Student Innovation

Each year GRI students have the opportunity to partner with other students, faculty, staff, and alums to receive start-up funds to pursue their research ideas.

The Global Research Institute was founded when students asked tough research questions and worked with faculty mentors to create new knowledge. Investing in students is a GRI priority and innovation funding is one way we’re doing this. Examples of student-led research projects include developing a methodology to track Chinese investments, designing and implementing a survey about agriculture microinsurance in Kenya, and conducting analysis to better counter disinformation practices.

Awards will be made on a rolling basis throughout the year and applications are welcome at any time. If you have questions about your idea or the application process, please reach out to [[klhouck, Kelly Houck, Senior Program Manager of Student Initiatives]].

We offer two types of Student Innovation Grants. The first is for student research teams applying for their first Student Innovation Grant through GRI. These teams are eligible for funding up to $3,000. The second is for student research teams who have previously received a Student Innovation Grant through GRI. These teams are eligible for funding up to $5,000.

Applications for first-time Student Innovation Grants:

Research Statement:

In 1-2 single-spaced pages, define your research question, related to a global challenge or issue. How will you answer this question? You can think of this as explaining the global problem you are addressing, and how you are well positioned to do so.
What new knowledge or product will you create? Please specify the final outputs you will create if funded (e.g., white paper, dataset, journal article). How will that knowledge or product help us better understand the issue?
What external partner(s) would use this work, and how would it be useful to them (i.e., why is this valuable beyond W&M)? If you have any planned or proposed partnerships, briefly describe them.

Budget Proposal:

Provide a breakdown of your anticipated costs (e.g., student wages, dataset purchase)
Note: Awards of up to $3,000 will be made through this funding window.

Proposed Timeline:

Identify your implementation timeline
Provide anticipated milestone dates within the timeline

Faculty Mentors:

In your letter of support (up to 1 single-spaced page), please address the following topics:

How does this project fit with your research agenda?
Assess the students’ ability to complete this project if they receive funding.
How will you support the students to ensure that they successfully complete the project? In this section, provide an assessment of your bandwidth to serve as a hands-on mentor. We expect the mentor role will take at least one hour/week.

Deliverables:

Accepted projects will be expected to complete the following tasks:

1. Present your group's research at one GRI research showcase during the academic year in which the award was made.

2. Write one blog post about your group's research for the W&M blog during the academic year in which the award was made.

3. Acknowledge GRI support in any written materials you create or conference presentations you give. (This can be as simple as acknowledging GRI support on the first or last slide of a powerpoint presentation, etc).

An example of a strong previous project proposal can be found here. (Note that this was prepared with different length requirements, and should be used as an example only.)

Applications for first-time grants:

Student research teams seeking a first-time Student Innovation Grant can apply via the online application. The faculty mentor(s) can upload their statements of support via this online form.

Applications for returning Student Innovation Grants awardees:

Research Statement:

In 1-2 single-spaced pages, define your research question, related to a global challenge or issue. How will you answer this question? You can think of this as explaining the global problem you are addressing, and how you are well positioned to do so.
Explain how your research team used your previous Student Innovation Grant(s), in detail. What did the previous funding allow you to do or create?
What new knowledge or product will you create? Please specify the final outputs you will create if funded (e.g., white paper, dataset, journal article). How will that knowledge or product help us better understand the issue?
What external partner(s) would use this work, and how would it be useful to them (i.e., why is this valuable beyond W&M)? If you have any planned or proposed partnerships, briefly describe them.

Budget Proposal:

Provide a breakdown of your anticipated costs (e.g., student wages, dataset purchase)
Note: Awards of up to $5,000 will be made through this funding window.

Proposed Timeline:

Identify your implementation timeline
Provide anticipated milestone dates within the timeline

Deliverables

Accepted projects will be expected to complete the following tasks:

1. Present your group's research at one GRI research showcase during the academic year in which the award was made.

2. Write one blog post about your group's research for the W&M blog during the academic year in which the award was made.

Applications for continuing projects:

Research teams previously awarded a Student Innovation Grant can apply via the online application.