Design for Innovation Program

The Design for Innovation program enables all eligible faculty and researchers at Princeton, regardless of discipline, to have direct, real-world impact beyond the academy.

The program offers up to $50K to selected projects that translate scholarly advances to real-world impact. Program personnel will support participants in every aspect of this translation: aligning ideas to real-world problems, designing solutions, teams, partnerships, financing options, etc. The program takes a long view of impact and anticipates multi-year engagements for projects that demonstrate progress.

Mission and approach | Phase 1 grants

Eligibility

Regular Princeton faculty (senior lecturers; assistant, associate, full professors) may apply. Other faculty, and members of the University engaged in research may apply if their appointments are expected to run through Spring 2026. Those with shorter terms may only apply as co-proposers. Please contact the program directors if in doubt. The program encourages faculty from all disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering to apply.

Timeline

Expressions-of-interest are accepted on a rolling basis but must meet the deadlines below to be considered for a particular cycle.

Fall 2024 cycle

• October 1, 2024: Expression-of-interest submissions open
• November 1: Initial proposals due
• December 1: Revised proposals due
• December 2024 and January 2025: Design salons
• January 31, 2025: Grantees notified

Spring 2025 cycle

• March 1, 2025: Expression-of-interest submissions open
• April 1: Initial proposals due
• May 1: Revised proposals due
• May and June: Design salons
• June 30: Grantees notified

How to apply

Review the Phase 1 grant details and guidelines and submit an expression-of-interest by the above deadlines.