Rice-Houston Methodist Center for Human Performance 2025 Seed Grant Program

Key Dates
• Submission Deadline: July 15, 2025, 5:00 p.m. (CDT)
• Committee Review: July-August 2025
• Award Announcement: August 2025
• Estimated Award Start Date: October 1, 2025

Funding Opportunity Overview
Houston Methodist and Rice University invite eligible researchers and physicians to submit collaborative proposals to the Center for Human Performance 2025 Seed Grant Program.

This Request for Applications (RFA) seeks proposals to promote interdisciplinary, innovative and collaborative pilot research projects in the field of orthopedic surgery or musculoskeletal regeneration. Competitive applications should have objectives that focus on at least one of the following:
• Rehabilitation strategies to improve patient outcomes
• Injury prevention or post-operative complications
• Clinical innovation for health improvement, chronic disease management, pain management, infection prevention and improvement of surgical performance with the use of advanced robotics and virtual reality-assisted surgery
• Evaluation of how new wearable devices, applications, training modalities and nutritional interventions improve human performance

Note: Funded proposals are required to utilize the Center for Human Performance to carry out the proposed research.

Eligibility
Proposals must include one Principal Investigator (PI) from each institution. Eligible PIs include Houston Methodist full-time employed faculty with a primary Houston Methodist Academic Institute academic appointment or full-time employed physicians hired by the Houston Methodist Physician Organization and a Rice University PI-eligible faculty member. Each investigator may submit only one application as the primary or partnering PI.

Funding Information
A successful award will fund up to $50,000 (direct costs only), including a maximum of $25,000 for each institution for up to 12 months (maximum allowable performance period).

Please click here to access the full Request for Applications (RFA).

Provost's TMC Collaborator Fund

Available to Rice faculty in all disciplines, the fund awards seed grants up to $50,000* for new collaborative research projects with faculty of Texas Medical Center health-related institutions. Rice ENRICH will fund half to the Rice co-PI, with matching support required of the collaborator at his/her institution. The seed grants should lead to self-sustaining, nationally competitive research programs that will address critically important problems in or relevant to health care.

Now accepting proposals for FY26.

Learn more about this fund, including eligibility and application submission details, here.

Engineering Solutions in Surgery Seed Grant Program

In partnership with: Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Surgery INSTINCT program

This initiative is designed to foster innovation and strengthen the collaborative efforts between Rice University and BCM, with a focus on advancing surgical research and education.

*Funds will be available in FY26.

For additional funding opportunities for Rice faculty, visit Creative Ventures Fund.

See also the GCC's John S. Dunn Foundation Collaborative Research Award Program.