Request for Proposals: President's Global Innovation Fund, Due Date: March 3, 2014

Dear Columbia Colleagues:

We are pleased to provide you with the second Request for Proposals for the President’s Global Innovation Fund.   Launched in March 2013, this fund is designed to provide support for faculty who would like to use the resources or facilities of one or more of the University’s eight Global Centers for teaching or research activities. The Columbia Global Centers are a global network of regional hubs intended to enhance the quality of research and learning at the University.

In the fund’s first competition, 87 proposals were submitted by more than 100 faculty members from 13 Schools. With the help of a 15-member faculty review committee, 20 proposals were selected for funding.  Projects selected in this first round engage every Global Center, cut across a broad range of disciplines, and provide opportunities for students to engage in global research, education, and service in new and meaningful ways.

The President’s Global Innovation Fund awards grants for faculty members to leverage and engage Columbia’s global centers network.  The program serves as a venture fund to enable the development of projects and research collaborations within and across these sites, in order to increase global opportunities for research, teaching and service.  Projects must engage with at least one of Columbia’s Global Centers (Amman, Jordan; Beijing, China; Istanbul, Turkey; Mumbai, India; Nairobi, Kenya; Paris, France; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile).  Projects may be based in a city where a Columbia Global Center is located, or in other locations in the regions served by a global center, as long as they leverage and engage Columbia’s global centers network.  An overview of Columbia Global Centers, including descriptions of local, regional, and international partnerships; programming and projects; center interests, priorities and thematic focus; and center personnel and space, can be accessed here. 

We invite two types of proposals:  planning grants (up to $25,000), for a period of no longer than one year; and project grants (up to $75,000/year), for a period of up to three years.

The deadline for submission of applications is March 3, 2014.  The Request for Proposals is attached, or it can be downloaded here.  An additional RFP will be issued next year.  We look forward to continue to support Columbia faculty as they develop new and exciting projects across the globe.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger, President 
John H. Coatsworth, Provost 
Safwan M. Masri, Vice President for Global Centers