Serendipity35

Amazon plans to give money to University of Washington faculty members, students, or anybody on a campus who has a "bold, risky" idea for making the world a better place. It is a newgrant program that taregts research projects that have great potential - perhaps so much so that they wouldn't normally get approval from the traditional funding sources.

The initial grants have $2 million available and individual grants will be worth fom $10,000 to $100,000.

What is interesting about the approach by Amazon Catalyst is that the barriers for entry are low. Studenta and even faculty are often daunted by the hurdles to writing and applying for grants from agencies such as the NSF and so do not make the attempt.

This program has no fixed application window and is open to anyone who works for the university, attends courses there, or is otherwise affiliated with the University of Washington. That eliminates most of us, but looking at the online application form, you can see that it might offer a model for other funders to open the grant doorway a bit wider and make entering more appealing.