CLA Big Ideas Grant Competition
CLA is launching an early-fall Big Ideas Start Here competition to identify ambitious ideas that can grow into major interdisciplinary research initiatives. Liberal arts scholars are well positioned to identify the human problems and local-to-global challenges that generate big questions and require bold solutions. We need your expertise, ideas, and perspectives.
The CLA process starts quickly to prepare faculty and teams to participate in Purdue’s university-wide Big Ideas initiative launching this fall.
How It Works
Big Ideas Start Here moves promising ideas through four stages:
Brainstorm → Build a Team → Pitch the Idea → Launch
You do not need to arrive with a fully developed project or an existing team. The process is designed to help good ideas find collaborators and grow.
1. Brainstorm
Join a facilitated 90-minute Big Ideas Start Here session. Come with an idea, a problem, or simply an interest in meeting colleagues and exploring possibilities OR participate in a session led by a CLA Center, Lab, or Initiative.
Promising ideas identified during the sessions will advance to the team-building stage. All participants in the brainstorming sessions will also become eligible to apply for EXCEL Big Ideas Incubator Funds.
Funding at this stage: No proposal or budget is required to participate. Ideas selected to advance will receive a small pool of flexible funds to support rapid team formation.
2. Build a Team
Selected idea leaders will have a short period to find collaborators from CLA and across Purdue and turn their initial idea into a one-page Big Idea concept and pitch.
The goal is a conceptual idea that can be turned into a major initiative, not a finished research proposal. Think BIG! Think BOLD! We want teams to define the big question, explain why it matters, identify the expertise needed to address it, and describe what could become possible if Purdue invested in the idea.
Team-building funds may support:
- Meetings, meals, or other gatherings that bring potential collaborators together.
- Other modest expenses that help teams quickly connect with the people and expertise they need.
3. Pitch the Idea
Teams will present their concepts at an interdisciplinary Big Ideas Start Here competition in mid October (Date TBA).
Finalists teams will develop a plan for moving their idea from concept to a sustainable interdisciplinary research initiative for submission to the Big Ideas Start Hear grant competition. Proposals should include a budget sketch for transforming the concept into a full research initiative.
Finalists will receive a small amount of additional development funding and approximately one month to expand their teams and develop a plan for turning the concept into a major interdisciplinary research initiative. Final proposed plans will be due November 15, 2026 through InfoReady.
Finalist funds may support:
- Team meetings, meals, or a short planning retreat.
- Meetings with potential Purdue collaborators or external partners.
- Modest costs for gathering information needed to develop the plan.
- Other small expenses that help the team refine the idea and prepare its final proposal.
The goal of this stage is planning, partnership development, and positioning. It does not require pilot data.
4. Awards and Launch
In December, plans will be reviewed by a committee, with one team selected for a $100,000 CLA Big Ideas Start Here Grant.
The $100,000 award is intended as launch funding rather than an endpoint. Funds should position the team to establish a significant initiative, pursue major external funding, develop important partnerships and pilot data, and/or demonstrate proof of concept sufficient scale to attract additional investment.
Launch funds may support activities such as summer support, graduate or undergraduate research assistants, pilot studies, data acquisition, fieldwork, protypes, computing, research equipment, or related research needs. Funds may also be used for workshops or conferences, convening advisory groups, engaging community, government, non-profit or industry partners, or other types of collaboration or dissemination activities to advance the initiative.
Other strong finalists will receive priority consideration for EXCEL Big Ideas Incubator Funds and other CLA research-development opportunities.
What Are We Looking For?
Think bigger than your next study or grant proposal. We are looking for important problems, ambitious questions, and ideas that benefit from multiple forms of expertise.
What human problem needs solving? What local-to-global challenge could Purdue help address? What could we understand, create, or change if we brought together people who do not normally work together?
Ideas may originate anywhere in CLA and may connect the humanities, social sciences, arts and design with engineering, science, agriculture, health, computing, technology, or other fields.
Timeline
August 27–September 20: Big Ideas brainstorming sessions
September - October: Team formation and concept development
October: Big Ideas concept and pitch competition (Date Tentatively October 16)
November 15: Finalist proposal and initiative budget due November 15, 2026 through Infoready.
December: Winners announced for the the $100,000 Big Ideas Start Here and Excel Big Idea Incubator Awards.
Join a Brainstorming Session or Launch a Team
Launch your own "Big Ideas Team"
Do you want to form your own team or do you already have team? Register your team HERE and we will send you materials and instructions how to submit your team's big idea proposal. Proposals must be submitted before September 28, 2026 to compete for the $100,000 prize.
Choose one 90-minute upcoming session:
- Thursday, August 27 | 3:00–4:30 p.m.
- Monday, August 31 | 1:30–3:00 p.m.
- Thursday, September 10 | 3:30–5:00 p.m.
- Friday, September 11 | 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.