The Public Interest Technology - University Network (PIT-UN) has opened a call for proposals for the 2021 Network Challenge funding opportunity. The PIT University Network Challenge seeks to encourage new ideas, foster collaborations, and incentivize the sharing of resources and informations among network members. For its third year, the program invites projects addressing any of the following priority areas:
- Educational Offerings
- Career Pipeline/Placement
- Faculty & Institution Building
- Strengthening the PIT University Network
The Network Challenge provides grants up to $180,000 for projects focused on developing technology expertise to advance the public interest in a way that generates public benefits and promotes the public good, particularly for those members of our society least well served, historically and today, by existing systems and policies. The RFP is only open to submissions from researchers at member universities. As a member since 2019-20, all UCSC principal investigators are eligible to participate.
A limited campus submission process will select up to three new campus proposals for submission to the network-wide competition. Campus submissions are due by 11:59 pm PDT, June 1, 2021, and requires a shortened version of the final proposal. The limited submission RFP and application portal is available at ucsc.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1841841
Campus applicants chosen in the limited submission review will then further develop their proposals for the national deadline of 11:59 pm PDT, July 15, 2021. Final proposals are limited to 6 pages maximum in total length.
An information session for all interested researchers will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 from noon to 1 p.m. Advance registration is required to attend the session.
In 2020, the second year of the PIT-UN program and UCSC’s first year in the cycle, two UCSC research teams received funding. A total of $4,404,595 in grant funds were awarded to 42 proposals from 28 institutions.
