2024 Public Interest Technology University Network Challenge (PIT-UN)

Overview

The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) Challenge seeks to encourage new ideas, foster collaborations, and incentivize the sharing of resources and information among a national network of universities working to create a robust public interest technology field.

Purpose In 2024, the Network Challenge focuses on two specific areas: 
● 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 
o    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 PIT University Network Challenge – Year 6 RFP Finalized March 11, 2024 3 of 34 of public interest technology for undergraduate students. 
o    Experiential opportunities, including clinics, labs, internships, or apprenticeships at the undergraduate level. 
o    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. 
o    Guides should focus on tenure, internships, and hackathons.

Core Elements and Outcomes 
The PIT-UN Challenge will prioritize projects that center on the needs of communities that have historically been denied access to new technologies, systematically left out of conversations at the intersection of technology and policy or denied opportunities to join the technology workforce. PIT-UN will prioritize these projects to further the positive social impact of technology for all communities. Projects may demonstrate centering community needs by creating a space for communities to play a role in shaping technology development. 
Successful applications will meet the follow criteria. 
● Have meaningful and equitable partnerships with one or more of the following entities: 
o    Other educational institutions outside of the PIT-UN network, in particular minority serving institutions, or serve communities historically denied access to technology, and two-year community colleges. 
o    Have project teams that indicate clearly how project objectives and methods and actional plans will address racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic impediments that have existed historically so that the entire community can be served. 
o    Community organizations that have a specific focus on workforce development and/or creating career pathways for populations currently underrepresented in public service or in the science, technology, engineering, or math fields. 
● Have project objectives and methods to address the articulated barriers and gaps for historically marginalized groups and address aspects of racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic impediments are reflected in the design and reach of the project (i.e., students served) as well as the staffing of the proposed project team. 
● Have a project team that demonstrates the ability to serve ethnically, racially, socioeconomically diverse, and underrepresented populations, perhaps supported by an actionable plan informed by best practices to use this funding to engage and serve these populations

We anticipate supporting 10–15 projects from across PIT-UN. We are particularly interested in supporting projects that do not replicate existing and previously funded projects but offer a new approach or lens for public interest technology.

The PIT-UN Network Challenge is a limited submission funding opportunity and limits the number of applications from one institution.

InfoReady link: https://asu.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/1935685

Additionally, there is a limit to the number of proposals a PIT-UN member university can submit: 
● Proposals for up to a total of three new projects. Only one of these can fall within the funding Tranche 2 ($90,001–$145,000). 
● Proposals to expand/scale previously awarded projects, outlined in Eligibility section ii, can fall into either funding Tranche 1 (up to $90,000) or Tranche 2* ($90,001–$145,000). 

Proposals requesting Tranche 2 funding must include at least 50% in-kind contribution funding from the primary institution. Proposed budgets should be inclusive of an indirect rate, set at 20% of total direct costs. 

Note: Proposals can only be funded with Network Challenge funding for three years. 
A person may be listed as the principal investigator (PI) on only one Network Challenge application, but individuals may be listed as collaborators on multiple applications. 
Projects that are a partnership between two or more universities should submit one single application from the lead institution. Projects should explain the nature of the partnership, including the division of labor and funds in the proposal

Total funding is $1 million.
In Year 6 of the Network Challenge, we anticipate supporting 10–15 projects from across PIT-UN. We are particularly interested in supporting projects that do not replicate existing and previously funded projects but offer a new approach or lens for public interest technology. 

PIT-UN is inviting proposals in two funding tranches. Budgets should be inclusive of an indirect rate, set at 20% of total direct costs. Note: Tranche 2 funding has changed for 2024 
Tranche 1: Up to $90,000 for direct and indirect costs (indirect costs are capped at 20%) 
Tranche 2: From $90,001 to $145,000 for direct and indirect costs (indirect costs are capped at 20%) 
Proposals requesting Tranche 2 funding must include at least 50% in-kind contribution funding from the primary institution. Note: If the required institutional in-kind funding is less than 50%, the proposal will not be considered.