Stanford Sustainability Accelerator seed grants
The Stanford Sustainability Accelerator speeds the translation of Stanford research into scalable technology and policy solutions that address urgent global sustainability challenges to improve the quality of human life and our planet.
The Accelerator differs from typical academic programming and funding. With the aim of “accelerating” the journey from research to impact, the Accelerator supports technical and policy solutions with near-term potential to move outside of Stanford and scale to meet real-world sustainability challenges.
The Sustainability Accelerator is now accepting proposals from Stanford faculty in the areas of:
- Biological Solutions
- Climate Adaptation
- Electricity and Grid Systems
- Food and Agriculture
- Greenhouse Gas Removal
- Industry
- Planetary Intelligence
- Water
Please see the full RFP for more details.
Timeline:
- September 23, 2026 - Request for Proposal Issued
- October 30, 2026, 11:59 pm - Letters of Intent Due
- November 11, 2026 - Teams Invited to Submit Proposals
- December 15, 2026, 11:59 pm - Proposals Due
- February - March 2027 - Panel Review Meetings (if required)
- By June 2027 - Target Start Date for Projects
- technical and policy solutions
- near-term potential to move outside of Stanford and scale to meet real-world sustainability challenges
- address urgent global sustainability challenges to improve the quality of human life and our planet
- Stanford faculty members or Stanford and SLAC researchers who qualify as a principal investigator according to Stanford University policy.
- Teams must include a designated postdoctoral researcher or student lead for the project to serve as the primary point of contact with the Accelerator for entrepreneurial development.
See full RFP for requirements
https://sustainability-accelerator.stanford.edu/apply/funding
See full RFP for guidance.
Research Compliance Questionnaire
