Center for Social Data Analytics Accelerator Award Seed Grants

Center for Social Data Analytics Accelerator Award Seed Grants is sponsored by Penn State University. Supports projects advancing social data analytics research, including innovative applications and new methods.

C-SoDA Accelerator Award Program - Social Data Analytics C-SoDA Accelerator Award Program C-SoDA Accelerator Award Program The Center for Social Data Analytics (C-SoDA) provides financial support to doctoral students and faculty members at Penn State to catalyze the development of cutting-edge research in Social Data Analytics (SoDA) through the acquisition specialized training and external support.

Proposals are evaluated by C-SoDA leadership and C-SoDA affiliated scholars.

SoDA Accelerator proposals must be submitted by November 1, 2026 Decisions on proposals will typically be provided within six weeks of the submission Projects that present a plan to spend funds by the end of the current fiscal year (June 30) will be prioritized, though funds are allotted for a total of twelve months from the award issue At least one PI must be affiliated with the College of the Liberal Arts Budget totals carry the following limits.

There are two broad types of Faculty Awards are awards on which at least one faculty member serves as a principal investigator (PI). If there is just one faculty member PI, the budget maximum is $10k. If there is more than one faculty member PI, the budget maximum is $15k.

Doctoral Awards are awards on which each PI is a doctoral If one or more of the PIs has been admitted to either the graduate minor or dual-title program in SoDA, the budget maximum is $3,000. If none of the PIs has been admitted to the SoDA graduate program, the budget maximum is $1,500. The priority is to fund projects that advance the field of Social Data Analytics.

Research aims can include, but are not limited to, innovative substantive applications of advanced analytics, the curation of new social data resources, and/or the development of new methods for social data For multiple-PI proposals, priority is to fund diverse teams. Diversity is defined in terms of discipline/department, rank (for Faculty Awards), and demographic background characteristics.

For faculty awards: A clear case regarding the potential for securing external funding for a broader project related to the seed grant.

For doctoral awards: A clear case regarding potential for high-impact publication of the proposed Permissible Budget Items: Employment of graduate and undergraduate student research assistants Salary replacement costs for an academic-year course buyout for one faculty member PI (with the approval of the department head).

The purchase of data or proprietary software Up to $2k in travel support for travel to conferences at which to present research The purchase of computing resources Employment of undergraduate student research assistants The purchase of data or proprietary software The purchase of computing resources Support for participation in training programs associated with data access, data management, and research methods.

Travel support for travel to conferences at which to present research Proposal Structure and Submission: The proposal documents should be submitted to the C-SoDA Director, Bruce Desmarais, at bdesmarais@psu. edu. If you do not receive confirmation of proposal receipt within forty-eight hours of submission, please re-send.

The proposal document should not exceed five pages (single-spaced, eleven pt font).

The proposal document should include the following components: A project description, in which the core research objectives and tasks are identified An itemized budget justification For faculty awards: A plan for seeking external funding for a broader project related to the proposal For doctoral awards: A description of the paper that will be submitted for publication, a timeline for submission, and discussion of suitable high-impact outlets.

The following documents should accompany each proposal. A brief (one–two sentence) note of support for each For faculty PIs, letters of support should come from department heads. For graduate student PIs, letters of support should come from graduate program directors.

The purpose of these letters of support is simply to indicate that the relevant official approves of the resources and spending plan included in the proposal. They are not reviewed in substantive terms.

If the award is to support human subjects research, documentation of IRB submission or approval, or acknowledgement that human subjects research will not be carried out without IRB approval Award Recipient Obligations: For faculty awards: Within eighteen months of the Award date, each PI is obligated to report to C-SoDA staff with a proposal title and prospective funder of a proposal that was submitted based at least in part on the research supported by the Accelerator Award.

For doctoral awards: Within eighteen months of the Award date, each PI is obligated to report to C-SoDA a record of the paper that was submitted for publication based on research supported by the Accelerator Award At least one PI on each SoDA Accelerator Award must participate in the annual C-SoDA Research Roundup, held in January following the award year, and present the research that was supported by the seed grant.

For questions, please contact: Bruce Desmarais ( bdesmarais@psu. edu ), Director of the Center for Social Data Analytics, and Professor in the Department of Political Science.