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Columbia SIPA

Deadline: SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant

Teams must include at least one SIPA student in a substantive role. Apply here

This year, to help facilitate team formation, SIPA is providing a Matching spreadsheet here for teams and individuals to meet virtually.

Applications are now open for the SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant Program.  Initial proposals for projects are due on September 28, 2020. The program, which is part of the campus-wide Columbia Venture Competition, invites students to turn their policy passions into entrepreneurial ventures – whether for profit or not for profit – and to design cutting-edge projects or prototypes that use ICT and/or data analytics to advance a public policy objective.

This year SIPA are inviting students to consider a venture that is aimed either at facilitating COVID recovery or focused on an area where our world has been disrupted by COVID-19 and where new ventures in support of public purpose are needed and may thrive.  As always, SIPA encourages venture ideas in areas that combine technology and data.  Additionally, SIPA will also offer support for projects that address a pressing policy challenge in Brazil. We thank the Lemann Foundation for this opportunity.

A total of $25,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winning teams. Current Columbia students are encouraged to form cross-disciplinary teams with students from across the University to apply for the grants. Teams must include at least one SIPA student in a substantive role. Teams wishing to add members with similar interests or specific skills, or individuals wishing to join a team, may post information in the Dean’s Challenge Grant Matching spreadsheet here. You will need to be signed in to your LionMail account to access.


ANNOUNCEMENT FROM DEAN JANOW TO SIPA STUDENTS

Dear Students,

The application for the eighth round of the SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant Program is now open. Initial proposals for projects are due on September 28, 2020. The program, which is part of the campus-wide Columbia Venture Competition, invites students to turn their policy passions into entrepreneurial ventures – whether for profit or not for profit – and to design cutting-edge projects or prototypes that use ICT and/or data analytics to advance a public policy objective.

This year we invite students to address some aspect of COVID-19 in your venture ideas but also encourage consideration, as always, of other topics of interest that combine technology and data. We encourage, for example, ventures that consider areas that have experienced the greatest disruption or transformation as a result of the pandemic and its wide ranging effects—for example with respect to: education, health, cyber security, digital finance, civic engagement, amongst other possible ideas. We invite you to also consider if there are any new data sets that you might want to utilize or develop for your venture ideas. (See for example, The Northeast Big Data Innovation HubAcademic Data Science AllianceThe COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge).

Additionally, we will offer support for projects that address a pressing policy challenge in Brazil. We thank the Lemann Foundation for this opportunity.

A total of $25,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winning teams.  Current Columbia students are encouraged to form cross-disciplinary teams with students from across the University to apply for the grants. Teams must include at least one SIPA student in a substantive role. To provide support to teams, SIPA provides workshops, mentors, and access to expertise as they refine and test their ideas. In addition, SIPA students are invited to participate in Columbia Venture Competition events. The program seeks to support endeavors with high potential to be implemented, to produce a meaningful impact in a relatively short timeframe, and to be sustainable over time. For complete details, please visit the Challenge Grant website or email SIPA.Challenge.Grant@columbia.edu.

Teams wishing to add members with similar interests or specific skills, or individuals wishing to join a team, may post information in the Dean’s Challenge Grant Matching spreadsheet here. You will need to be signed in to your LionMail account to access.