President's Global Innovation Fund

The President’s Global Innovation Fund supports innovative projects enriched by the infrastructure, expertise and connections of the Columbia Global Centers.

Over the past decade more than 100 grants have been issued under the President's Global Innovation Fund to foster new, interdisciplinary collaborations among Columbia faculty/researchers and schools.

They have accelerated innovation through collaborative research and global knowledge exchange; and have provided rich new learning opportunities for students at all levels. Read more about the fund.
 

Types of Awards

PGIF awards are available at two funding levels:

1. Early Concept Awards will support innovative collaborations with one or more Columbia Global Center that aim to design, implement and evaluate early ideas, with the goal of generating the information, data and/or collaborations needed to pursue larger initiatives. Available funding for early concept awards is $10,000-$25,000 (per award) over a period of 1-2 years (beginning May 1, 2024). Up to eight awards are anticipated.
2. Innovation Awards will support projects, designed with one or more Columbia Global Center, that show significant promise for building toward a fundable, multi-year initiative. The maximum award amount is $100,000 (per award) over a period of 2-3 years (beginning May 1, 2024). Up to four awards are anticipated.
    

Priority Theme: Displacement and Migration

Displacement and migration are major global issues of our time. Working together across disciplines — including the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and other disciplines — offers the potential for deepening the understanding of and engagement with these critical issues, for supporting innovations to tackle their consequences, and for achieving positive impact for all those affected. The profoundly human nature of issues faced by displaced persons, migrants and host communities call for creative approaches that leverage the rich scholarly expertise and experience of Columbia faculty and researchers.

Columbia Global seeks to complement its ongoing work in this area — through its Committee on Forced Migration — by supporting interdisciplinary work led by Columbia University faculty and researchers across disciplines, in collaboration with the Columbia Global Centers and their local/regional partners. 
 

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposal lead(s) must be full-time faculty or researcher(s) at Columbia University.
• At least one proposal lead must be eligible to serve as a principal investigator per Columbia University guidelines.
• Proposals must include collaboration across disciplines, schools, institutes or centers.
• Proposed projects must be related to the theme of displacement and migration.
• Proposals must engage one or more Columbia Global Center. Eligible Centers are located in: Amman, Jordan; Athens, Greece; Beijing, China; Istanbul, Turkey; Mumbai, India; Nairobi, Kenya; Paris, France; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Tunis, Tunisia.
• Prior to submission of the proposal, applicants are required to have, at minimum, one planning consultation with the director of the relevant Global Center(s). The purpose of this consultation is to discuss the proposed project, including its feasibility, potential partnerships and the role of the Global Center(s).

Note: Proposal lead(s) are not requiredto have prior experience in the geographic region(s) where they propose to work.