Launched in 2019, the Public Interest Technology University Network is a partnership that unites colleges and universities committed to building the nascent field of public interest technology and growing a new generation of civic-minded technologists. Through the development of curricula, research agendas, and experiential learning programs in the public interest technology space, these institutions aim to develop graduates with skills and knowledge at the intersection of technology and policy.

All receipts need to be submitted at the same time.

Travel Reimbursement Policy

Terms and Conditions: All flights, up to the lowest-available, most direct, coach class fare (standard economy). We do not intend to make all people fly red-eye flights when flying from one coast to the opposite coast. Up to the lowest available business class fare for international flights (arrives in a different country than that from which it departed) of more than five hours actual flight time, including domestic connecting flights. Baggage fees, which include oversize or overweight bags if the oversize or overweight bags contain NVF equipment/supplies/materials.

Transportation to and from an airport

The cost of the transportation to and from a point of origin of travel falls within the travel expense policy. We expect a reasonable expense and it is the project's discretion if they want to cover this portion.

Complete these forms for Travel Reimbursement 

Materials to submit a request for a Budget Modification 

  • Original NVF Budget Template submitted with the grant application 
  • Complete the Budget Revision Tab in the Template
  • A short paragraph detailing why you need a budget revision.

Material Needed to Complete a Mid-grant Report

  1. The project title as it appears on the original grant application
  2. The total funding request and the total expenses to date
  3. Answers to these questions
  • Please describe what is going well with your project. (300-word limit)
  • Please describe any challenges you are experiencing with your project (300-word limit)
  • In the project application, you were asked to list outcomes and deliverables. As you view your work, are the outcomes and deliverables you listed in your application obtainable? If yes, please describe your progress in obtaining the objectives and deliverables. If not, please share how you would like to revise them. (200-word limit)
  • How can we better support your work? (300-word limit)
  • How can we assist you in highlighting your work inside and outside of your institution? (300-word limit)The requirements for completing the final grant report can be found in Exhibit B of the ratified grant agreement. 

Material Needed to Complete The Final Grant 

  • a copy of the grant agreement 
  • Answers to the Exhibit B questions. (Exhibit B questions are found in the ratified grant agreement). 
  • DEI statistics if you collected that data
  • The original NVF Project Budget Template with the reporting tab filled out. If the finance department has a separate financial sheet you can upload that as well.
  • Any links or copies of specific deliverables or open educational resources.
  • Any links to publications (case studies, reports, papers...) developed out of this work


Material Needed to Complete a Mid-grant Report  

1) Project Summary (300-word limit) Please provide a summary of the status of your project to date. In your narrative of the project, please include:

a. Activities and progress 

b. Institutional issues and/or project challenges 

c. Partner issues or challenges 

2) Progress Toward Objectives & Deliverables (300-word limit) As part of your grant application, you listed expected outcomes and deliverables. Please list the outcomes and deliverables listed in your grant application. a. Of the listed outcomes and deliverables, which, if any, have been accomplished? 

3) Challenges or Lessons Learned (500-word limit) In the listed outcomes and deliverables, what are the challenges in meeting the deliverables outline in the application? 

4) Project Impact (200-word limit) Describe how your project is meaningfully addressing the barriers to equity and access related to Public Interest Technology that you identified in your original grant proposal. Please describe what challenges you experiencing in meeting equity, diversity and inclusion related to your ongoing project. (300-word limit) 

5) Network Impact (300-word limit) Describe how your project is creating shared resources or otherwise strengthening the community of educational institutions committed to Public Interest Technology. (300-word limit) 

6) Institutionalization of PIT (300-word limit) Describe how, if at all, your project will contribute to Public Interest Technology becoming institutionalized within your university (i.e., through committed university funds, support from leadership, or collaboration between departments, faculty, or other groups). If you do not anticipate Public Interest Technology will become institutionalized in the short- or long-term, please explain why. 

7) Budget & Expenses to Date 

a. Total funding request 

b. Total expenses to date 

c. Total In-kind funding propose 

d. Total In-kind funding utilized to date 

e. Please explain any unforeseen expenses or other adjustments you have had to make to your proposed budget. 

f. The Network Challenge Grants have a 16-month grant term, please upload a copy of the grant expenses to date spreadsheet* 

Material Needed to Complete The Final Grant 

The requirements for completing the final grant report can be found in Exhibit B of the ratified grant agreement. 

1) Project Summary (300 words maximum): Please provide a clear and concise statement summarizing the work your institution(s) completed during the duration of the grant period. 

