Salata Institute Seed Grant Program in Climate and Sustainability

The Salata Institute Seed Grant Program in Climate and Sustainability sits under the Harvard Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and provides early-stage support for faculty-led climate research. It is a small catalytic program rather than a large platform fund, and it is designed to help Harvard faculty launch new work, widen interdisciplinary collaboration, or open a fresh line of inquiry in climate and sustainability. The program offers up to $25,000 for one year and uses three submission windows each year: the second Friday in January, May, and September. It is open to full-time Harvard faculty with principal-investigator status, and each PI may hold only one active seed grant at a time. The program includes five funding categories covering early-stage climate research, faculty entering the climate field, cross-school collaborations, workshops on emerging topics, and health-outcomes research led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This is a good fit for faculty who need modest support to test an idea, assemble collaborators, or generate a small but credible first result. The most persuasive applications tend to be concrete about the research question, the reason the work belongs in a climate-and-sustainability frame, and the next step the seed money will unlock. Because the funding is limited, the program is especially useful when a proposal can show leverage: a small award that opens a larger research trajectory or gives a cross-school team a practical start.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.