The provost’s Personalized Education Initiative is adopting a new name and preparing to accept proposals for a new round of internal grants.

The Forge Your Own Path strategy “aspires to integrate the rich expertise and network of the Pitt community with new and emerging technologies to provide customized, meaningful collaborations, connections, and experiences that will prepare and empower our students to leave lives of self-determined impact,” according to a vision statement on the personaled.pitt.edu website.

Pitt faculty and staff may apply as individuals or as teams for two levels of grants:

• Up to $15,000: For small scale projects that can be completed by June 2021, but which are likely to lead to a larger, scalable project.

• $15,000 or more: For larger scale, longer term projects. Contact Gloria Mou (gloriamou@pitt.edu) to set up a discussion about the project goals and budget. Most larger scale projects will be awarded in the $15,000 to $25,000 range. 

Grant applications should support one or more of the core components of Forge Your Own Path:

• People: Cultivate a community (including faculty, staff and alumni) or enhance an existing network to provide unique, multi-faceted experiences for our students.

• Tools: Reimagine the use of existing platforms, programs and applications to ensure that every student can pioneer their own path seamlessly; provide training for faculty, staff and students to maximize usage of current platforms; or leverage innovative tools that support interconnectivity for Pitt students.

• Information: Provide training for people to better use and understand data; or engage in data collection activities that provide crucial cues regarding outcomes and success.

Find more details about the core components and the format for submitting proposals on the website.

The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Nov. 22. Winners will be notified in February 2020, and funding will be available in March 2020

Two informational sessions about the Forge Your Own Path — Personalized Education Grants will be held in the coming weeks:

• Oct. 24: Noon-1 p.m., 817 Cathedral of Learning. RSVP

• Nov. 6: 3-4 p.m. 817 Cathedral of Learning. RSVP

For more information contact: yourpitt@pitt.edu