2) Objectives & Activities: (250-word limit) Describe the specific objectives of the project supported by the Challenge. Summarize the activities you engaged in during the grant period to accomplish these objectives, and any progress towards the outcomes or impact that you were hoping to achieve. 

3) Key Drivers of Meeting the Project Objectives: (250-word limit) Were you able to accomplish your objectives, please describe what you saw as the key drivers or enabling conditions of that success. If applicable, please share a specific instance or event that illustrates the impact of your project. 

4) Expected Outcomes: (200-word limit) As part of your grant application, you listed EXPECTED outcomes and deliverables. Please list the original outcomes and deliverables you listed on your grant application. 

5) Achieved Outcomes & Deliverables: (500-word limit) Please list the ACHIEVED (FINAL) outcomes and deliverables here. 

6) Project Impact Statement: (200-word limit) Provide a clear and concise impact statement regarding your work. 

7) Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Number of Participants: (500-word limit) Describe how your project meaningfully addressed the targeted community and the demographics of the project participants compared to the demographics of the larger population. If your project was not able to address said barriers as meaningfully as intended, please describe what challenges you experienced or lessons you learned. What sources of bias was the project subjected to and what mitigation strategies did you employ to generate more equitable outcomes to engage, serve, and collaborate with those populations in ways that are informed by best practices? 

a) Estimate the percentage of non-majority project participants. 

b) Demographic 

8) Lessons Learned and Challenges (500-word limit) In the final outcomes and deliverables you listed above, highlight any challenges, expected or otherwise, or lessons learned throughout the grant period. Describe any adjustments or changes you made to your activities to address challenges as they arose. 

9) Network impact: (300-word limit) Describe how your project created shared resources or otherwise strengthened the community of educational institutions committed to Public Interest Technology. 

10) Institutionalization of Public Interest Technology: (300-word limit) Describe how, if at all, your project will contribute to Public Interest Technology becoming institutionalized within your university (i.e., through committed university funds, support from leadership, or collaboration between departments, faculty, or other groups). If you do not anticipate Public Interest Technology will become institutionalized in the short- or long-term, please explain why. 

11) Attachments: In addition to the report narrative, please submit the following attachments: 

a) Financial report detailing final accounting of budgeted vs. actual expenditures of all grant funding, including the entire project budget and all sources of revenue and expenditures (including grassroots and direct lobbying expenditures, if applicable), in addition to this Grant. 

b) Artifacts and Open Educational Resources (OER): and other artifacts developed with grant funds i) A list of all intellectual property and assets purchased or created with the Grant. 

ii) Any publications or media generated as a result of your project. 

12) Certification: All [GRANTEE NAME] activities were and are consistent with charitable purposes under Sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and [GRANTEE NAME] complied with all provisions and restrictions contained in this Agreement, including, for example, and without limitation, those provisions related to lobbying and political activity. 

Material Needed to Complete The Final Grant 

The requirements for completing the final grant reports can be found in Exhibit B of the ratified grant agreement. 

  1. a copy of the grant agreement 
  2. Answers to the Exhibit B questions
  3. The original NVF Project Budget Template with the Reporting Tab filled out. If the finance department has a separate financial sheet you can upload that as well.
  4. Any links or copies of specific deliverables or open educational resources.
  5. Any links to publications (case studies, reports, papers...) developed out of this work


PIT-UN is interested in understanding how you used the Regional Hub Fellow funds and the impact you were able to achieve during the grant period. The Network is equally interested in learning about your successes and challenges, and would like to hear what you learned in the process. Please provide candid, reflective responses 

to the questions below. The information you share will help inform PIT-UN's future strategy and programs. 

As part of the Grant Agreement, you are required to submit a verbal progress via monthly meetings, a short narrative mid-grant report at the second quarter Fellows meeting and all final reports by November 30, 2024. 


A successful PIT Regional Hub should be a collaboration between Principal Investigators and/or Designees of PIT-UN  member institutions, and outreach to regional employers and/or employer organizations, to ensure that the regional opportunities are related to the entire region.

New America & PIT-UN Are Excited To Announce Requests For Proposals For PIT-UN Network Members
  In 2024, the Challenge will build on this foundation by focusing on two specific areas: 

  • Educational Offerings, especially those that foster cross-disciplinary perspectives,
  • Career Pipeline/Placement efforts to develop the Public Interest Technology workforce in government, industry, and social impact organizations.  

Limited Submissions

  The PIT-UN Network Challenge is a limited submission funding opportunity limiting the number of applications from one institution. These “limited submission” funding opportunities must undergo an internal selection process (also known as an internal competition), which is coordinated by the institution. Please consult your institution before you develop any applications.

