AI in Teaching and Learning at Stanford: Innovation with Evidence Grants

AI in Teaching and Learning at Stanford: Innovation with Evidence Grants

Request for proposals

The Stanford Accelerator for Learning invites proposals to design and study innovative approaches to the application of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning at Stanford. The goal is to support new approaches at Stanford while building evidence to inform practice beyond Stanford. 

In the rapidly evolving landscape of Generative AI in education, there remains limited evidence on how teaching and learning can be enhanced with creative applications of AI. This seed grant program leverages Stanford’s strengths in human-centered AI, integrating innovation with evidence, an entrepreneurial spirit, and interdisciplinary work. 

We invite faculty, instructors, academic staff, and students from across Stanford University to submit proposals. Proposals may address any higher education teaching and learning context at Stanford and do not need to span an entire course. For example, they may focus on a curricular unit, activity, assignment, assessment, as well as curated experiential learning. Proposals should include:

• A design component: Development or adaptation of an innovative teaching or learning approach or tool that incorporates AI.
• A research component: Study of the approach’s impact on student outcomes relevant to learning. 

Strong proposals will expand what is possible for student learning.  They will also include a specific hypothesis about the impact the innovation will have on students.  A rough outline of a research plan is welcome, recognizing that the Stanford Accelerator for Learning will provide relevant consulting expertise to support grantees in developing measures and research designs for their innovations.  

About the Stanford Accelerator for Learning:

The Stanford Accelerator for Learning seeks to accelerate solutions to the most pressing challenges facing learners. Housed at Stanford Graduate School of Education, the Stanford Accelerator for Learning is the first university-wide initiative connecting scholars across disciplines and with external partners to bridge research, innovation, practice, and policy, and bring quality scalable and equitable learning experiences to all learners, throughout the lifespan.

ELIGIBILITY & AWARD AMOUNTS

Faculty Seed Grants

• Up to $50,000.
• This level of funding is open to Stanford PI-eligible faculty and may or may not include a collaboration.
• See guidelines on PI Eligibility in the Stanford Research Policy Handbook Chapter 2.1.
• Faculty selected to receive funds will be enrolled as Faculty Affiliates with the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, opening the doors to additional engagement opportunities and resources. To support faculty with aspects of technology development and/or human subjects research, Accelerator Studio services will reach out to grantees to determine the best ways to help advance the work.

Lecturer/Academic Staff Seed Grants 

• Up to $10,000
• Full-time academic staff, including lecturers, may apply for funding if they receive approval from their supervisor.  To support academic staff with aspects of technology development and/or human subjects research, Accelerator Studio services will reach out to grantees to determine the best ways to help advance the work.

Student and Postdoc Grants

• Up to $5,000
• Postdocs, students, or teams may apply. Post-docs will need approval from their faculty supervisors.  Student and postdoc grants are intended to support student-driven innovation in teaching and learning at Stanford, leveraging students’ unique perspectives as both learners and designers of emerging educational practices in an AI-enabled world.
• Projects may take place in a variety of student-centered contexts, including but not limited to:
  • Student-led courses or workshops
  • Residential or co-curricular programming
  • Learning experiences within student organizations or clubs
  • Peer teaching, mentoring, or support structures
• Student and postdoc projects will also be required to collect evidence on the effectiveness of the implementation. To support students or postdocs with aspects of technology development and/or human subjects research, Accelerator Studio services are available upon request.

Accelerator Studio Support Services

The Accelerator Studio offers technical, research, and partnership consulting and support for grantees to aid their work. If awarded a grant, the specific needs and allocation of support will be determined through consultation with the Accelerator Studio. Examples of Accelerator Studio support include:

• Technology support. Ideation, storyboarding, prototyping, interface design, instructional design, app development and testing, cloud services, and media production.
• Research support.  Research conceptualization and measure design, data use agreements and storage, guidance for working with Stanford’s Institutional Review Board.
• Science and design of learning. Evidence-based strategies for improving learning experiences, as well as guidance on avoiding common mistakes that interfere with learning. 

TIMELINE

• Proposals Due: May 15, 2026, 11:59 pm PT
• Awards Announced: Early July, 2026
• Grant Period: July 15, 2026 - September 15, 2027 (14 months)

REQUIREMENTS

• Collection of learning data about your teaching and learning innovation.
• Participation in 3-4 seed grant recipient meetings and a final convening.
• A short interim report and a final report, ideally leading to a publication.
• All projects will involve human subjects research. Approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Stanford Data Oversight Committee (SDOC) for research with Stanford students will be required prior to the start of the project. We are developing a template that will help streamline these processes for most projects.  

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Proposal Format

• Max 4 page proposal narrative + additional budget template
• Proposal narrative: Single-spaced, 11-point font, 1-inch margins, PDF format

Please note that the PDF proposal narrative (and only the PDF proposal narrative) will be shared with the grant reviewers. Ensure that your project title and roles/contributions are included in your narrative.

Pages 1-4: Proposal Narrative (will be sent to reviewers)

• Proposal title
• Key project personnel (name, department/organization, title) and their roles and contributions.
• Project abstract
• Background and problem statement
• Proposed innovation and hypothesis about effects on students
• Rough design and research plan with timeline
• Potential for intellectual contributions and broader impact
• One paragraph on potential ethical and societal risks & mitigation plans (While full Ethics and Society Review (ESR) is not required for this grant call, the ESR statement template provides useful considerations for this section of the proposal).  
• One paragraph summary of potential Accelerator Studio supports needed (if applicable) and whether those are technical, research, learning design, or some combination.
• Detailed budget narrative (This will be sent to reviewers. We recommend including enough information that reviewers can evaluate, but not including sensitive financial information, such as specific salary amounts)
• References     

Additional Upload: Full Budget from Template (will not be sent to reviewers)

• Include total requested award and budget items (e.g., 25% RA for 2 qtrs, travel $3K, etc.). 
• Capital equipment ($5k+) will not be funded
• Faculty effort/salary may be funded up to 25% of one month
• Support for student RAs is encouraged
• See budget templates for Faculty and Staff, Postdoc, and Student applicants.

Proposals may be submitted via the Stanford Seed Funding website. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

Proposals will be reviewed based on:

• Potential for broad and meaningful impact on learners and/or education
• Novelty and innovation of the approach, method, or design
• Clarity of the research plan or hypothesis for studying the impact on learning
• Inclusion of students in the design and evaluation process
• Team expertise and capacity to successfully complete the project
• A consideration of ethical risks and mitigation strategies if appropriate

MORE INFORMATION

Optional information sessions will overview the grant program and answer applicant questions. Info sessions will be held via Zoom on:

• Friday, April 24, 12:00pm - 1:00pm PT
• Thursday, May 7, 2:00pm - 3:00pm PT
• RSVP here (requires Stanford login) to receive the Zoom link and attend an info session.

Question? Contact Jessica Tsang (jmtsang@stanford.edu) at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning.