Funding
Opportunities to receive support for course innovation and design, academic experiences, and undergraduate education.
Course Innovation Funding
In the 2025-26 academic year, the Office of Undergraduate Education will again fund innovative projects in pedagogy, course design, and undergraduate education. Departments and faculty are encouraged to think creatively to propose projects that will have a potentially transformative impact on undergraduate student learning. Priority will be given to projects that:
- Impact a large population of students;
- Result in new courses or other long-term changes to the curriculum; and
- Address diversity and inclusion in the classroom.
We offer two categories of funding:
- For proposals involving more than one course or that impact multiple departments, there is no maximum budget for projects the OUE is willing to contribute to. We are eager to work with you to help shape your project. Please contact Lisa Laskin, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Education, for a consultation.
- For redesigning a single course, OUE normally allocates $3,000 to cover the work of a graduate research assistant for 8-10 weeks and research materials. Higher levels of funding can be made available for more ambitious projects.
Typically, course development work takes place prior to the semester in which the course will be next offered. We suggest submitting your application at least three months in advance of that semester. If you anticipate additional work being done during the semester that the course will be offered, please contact Instructional Support to discuss a course support allocation, as well. If you have any questions or have a project you’d like to discuss before submitting a funding request, please email us at oue@fas.harvard.edu.
President’s Innovation Fund for International Experiences (PIFIE)
PIFIE provides seed funding to faculty members at any Harvard school, to support the development of creative and significant academic experiences abroad for Harvard College students. These grants seek to foster the participation of faculty at all Harvard schools in expanding international opportunities for Harvard undergraduates.
Other Funding Opportunities
Faculty Curricular Innovation Awards
The Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship has Faculty Curricular Innovation Awards to support “applied and experiential learning experiences in or with community beyond the Harvard context.” Recent awards have funded collaborations between Harvard courses and groups advocating for neurodiverse populations, for the incarcerated, and for local communities in need of legal services. To apply for Faculty Curricular Innovation Awards, please visit the Mindich Program website. Applications focusing on inequality are particularly welcome. (Applications are due February 14, 2025.)
LInc Faculty Fellowships
The Learning Incubator at SEAS has LInc Faculty Fellowships to support “learning and teaching at Harvard” and to create “a growing community focused on intellectual inquiry around learning and teaching.” LInc Fellowships enable faculty to redesign their courses according to research-based pedagogies by providing a semester of teaching replacement and a semester of post-doc assistance. All full-time Harvard faculty members are eligible to apply: learn about the call for proposals for the LInc Faculty Fellowship. (Applications are due on February 3, 2025.)
Spark Grants
The Harvard Initiative on Learning and Teaching has Spark Grants to support the development of “promising teaching and learning projects from idea to reality.” Awardees are given pedagogical guidance and community support, as well as funds of up to fifteen thousand dollars, which can be used to hire research assistants or to convene collaborative groups. Recent grants have focused on teaching with podcasts and video essays and on bringing team-based learning to the humanities. Learn about past projects (HILT Grants program is currently on hiatus).
Elson Family Arts Initiative Funds
The Division of Arts and Humanities has Elson Family Arts Initiative Funds to promote “the integration of the arts into the curriculum within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.” These funds are meant to introduce art-making into courses and disciplines that have traditionally not included art-making. Recent awards have enabled students studying early manuscripts to learn calligraphy and students student East Asian cinema to make their own short films. Learn about the application process for the Elson Family Arts Initiative Fund to Support the Integration of Arts into the Curriculum. (Applications for this academic year were due in March 2024.)
Additional funding opportunities can be found on the FAS Research Funding webpage.