Legatum Center Seed Grants: Applicant Resources
The 2013 Summer Seed Grant application is now closed.
Conditions of Eligibility
Legatum Center seed grants are awarded to undergraduate and graduate students at MIT who wish to develop innovative, for-profit enterprises, in low-income countries. Individuals or teams may apply, although only one application is needed per team. At least one member of the team must still be considered a current MIT student when they return from the trip. All travel and reimbursements must be submitted through the MIT representative on the team. Travel, accommodation, market research, prototype development, proofs of concept, pilot testing, and other expenses that directly advance the project development are all eligible grant expenses and can be reimbursed up to the amount of the grant awarded. We cannot fund the employment of independent contractors. Previous seed grant teams or their individual members are welcome to apply again, but must demonstrably show that their project has advanced considerably in the interim.
**We are only accepting teams with a focus in Latin America this Summer.
All monies must be spent and all travel completed during the allotted seed grant award period, either by the end of the summer (i.e., August 31) for summer seed grant recipients or by the end of the IAP (i.e., January 31) for IAP seed grant recipients. ONLY economy class tickets will be refunded.
*Important note on other funding sources: When you submit your receipts and final report you must let the Legatum Center know of any other funding that you received for your project and the contact information for the other sponsor(s) so we may coordinate your reimbursement. Failure to do so will result in a recipient having to repay the excess award amount.
For all teams traveling, we expect you to comply with the MIT Horizon travel program. If you are already registered with Horizon for this trip, you do not have to register a second time.
Application Process
In order to apply for a Legatum Seed Grant you must complete all required fields on the online application. We do not require letters of recommendation for seed grants.
A committee will examine all applications and finalists will be contacted to set up an interview. Interviews will take place at the Legatum Center (E48-4FL).
Applications are due: April 16
Notification of Legatum Seed Grant Awards: April 26
Grant Deliverables and Expectations
Upon completion of their award, recipients of Legatum Center seed grants are expected to:
- Submit a 1-2 page report detailing how the seed grant money advanced the project, and what opportunities exist for further advancement. We will provide you with the template for the report. We may some or all of the information in the reports as well as the photos submitted to meet the requirements of outside funders.
- Submit at least 5 high-resolution photographs in .jpg form from work done on your project. (Captions should be provided in a Word document as an attachment.) Examples of encouraged photographs include photos of the technology and tools relevant to your project, photos of you and your team at work in the field/lab, photos of the constituents who will benefit from your project, photos of the geographic region in which your project takes place, etc.
- Participate in a post-grant event where you will have the opportunity to share your project with the greater MIT community (typically a poster session).
All submissions (photos, optional videos, and reports) can be used by the Legatum Center and Western Union Foundation at its discretion, without restriction. There are two media waivers that must be signed - the stardard Legatum Center waiver and the Western Union Foundation media waiver. Intellectual property is retained by seed grant recipients. Please remember that the report and photos are due within two weeks of completing your seed grant-based work.