AI in Teaching and Learning at Stanford: Thought Leadership – AI’s impact on Critical Thinking and Creativity

AI in Teaching and Learning at Stanford: Thought Leadership – AI’s impact on Critical Thinking and Creativity

Request for proposals

Advancing Stanford’s thought leadership in AI and learning, these awards, hosted by the Stanford Accelerator for Learning,  commission scholarly work in two sub-tracks:  AI and critical thinking, and AI and creativity. Projects can create intellectual products of any form ranging from writing to art to software.

The Thought Leadership program solicits proposals for the creation of intellectual works that consider the relation between Generative AI and highly regarded human capacities – critical thinking and creativity.  There are strong and diverse opinions on the impact of AI on the learning and use of critical thinking and creativity. It is valuable to bring different ideas and formats into productive dialog. The Thought Leadership competition welcomes proposals for intellectual works on either topic and seeks a broad range of output types including thought pieces, policy briefs, art, demonstrations, videos, software, empirical analysis, and more.  Successful applicants will receive a fellowship award to develop their work.  Those receiving an award are expected to join a forum in fall 2026 to share their work, leading to synthesis publications that exemplify Stanford’s thought leadership on AI, teaching, and human potential.  

ELIGIBILITY & AWARD AMOUNTS

Awards are open to Stanford faculty, instructors, staff, and students. Awards will be up to $3,000, generally funded directly to recipients. Applicants may apply to the critical thinking sub-track or the creativity sub-track or both. 

TIMELINE

• Proposals Due: May 15, 2026, 11:59 pm PT
• Awards Announced: Early July, 2026 
• Deliverable Due: October 31, 2026

REQUIREMENTS

• Delivery of proposed scholarly work by October 31, 2026
• Agreement for scholarly work to be shared publicly
• Participation in an AI and Learning forum in fall 2026, date TBD
• (Optional) contribution to a synthesis publication (format TBD) exemplifying Stanford’s thought leadership on AI, teaching, and human potential

PROPOSAL FORMAT

Please upload a single PDF addressing the following:

1. Project Title
2. Applicant Information
   Name, department, and title/role of all contributors, including yourself. If there are additional contributors, include a brief description of each person’s expected contribution.
3. Sub-track Selection
    Indicate the sub-track to which you are applying:
   • AI & Critical Thinking
   • AI & Creativity
4. Problem or Opportunity Statement (Max 250 Words)
   Within the selected track, describe the specific problem or opportunity your project will address.
5. Description of Proposed Scholarly Work (Max 500 Words)
   Describe the proposed work and how it addresses the identified problem or opportunity. Include the intended format, goals, and contribution to conversations on AI, learning, and human potential.

Proposals may be submitted via the Stanford Seed Funding website. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

Proposals will be reviewed based on:

• Intellectual merit and clarity of the core idea
• Creativity and originality of approach
• Relevance to the selected sub-track (critical thinking or creativity)
• Potential to contribute to conversations on AI, learning, and human potential
• Feasibility of producing the proposed work within the timeline 

MORE INFORMATION

Optional information sessions will overview all AI in Teaching and Learning at Stanford grant programs 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.