Student Sustainability Coalition-awarded funding of up to $50,000 per semester for ambitious, student-initiated projects that reduce U-M's environmental footprint and promote a culture of sustainability on campus.
Apply for up to $50,000 this semester through the Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund (PBSIF) if you or your student organization is working on a project with a long-lasting impact that addresses a campus sustainability challenge and enhances campus-wide student engagement with sustainability. Project and application must be student-generated and student-driven. Staff and faculty are also welcome to submit grant applications as long as they clearly specify what the student involvement and learning outcomes will be from the project.
Past PBSIF initiatives that have received funding include the U-M Campus Farm, the Maize and Blue Cupboard, the Strawbale Building, and the Food Recovery Network.
Applications are accepted in one cycle each per Fall and Winter semester.
- For priority consideration of your Letter of Intent (LOI), submit a LOI by email to [email protected] with the subject line “PBSIF Letter of Intent - [your project’s/group’s name]” no later than 11:59 pm on Febuary 6, 2023. After this deadline, LOI's will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until 11:59 pm on March 13, 2023. See details for the LOI listed below.
- Within one week after you submit your LOI, SSC will respond back with feedback and clarifying questions that you should incorporate into your final application to the best of your ability.
- For priority consideration of your full PBSIF Application, submit no later than 11:59 pm on February 24, 2023. SSC will accept and review additional PBSIF applications on a rolling basis until 11:59 pm on March 27, 2023
Please respond to the following in no more than one page:
- In one sentence, what is your project idea?
- How does your project address campus sustainability?
- What has been done previously to address this aspect of campus sustainability? How does your project impact sustainability in a way that is different from past and ongoing efforts?
- If your project requires any sort of implementation or installation on campus, have you communicated with campus units that you would need to work with? If not, what is your plan and timeline for doing so? For example, an on-campus installation may need approval from the Campus Planners.
- How will you maximize student engagement with this project?
- Please provide an estimated budget and what items these funds are going towards.
- In order to transfer funds to grant recipients, having a student organization, faculty/staff advisor, or campus unit that you are working with is very helpful. Do you already have such a partner, or would you like our help in finding one?
- Proposal narrative (not to exceed 4 pages)
- Project vision
- How it will be carried out
- Impact on campus sustainability
- Impact on student engagement with sustainability
- Evidence that the project can be done and can receive necessary permissions to be implemented and/or installed on campus
- Long-term continuation of project
- Include how you plan to institutionalize the project or transition project work to new students in order to continue the project long-term
- Project timeline (see here for an example)
- Itemized budget* (please submit a copy of this budget sheet for your application)
- Project leadership: Please provide each team member's name, email, related involvements/experiences, and capabilities
- In order to transfer funds to grant recipients, having a student organization, faculty/staff advisor, or campus unit that you are working with is very helpful. Who is your affiliated organization and/or advisor?
- If you are selected for funding, please be prepared to provide SSC regular updates on your project status.
*Please note we do not award funding for compensating students' time or budget items not justified as necessary.