Fueling Innovation

Over the past two decades, research grant programs in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy have generated important discoveries and pioneered new fields of study in pursuit of sustainability goals.

Powered entirely by philanthropy, these early- and mid-stage grants are among the few resources available to fund high-risk, high-reward projects that fall outside the bounds of government agencies or are too early in their development for private-sector investment. Successful projects have launched major research enterprises, generated patents and start-up companies, and driven policy changes benefiting communities and ecosystems around the world.

Expanding the grant-making capacity of these programs, including the new program in the Sustainable Societies Institute, is one way the school can begin to have an immediate impact on the most critical challenges facing people and the planet.

• Environmental Venture Projects (Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)
• Realizing Environmental Innovation Program (Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)
• Energy Seed Grants (Precourt Institute for Energy)
• Precourt Pioneering Projects (Precourt Institute for Energy)
• Sustainable Societies Research Grant Program

Dollar-for-dollar matching funds are available for gifts of $50,000 or more to some Stanford Woods Institute research grants. Please see the Sustainability Matching Program for details. 

Photo banner at top of page: Guangchao Li, technical director of the Environmental Measurements Facility, speaks to a group of students in the lab. Photo by Christine Baker.