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Fund Details
Referral Form
Harvard Culture Lab Innovation Fund
Award Amount
$25,000
Brief Description:
An innovation fund that awards competitive grants of $15,000 or more to project teams to pilot and scale ideas that seek to strengthen Harvard’s capacity to advance a culture of belonging.
Description:
The Harvard Culture Lab Innovation Fund awards grants to Harvard students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and academic personnel to pursue ideas that seek to strengthen Harvard’s capacity to advance a culture of belonging. Proposals should aim to focus on having a direct connection to the Harvard community and influence the University's trajectory towards sustainable inclusive excellence guided by the framework recommended by the
Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging
. Proposals should aim to address critical challenges around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging by identifying innovative and creative solutions that have the potential to catalyze a culture shift at Harvard.
The priority theme for the 2019-2020 funding cycle of the Culture Lab Innovation Fund is “
Advancing Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging through Technology Driven Solutions”
. These are innovative ideas that leverage technology and data to address challenges around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at Harvard.We encourage you to review
previously awarded projects
to see a range of examples and those within this theme.
Application Information:
Give your innovation a name
Lead applicant contact information (School/Unit, Primary Role)
Name of your manager or supervisor (if applicable)
Co-applicants and core team members. Who are the team members? Please provide preferred name, school, unit and project role. Ex. (Sam Example, HMS, Project Coordination and Support)
Explain your project innovative idea in 2 to 3 sentences. Think of this as your project pitch ie. "Bingo is a web application that tracks empty parking spots in a garage".
Please define the problem you are trying to solve (250 words max). Please consider the following questions in your response: What practical problem will be solved? What "pain" are we and/or our constituents experiencing? What is wrong or not working?
Please provide a description of your innovation and the mission and goals for this endeavor. In this description, please include answers to the following: •What are you trying to accomplish? Why and for whom is this important? Who will benefit? How is this advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at Harvard? Why is the Culture Lab Innovation Fund the right vehicle to fund this endeavor? How is this idea innovative?
What are the primary objectives of your project and how will you measure impact and success? Please include answers to the following in your response:What are you going to do and deliver? What metrics will you use to measure success? What key milestones do you aim to achieve? What are your improvement objectives and targets? What is the estimated time frame for project completion?
Please identify which, if any, of the four goals or four tools outlined in the Presidential Task Force Report on Inclusion and Belonging this activity is most closely aligned with and please explain your selection. (500 words max)
See
:
Harvard Presidential Task Force Report on Inclusion and Belonging – Four Goals & Four Tools
(page 19.)
How much funding are you requesting? How will the funds be used? Please submit the budget template provided in the application.
What area of diversity, identity, or culture does this effort explore? (ie. Immigration status, race, physical abilities)
Who is the primary audience or beneficiary of this activity? (ie. students, staff, faculty)
Please select the option that best describes the stage of development your project is in:
Start-up:
A very limited test of an idea that is expected to generate learning; uses the smallest set of features/activities possible to test a hypothesis.
Transitional:
Small scale implementation of an idea (e.g., in one School/Unit, or a select handful of Schools/Units).
Mature Implementation:
Small scale implementation of an idea (e.g., in one School/Unit, or a select handful of Schools/Units).
Scaling for Impact:
Small scale implementation of an idea (e.g., in one School/Unit, or a select handful of Schools/Units)
Eligibility Criteria:
Faculty and Staff:
All Harvard University benefits-eligible staff and faculty are eligible to apply. All primary team members must be affiliated with Harvard University.
All benefits-eligible Harvard administrative/professional, support or service and trades staff members are eligible to apply.
Primary, secondary, and adjunct faculty are eligible to apply.
Students and Postdoctoral Researchers and Fellows:
All full-time degree seeking Harvard undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply. All primary team members must be Harvard University affiliates.
Students must be enrolled for the duration of the funding period.
Postdoctoral Researchers and Fellows are eligible to apply.
A full time appointment at Harvard University is required and the appointment must last the duration of the funding period if awarded.
Review Criteria:
All proposals will be judged according to the following criteria:
Alignment, Inclusion, Innovation, Impact, & Collaboration
Alignment -
Project aligns with at least one of the four goals and four tools outlined by the
Presidential Task
Force Report
and presents a clear pathway to achieving our vision of sustainable inclusive excellence.
Inclusive Design
– Project teams that apply inclusive design principles to their project including adherence with the
digital access policy
and meet
event planning
standards as identified by Harvard University Disability Resources will be highly valued.
Innovation
– Offers a novel or innovative approach to an existing challenge.
Measurable Impact
– The application outlines actions the team can execute within the designated time frame. Measures of success are clearly defined.
One Harvard
– Project teams should aim to include a mixture of faculty, student, staff, and/or postdoctoral fellows. Teams exhibiting cross-School and cross-functional and/or multidisciplinary collaboration will be especially valued.
Additional Information, Related Websites, and Proxy Instructions:
Note funds may be used for non-exempt overtime (as applicable), software/technology, temporary help (staff or students), back-filling for staff working on the project, and other project-related costs. Funds may not be used for payment to staff salaries. Staff are subject to Harvard University intellectual property policy.
If awarded, please be prepared to identify a department-based local financial administrator who will be responsible for financial transactions related to your award. Please email
dib_culturelab@harvard.edu
with questions.
If you are a staff member or postdocotoral fellow or researcher please be sure to notify your manager or supervisor that you are applying for a grant.
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