Each PIT-UN member has identified one point of contact for submitting all grant applications for their institutions.  Only that point of contact should be accessing this platform. If you do not know who your PIT-UN member Network Challenge point of contact is, please get in touch with your institution's PIT-UN Designee.
  

PIT-UN is inviting proposals in two funding tranches. Budgets should be inclusive of an indirect rate, set at 20% of total direct costs. 

  1. Tranche 1: Up to $90,000 ($0-$90,000) for direct and indirect costs 
  2. Tranche 2: Up to $145,000 ($90,001-$145,000) for direct and indirect costs  

Note: Budgets should be inclusive of an indirect rate, set at 20% of the total direct costs.
  In this sixth year of the challenge, PIT-UN will accept the following types of proposals in response to its RFP: 

  • New Projects: projects that have not received prior funding from the PIT-UN Challenge (“new projects”) 
  • Existing Projects: projects that have received prior funding from the PIT-UN Challenge in 2019*, 2020, 2021, or 2022 but have not received three (3) years of Network Challenge funding can apply for additional funding to expand and/or scale their project (“previously funded projects”)

Projects ineligible to apply for funding in this challenge are Network Challenge Projects of any year (Year 2-2020 & Year 3-2021 & Year 4-2022, Year 5-2023) that have not submitted their project's final reports (narrative and budget reconciliation) to New Ventures Fund using the grant management system Submittable.
Limits

There is a limit to the number of proposals a PIT-UN Network university can submit:

Current network members can submit the following:

  • Proposals for new projects, adding up to a total of three. Only one of these can fall within the funding Tranche 2- $145,000.Budgets should be inclusive of an indirect rate, set at 20% of the total direct cost
  • Proposals to expand/scale previously awarded projects, outlined in Eligibility section ii, can fall into either funding Tranche 1- $90,000, or Tranche 2 - $145,000. Budgets should be inclusive of an indirect rate, set at 20% of the total direct costs. *Proposals requesting Tranche 2 funding must include at least 50% in-kind contribution funding from the primary institution for this grant

Note: If the required institutional in-kind funding is less than 50%, the proposal will not be considered.

New America & PIT-UN are excited to announce a request for individuals interested in evaluating 2024 Network Challenge proposals. The PIT-UN Evaluation Committee (EC) plays a critical role in determining a shortlist of projects to be funded by the PIT-UN. 

PIT-UN Network members, including those who served as an evaluator in 2019 through 2023 and are interested in serving on the 2024 evaluation committee by completing the application form.

Commitment to Attend Training

We do require all evaluator committee members to attend an application rubric training on May 13, 2024 at 3:00 pm EDT. This training is extremely important to assure that each proposal you review is evaluated fairly and accurately. We expect all evaluators to attend the normative evaluation training. If you are unable to commit to attending the training, please withdraw your application.  

Network Challenge focuses for 2024

  • Educational offerings that foster cross-disciplinary perspectives and credentialing.
  • Career pipeline/placement efforts to develop a public interest technology workforce in government, industry, and social impact organizations.

Project themes may include:

  • Environmental, climate, or sustainability projects that provide for opportunities for storytelling around the importance of PIT.
  • Policy projects with state and local governmental partnership research or briefs that advance PIT in these key fields: data science, artificial intelligence (AI), or quantum computing.
  • Technical projects where students and researchers explicitly engage in storytelling about PIT within the work (Quantum, AI, augmented analytics, machine learning, robotics).
  • Democracy and voting projects that explore ways to strengthen public interest systems and broaden participation at the local, state, and federal government levels.
  • The intersection of gender and technology in the pursuit of justice and equity.

Projects may include:

● Multi-institutional research projects focused on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, or data science.

● Public interest technology certifications, noncredit professional development opportunities, and degree completion projects for all levels of students

  • New models of career training, placement, and/or financial support to develop the public interest technology workforce.
  • Partnerships with nonprofit, private sector, or affinity groups to educate current working professionals in public interest technology.

● Experiential learning opportunities that give students real-world exposure to the practice of public interest technology for undergraduate students.

  • Experiential opportunities, including clinics, labs, internships, or apprenticeships at the undergraduate level.
  • Fellowships with an expressed goal of inter-institutional research or dissemination.

● Toolkits and guides that include granular instructions to replicate initiatives yet are not case studies in implementations.

  • ○ Guides should focus on tenure, internships, and hackathons.

The PIT-UN Grant team will be in touch via email if your background, expertise, and interests are a strong fit for evaluating this years grant proposals.

PIT-UN at New America Foundation