Funding Opportunities
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Funding Opportunities
The Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment is committed to supporting interdisciplinary research that addresses important environmental problems and leads to implemented solutions. Read on to learn more about annual and recurring awards we sponsor and other funding opportunities for faculty, postgraduate researchers and students pursuing research related to the environment and sustainability.
Woods-Sponsored Funding Programs
Environmental Venture Projects (EVP)
Eligibility: Stanford Faculty
Application Period: Letters of Intent are due early January
Offered: Annually
Environmental Venture Projects focus on one or more of the Stanford Woods Institute's focal areas (climate, ecosystem services and conservation, food security, freshwater, oceans, public health and sustainable development) and have led to breakthroughs such as technology for producing clean energy from wastewater, software that measures the value of nature and biodegradable building materials.
Each interdisciplinary project may receive funding of up to $100,000 per year for up to two years. Faculty PIs must be from different disciplines, if not departments at Stanford. Since the annual EVP program began in 2004, it has awarded more than $9 million in seed grants to more than 60 projects.
More information, searchable database of awarded projects, and application
NEW! Realizing Environmental Innovation Program (REIP)
Eligibility: Stanford Faculty
Application Period: Letters of Intent are due in early January
Offered: In pilot phase
The Woods Institute seeks to advance innovative solutions that private market, public policy and individual stakeholders can adopt and are of significant consequence in solving pressing environmental challenges facing people and the planet. These innovative solutions can include, but are not limited to, novel technologies, practices, approaches to behavior change, public policies or some combination.
For 2015, the Stanford Woods Institute is piloting the Realizing Environmental Innovation Program (REIP) grant program to provide next stage funding to PIs to move existing interdisciplinary environmental research projects toward adoptable solutions and implementation by external stakeholders and partners. To be considered, projects should demonstrate both significant progress in identifying solutions and strong potential for viability among important solution stakeholders.
Each interdisciplinary project may receive funding of up to $100,000 per year for up to two years. Faculty PIs must be from different disciplines, if not departments at Stanford.
More information, searchable database of awarded projects, and application
Mentoring Undergraduates in Interdisciplinary Research (MUIR)
Eligibility: Stanford Faculty apply on behalf of Undergraduate Students
Application Period: Winter Quarter
Offered: Annually
MUIR provides stipends to full- and part-time Stanford undergraduate students to conduct interdisciplinary environmental research during the summer. Students work under the mentorship of a faculty member on faculty research projects. Faculty are welcome to apply for a MUIR grant on behalf of undergraduates at all levels and from all departments. Funding priority goes to Stanford Woods Institute fellows, affiliated faculty and lecturers. Students wishing to initiate a project will need to approach a faculty member who is willing to apply on the student's behalf.
Mel Lane Student Grants Program
Eligibility: Stanford Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Application Period: Applications are due in early December
Offered: Annually
In honor of environmental leader Mel Lane, the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment invites Stanford students to submit proposals for student-driven-and-managed environmental projects that make a measurable impact on an issue through action or applied academic research. Preference is given to projects that focus on environmental sustainability within one of the following topic areas: climate, ecosystem services and conservation, food security, freshwater, oceans, public health and sustainable development. Grants typically range from $500 to $3,000. This program does not fund thesis/dissertation research or other academic requirements.
Stanford – University of Western Australia Collaboration
Eligibility: Stanford Faculty collaborating with UWA Faculty
Application Period: Winter Quarter
Offered: Currently in Pilot Phase
Stanford University, through the Woods Institute for the Environment, and the University of Western Australia seek to promote the development of collaborative research projects focused on finding solutions to major freshwater or marine sustainability challenges. We invite Stanford faculty with UWA faculty/academic staff collaborators to apply for discretionary funds, which may support all planning costs associated with the development of collaborative research projects. This includes travel between California and Western Australia, accommodation costs, and workshop-related costs.
Discretionary funds available will support approximately four planning grants per year, of up to USD25,000 each. The outcome of these projects will include joint publications by Stanford and UWA researchers, joint bids for competitive research funding, and the creation of an environment whereby PhD students working in freshwater and marine sustainability research can be cross-trained at both institutions.
Stanford-Sponsored Funding Programs
Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship (SIGF)
Eligibility: Stanford Doctoral Students
Application Period: Winter Quarter
Offered: Annually
The Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship (SIGF) Program is a competitive university-wide program that awards three-year fellowships to outstanding doctoral students engaged in interdisciplinary research. The program, sponsored by the Vice Provost for Graduate Education, is administered jointly by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy. Since 2008, one hundred and seventeen students have received the award. SIGF fellowships allow Stanford doctoral students to pursue questions that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. Examples include:
- Interdisciplinary initiatives in bio-x, biomedical research and biosciences; international studies; creativity and the arts; K-12 education; and environment, energy, and sustainability
- Multidisciplinary inquiry within and between the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences
- Other emerging areas of interdisciplinary study.
Applications are submitted directly to the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.