As you may know, Penn is a member of the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN). PIT-UN is a partnership of nearly 60 colleges and universities committed to working with faculty and educating students who can better apply technology (broadly defined) to questions of individual rights, justice, social welfare, and the public good, particularly for those members of our society least well served historically and today by existing systems and policies. The goals of the network are to:

• Connect accredited nonprofit institutions of higher education in the US that seek to take the lead in establishing and defining the field of Public Interest Technology within academia;
• Spur the development of a strong pipeline of students seeking to pursue careers in Public Interest Technology, broadly defined; taking active measures to ensure that this pipeline is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, ability, gender, and socioeconomic status; and characterized by a sense of inclusion and belonging for students and practitioners;
• Foster collaborations and connections across the network and to practitioners in the wider ecosystem.

Each year PIT-UN sponsors a “network challenge grant” to encourage new ideas, foster collaborations, and incentivize resource- and information-sharing among network members. Priority areas include:

• Educational Offerings;
• Career Pipeline/Placement;
• Faculty & Institution Building;
• Strengthening the PIT University Network.

Examples of past grant awardees can be found here. 

As part of our membership Penn can submit up to three grant proposals, with any number of these falling into either “Tranche 1” (up to $90,000 including indirect costs) or “Tranche 2” (between $90,001-$180,000 including indirect costs).

If you are interested in having a proposal considered for submission, please complete the linked “preliminary proposal” document, and return to mxd@asc.upenn.edu by no later than Friday, March 31. Note that these preliminary proposals need not be long – just enough to give us a clear sense of your objectives and approach. If your preliminary proposal is accepted for submission to PIT-UN, the full proposal would be due in June (specific date yet to be determined).