SHASS Education Innovation Fund
About the Fund
The SHASS Education Innovation Fund aims to foster transformative educational experiences and practices in SHASS for MIT students.
A $500K fund is available on a competitive basis to fund educational projects central to the SHASS educational mission that address clearly defined problems in ways that will impact pedagogy and curriculum across the school.
The fund will support efforts that help address concrete challenges our students face, both during their MIT education and beyond. Funding for individual subjects must support the development of ideas that can be applied across curricula and programs.
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply, a project lead must:
- Hold a full-time position in the following categories: Faculty, Academic Instructional Staff, Academic Research Staff in SHASS.
- Have an appointment with greater than one year of service.
Funding Details & Timeline
Early Sept. 2025
Highly recommended preliminary meeting
Oct. 23, 2025
Proposals due by 12:00pm
Jan. 2026
Selected projects notified
Feb. 2026
Earliest project start
March 2027
Project report due
Selection Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on:
- Defined Problem: There should be evidence of a clearly defined, significant educational problem. This could be documented by data from our own subjects, senior surveys, student feedback, and/or research data that provides evidence of the need.
- Proposed Solution: The proposal must explain how the educational problem will be addressed with exciting, impactful, and innovative methods.
- Impact: Innovations should be systemic and transferable, with the potential to apply to other subjects. These outcomes should be evaluable, in coordination with the Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL, tll@mit.edu) as needed.
Fund Co-Chairs
Eric Klopfer
Professor of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program and The Education Arcade
Robin Scheffler
Associate Professor, Science, Technology, and Society
Frequently Asked Questions
Please see the current Request for Proposal for more frequently asked questions related to this fund.
How long should the proposed projects last?
Projects will be funded for one year at a time (February to January). Project leads may elect to spread one year of funding over 2 or 3 years if that would lead to a more successful outcome. Planning grants are only for one year at a time.
What are planning grants?
Planning grants are smaller awards to enable a team to work together to plan a future collaboration and prepare to apply to one of the funds in the following cycle.
Can I apply to more than one fund?
Yes, an individual may be the project lead on one proposal per fund.
Can I submit more than one proposal to the same fund?
An individual may only be the project lead on/apply with one proposal per fund but may be listed as a collaborator on multiple proposals. Multiple planning grants can be submitted to the same fund.
Are collaborators outside of MIT permitted?
Additional collaborators outside MIT are welcome, but all funding must be managed at MIT and no subawards will be considered.
What can I include in the budget? Are there any restrictions on the use of the funds?
All planned spending should be in accordance with MIT policy. Summer salary is permissible. Funds for replacement teaching are not permissible.
Budgets for planning grants should not exceed $30K (direct costs). Full proposals should not exceed $200K (direct costs).
What impact does the MIT hiring freeze have on MITHIC funded projects?
Hiring for positions included in awarded MITHIC projects will still need to be routed through the MIT hiring exception process, but since dedicated funding is secured, we anticipate successful exceptions. MITemps & Contractors (when less than 6 months) are exempt from the hiring freeze, and do not require an exception.
Do I have to include UROPs in the proposal budget?
UROPs are not a requirement of the proposal. When requesting UROPs, please add all requests directly into your budget template.
Do you have sample proposals?
Yes, access sample proposals here 
What makes a proposal stand out to reviewers?
A one-page guide with practical tips on writing a competitive funding proposal can be found here