Propel Grants Purpose and Priorities

Purpose

Propel Grants are designed to help Stanford-led research teams clear those final hurdles to submitting a competitive proposal for external funding.

Funded activities should support the development of key characteristics for grant success, which include:

• a vetted vision, concept, and/or approach that fares well in review,
• a demonstrated collaborative and cohesive team,
• necessary preliminary data, proof of concept, and/or other elements to convince reviewers of feasibility,
• alignment with and responsiveness to all sponsor and program goals, and
• a well-written and beautifully illustrated proposal.

Two levels of funding are available.

• $5,000: Small Propel Grants support administrative activities within the next six months.
• Up to $50,000: Large Propel Grants support research activities within the next year.

Priorities

Applications are particularly encouraged for, but not limited to, projects that do one or more of the following:

• involve collaborative research across two or more departments
• include team members from backgrounds underrepresented in the academy (e.g., ethnic, cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds, research expertise, career stage, institution/sector, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.)
• strengthen collaboration between Stanford and SLAC