IIN announces new seed funding opportunity
Illinois Innovation Network is offering supplemental seed funding to support collaborative research aimed at improving the economic health and social well being of communities across the state.
The Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) announced it will provide another round of supplemental seed funding to support collaborative research across the IIN hubs through its Sustaining Illinois program.
Researchers have the opportunity to receive up to $30,000 to support projects aimed at driving innovation, workforce development, and economic growth throughout the state of Illinois. Proposals must include researchers from at least two IIN hubs and be completed within one year of receiving funding.
Proposed projects should address multiple elements of the Sustaining Illinois program:
- Education and Workforce Development: developing and sustaining the education of its citizens and developing a productive and inclusive workforce for the 21st century.
- Economic Development: sustaining and developing the economy of the state, including understanding how best to support growth of diverse entrepreneurship and business formation in Illinois.
- Health and Wellness: sustaining and improving the general health and social wellness of all Illinois citizens, including local and regional communities.
- Water, Food, and Agriculture: sustaining the water supply, with the 20% of the world’s fresh water supply in the shores of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin, the largest in the US and 2nd largest in the world and enhancing the home to a national leader in food and agriculture.
- Computing and Data: under the umbrella of Sustaining Illinois, there is a foundation of computing, big data, and artificial intelligence. This is an important area in its own right as Illinois develops its high-tech industry, but in this context, it is seen as an enabler for all other aspects of sustainability as articulated above.
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: identifying and addressing key issues for underserved populations, groups experiencing racial, ethnic and/or social injustice, and groups living in segregated communities.
Project must represent a “seed” concept not previously funded by the IIN Sustaining Illinois Program or in later stages of project development, regardless of funding source. Proposals addressing multiple sustainability elements are preferred.
Proposals should be sent to vpedi@uillinois.edu.
Deadline to apply: May 9, 2022