at least some aspects of the project’s design, analysis, and/or implementation (e.g., at the “involve” or “collaborate” levels in the figure below).
Eligibility
We welcome proposals from faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students from any disciplinary background at NC State. Undergraduate students may also apply with the support of a faculty mentor who can assume responsibility for the project and manage any awarded funds, which should be signified via a letter of support. Collaborative and interdisciplinary projects are highly encouraged. With the exception of proposals that are exclusively trainee-led (e.g., only postdocs, grad students, or undergrad students as PIs), all proposals must include at least one PI that is a GOHA Affiliate Member. New Affiliate Member applications can be completed by filling out this form and must be received prior to the seed grant submission deadline to ensure the proposal’s eligibility.
Competitive proposals will bring strong interdisciplinary perspectives to the proposed work and will clearly demonstrate the use of a One Health approach (i.e., acknowledges the interconnectedness of human, animal, plant, and environmental health, and investigates a question at the intersection of multiple of these domains). They will also demonstrate a high level of community engagement that extends beyond traditional outreach to share findings (with the exception of communication/dissemination projects, for which an outreach-type approach may be appropriate).
For all funding types, while a primary outcome of interest is public engagement and impact, there must be a research component for a project to be eligible for this call. Research is interpreted broadly to include primary data collection and/or analysis, focus groups and/or community building work to inform study directions, pilot testing and/or evaluation of interventions, communication and translation of findings, and other scholarly ventures. If human or animal subjects are involved in the proposed project, it is the PI’s responsibility to be aware of and compliant with all applicable IRB and/or IACUC procedures.
Please contact Meredith Spence Beaulieu (spencebeaulieu@ncsu.edu) with any questions.
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