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Marble Fund Seed Grant Award for Computational Geography

Deadline for 2027 award: October 15, 2026, midnight Eastern Time

The biennial Marble Fund Seed Grant Award for Computational Geography provides seed grants to US-based early career faculty* seeking external funding in computational geography. Computational geographic research is done across many fields, including geography, computer science, statistics, mathematics, engineering, and more. Seed grants of up to $8,500 are available to researchers at US institutions who are eligible to serve as a PI on national or private grant applications. The award is one of the activities of the AAG Marble Fund for Geographic Science, which also includes the Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award, the Marble Fund Award for Innovative Master’s Research in Quantitative Geography, and the biennial William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography.

The Marble Fund is positioned to support up to 2 proposals in a single award period.

A seed grant is intended to allow the researcher to develop a proof-of-concept and perhaps early-stage research that will lead to a fundable proposal. In the seed-grant application, we are looking for innovation, new ideas, advancing the theory, tools, techniques, and methods associated with computational geography.

*Early career faculty are individuals who have earned their PhD within 10 years of the application deadline.

What does the funding support?

Seed grants from Marble Fund can be used for any of the following:

  • Course/teaching release. Some researchers need time off from teaching to prepare a proposal.
  • Travel. Funds may be used to pay for travel necessary for the development of a research proposal.
  • Student workers. Support for student workers, either graduate or undergraduate, will be in the form of hourly student-worker wages.
  • Software and data relevant to the proposal.
  • Collection of preliminary data, including surveys, in-depth interviews, or workshops.

The Marble Seed Grant does not fund:

  • Venture capital
  • Humanitarian activities
  • Construction, lobbying, personal loans, endowments, capital equipment
  • Publication fees are not supported.
  • Conference travel to present research findings

Budgets

Applicants should provide a detailed budget based on the linked template.

  • Up to $8500
  • Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs (indirect costs): limited to 5% of direct costs

Eligibility

Early career scholars at a US institution who are eligible to apply for a grant or contract from agencies for support of research (external to their own institution) are eligible to apply for the Marble Fund Seed Grant award.

Criteria

  1. Title of the seed grant proposal, name of Principal Investigator (PI), and contact information
  2. A summary of the work to be done (up to 1500 words), including a specific description of how the seed grant work will lead to a research proposal
  3. Bibliography
  4. Budget, with justification (must include any university financial commitments)
  5. The PI’s current CV, which includes the most relevant publications (5-page limit)
  6. A specific description of at least one funding agency where the researcher will submit a proposal. For agencies that allow contact with program officers, the proposer must include (1) the name and (2) email address or phone number of a program officer, and a summary of the discussion had with that program officer. For agencies that require letters of intent, include a copy of that letter and any response from the agency.

Required Deliverable(s) for Awardees

  • The deliverable for the Marble Fund Seed Grant is a proposal, submitted to an external granting or contract agency within the project timeline.
  • Scientific/technical and budget report after 24 months
    • When and where was the proposal submitted, including confirmation of receipt by the funding agency
    • How was the funding used
  • Awardees will be invited and encouraged to attend the AAG annual award ceremony where seed grant winners will be recognized. Travel grants of $1000 will be provided for awardees who attend in person.

Applications

All nomination materials must be in English, and submitted in electronic form.

A complete application must be received no later than the close of business on the deadline (Eastern Time).

APPLY

For questions or difficulties, please contact grantsawards@aag.org or call the AAG at 202-234-1450.

Reports and Acknowledgment:

The winner should acknowledge the award from the AAG Marble Fund for Geographic Science in subsequent presentations and publications arising from the proposal or research.

Trustees of the Marble Fund for Geographic Science

Dr. Jay Sandhu, ESRI
Dr. Donna Peuquet, Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Elizabeth Wentz, Temple University

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