The Institute for Social Science Research administers or supports several internal seed funding opportunities aimed at helping UMass researchers develop proposals for external backing.

• The ISSR Scholars Program is available to all social science faculty members across the University.
• The ISSR Social Science & Environment Network Seed Grants Program is available to all faculty members across the university, and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration across Colleges.
• Grants for research and travel, as well as awards to campus visitors and conferences, are available for faculty in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS). 
• The Graduate School's Dissertation Research Grants are available for Ph.D. students.

As reflected in the University’s strategic plan, ISSR welcomes a range of social science research approaches, including, but not limited to, basic, applied, and community-engaged research. A strong preference is given to generating new research activities, such as a new research project or a new direction within an existing project. Priority is given to those projects that are likely to lead to external research funding (and, in the case of the Scholars Program, an external proposal submission is an expected outcome).

For opportunities for faculty, all ranks of tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply, and lecturers whose major responsibilities include research may contact us to determine eligibility. Applications to more than one category of faculty award are allowed. The evaluation panel serving to review applications for these seed funding opportunities will be the SBS Dean’s Research Council.