Funding for this round of the AI Jump Start Grants has been depleted; however, applications are still being accepted for the next round of funding. More information about the next round of funding is forthcoming.
Overview
As an initial follow-up to the spring 2024 Duke AI Summit, Learning Innovation and Lifetime Education (LILE), the Duke University Libraries, and Duke Health are pleased to announce a call for proposals to support Duke faculty incorporating generative AI into an aspect of their existing 2024-25 courses. This Pilot AI Jump Start Grant program is in support of the Duke 2030 goals and ambitions to transform teaching and learning at Duke.
The program will fund up to 6 proposals. Each applicant will be asked to develop a brief proposal and budget describing their plans for integrating generative AI technology, concepts, or issues into their course, as well as the course learning objectives/outcomes that would be facilitated by the integration. The proposed budget for implementation of each project will be limited to $7,500; in addition to implementation funds, the faculty lead of each funded project will be awarded a $1,000 stipend deposited into a faculty discretionary account (for projects with a faculty co-lead, the two faculty will share the stipend).
Program Goals:
- Integrate emerging generative AI technology, concepts, and issues into up to six redesigned courses for AY 2024-25.
- Create generative AI-connected learning experiences for students across a wide range of disciplines, course enrollment sizes, and course formats.
- Determine desirability, feasibility, and scale for an ongoing AI Jump Start Grant program, based on a Spring 2025 assessment of the AY 2024-25 pilot program.
Eligibility
Project Lead: The Project Lead must be a regular rank Duke or Duke Health faculty member, from any discipline in any school or university institute, initiative, or center (UIC).
Project Co-Lead (optional): Grant applicants may, but do not have to, include a Co-Lead on their applications. Co-Leads may be regular or non-regular rank faculty or staff.
Scope, duration and requirements
Project implementation funding will typically range from $2,000 to $7,500; accepted applicants will also be awarded a $1,000 stipend for their work in summer 2024 (projects with a faculty co-lead will share the stipend). The implementation funding can be used to support any of the following:
- Funding a student assistant to support course or materials redesign or development activities;
- Licensing software/technology for the course offering;
- Acquisition of hardware for the course offering;
- Costs associated with having guest experts work with your class;
- Professional development needed by faculty, staff, student project assistant, and/or assigned course TAs as they revise the course to align with project integration and prepare to teach.
In addition to funding, the program will arrange a kick-off course consultation with LILE and/or Duke University Libraries.
Projects must be implemented in an existing Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 credit-bearing course at any level or discipline, with priority given to Fall 2024 courses. The “jump start” nature of this grant program is intended to allow faculty to kick off innovations in their course on short notice, for which they have not had time to locate funding during a normal budget cycle. Ongoing costs for successful projects after AY 2024-25 should be budgeted from other sources.
To encourage a wider community of practice for AI at Duke, each faculty participant will be asked to share their experience at the Fall 2025 Emerging Pedagogies Summit, organized by LILE on Duke’s campus.
Proposal requirements and submission deadline
The application form will request:
- Applicant name, email address, title, affiliation, and Scholars@Duke page or other relevant biographical webpage.
- Course name, number, semester offered, enrollment max, and current syllabus.
- A brief project proposal including:
- A description of the planned integration of generative AI technology, concepts, or issues into the course in a pedagogically sound way;
- The course learning objectives/learning outcomes that will be facilitated by the integration;
- A description of how equity in learning and learner-centered teaching in the course will be supported by the AI integration;
- A draft of the revised description of the course; and
- How you plan to incorporate TAs into the implementation (if applicable).
- A project implementation budget ($7,500 maximum) and a budget justification/explanation for how proposed funding will be used and how it will enable success of the project.
- Funding from other sources for the same or related work should be disclosed.
- Funds may not be used to support faculty effort, full-time staff effort, travel (unless required for the course redesign process), or monetary distributions to support secondary or related projects.
Application review will begin Monday, July 1, 2024 at 9 AM ET and continue until sufficient projects have been accepted and funded.
Responses will begin to be provided Wednesday, July 10, 2024.
Selection criteria and review process
Applications will be reviewed by leaders in LILE, Duke Health, and the Duke University Libraries. Factors on which proposals will be evaluated include:
- feasibility of project/research plan,
- focus on the identified priorities outlined above,
- focus on equity in learning and learner-centered activities,
- potential learning impact of the intervention,
- project activities start date no later than July 2024.