Published: March 8, 2024

Second-annual Dean’s Innovation Fund awards a total of $200,000 to projects spanning the College of Arts and Sciences


For the past two years, Dean Glen Krutz has asked the college for innovative ideas, and this semester he announced eight winners of the second annual Dean’s Innovation Fund awards, with funding totaling $200,000, at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Krutz created the Dean’s Innovation Fund in late 2022 with the goal of funding new ideas and innovations for the college. He solicited proposals related to spawning new cross-disciplinary research projects, ventures to develop and retain faculty and staff, projects that link more strongly to the community, fresh thinking about how A&S might reduce its carbon footprint, and projects promoting justice, equity, diversity and inclusion efforts to improve student, staff and faculty access to and/or retention in A&S.

“I was thrilled with the applications we received in this second cycle of the A&S Dean’s Innovation Fund, and I was equally impressed with the first round,” Krutz said, adding:

“We had an overwhelming response, with applications from across the college. The response and the innovations were truly inspiring! The proposals were universally strong and worthy.” Selecting the second slate of projects was extremely difficult, and the college encouraged applicants to reapply in the next cycle, Krutz said.

This year, one-time awards range from $3,500 to $40,000.

Projects receiving 2024 funding from the Dean’s Innovation Fund are:


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