Stanford Impact Labs Stage 2: Test Solutions Call for Proposals (LOI) 2024-25
Stanford Impact Labs (SIL) enables teams of Stanford scholars to work with the public, social, and private sectors to tackle social problems using human creativity, rigorous evidence, and innovative technology. We advance this goal by catalyzing solutions-focused research and training on a diversity of social problems with the goal of achieving broad public impact. We call the teams that do this work “Impact Labs.”
Stage 2: Test Solutions
Stage 2: Test Solutions offers $350,000 to $800,000 per lab over a maximum of 36 months to support partnership-based work that involves the design and testing of a concrete solution to a well-defined social problem. Teams that are likely to be good candidates for Stage 2: Test Solutions funding are those that can demonstrate a nuanced understanding of a significant social problem and propose a compelling solution(s) with strong partnership(s) in place to advance the frontiers of both knowledge and practice.
Investments are allocated on a competitive basis. We expect Stage 2: Test Solutions funding to appeal to a wide variety of teams and labs:
- For established teams/labs, we expect applicants to demonstrate a promising new direction that they would not otherwise be in a position to pursue with existing funding/resources. This may involve a new aspect of the issue area in which they work, a new intervention that hasn’t been tested, or a strategy for scaling proven interventions to new contexts (as long as there is a clear scientific component as well).
- For new teams/labs, the investment might provide the capital needed to build out a professional team to launch an R&D cycle with a partner outside of academia.
At the end of the award period, we expect that successful teams will have:
- Tested and iterated on a scalable solution in collaboration with a partner outside of academia
- Made meaningful contributions to the advancement of knowledge
- Made meaningful contributions to the policies and practice of partner organization(s)
- Demonstrated tractable progress along the team’s path from science to impact
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Explored key elements of the solution’s proposed scale pathway
More information
- Find the full RFP here.
- More detailed considerations are contained in the FAQ.
- Sign up for our information sessions on September 18 or September 27.
- Sign up for office hours with the investments team.
- We encourage you to learn more about our staged and sequenced approach, as well as which stage is right for you.
To be eligible to apply, each proposal must have at least one PI-eligible Stanford faculty member and at least one partner outside of academia who is committed to the proposed work. In the past, successful applicants have included both teams that have new partnerships and teams that have long-standing partnerships. Regardless of the length of the relationship, reviewers will be assessing proposals for clear alignment in research aims and project goals, along with an understanding of how decision-making, project activities, and resources will be shared throughout the project duration. More information on successful Stage 2: Test Solutions awardees can be found on our website.
Applicants for Stage 2: Test Solutions funding must first provide a substantive letter of interest and submit an application via Stanford Seed Funding. More information on program expectations can be found in the RFP.
While SIL investments are flexible and largely unrestricted, the most compelling budgets will be those that invest resources in areas such as partner needs, uptake/implementation strategies, research and administrative support, and data collection or analysis. Please review the program expectations section to better understand what requests from the SIL team may look like and how that may impact budgeting for administrative support. As part of the Letter of Interest, applicants will be requested to provide a high-level summary of how they intend to use the funds.
For detailed budget guidance, please refer to the full RFP.
