Dean's Fund for Professional Development

All faculty, adjunct professor, professor of the practice, instructor, technical instructor, lecturer, senior lecturer, principal/senior research scientist, engineer, or associate are eligible to apply. Lecturers need to complete three semesters of MIT teaching before they are eligible to apply. Visiting faculty and staff are ineligible.

Dean’s Fund for Professional Development Guidelines:

1. Proposals requesting up to $2,000 are accepted three times per academic year (October, February, April). Funding decisions are made within three weeks following the due dates.

2. Brief (1-2 pages) requests are invited to support well defined activities related to the scholarly and professional development of SHASS faculty, lecturers, and senior research staff.

3. Priority is given to individuals without alternative sources of support. If you currently hold discretionary funds, you are not eligible for the Dean’s Fund unless the funds are committed for a specific purpose. If you listed positive value in current reserves, please explain in detail what the funds are committed for.

4. Prior approval must be obtained from the department head. 

5. Retroactive approval for this fund is not allowed.

6. If travelling, your budget proposal is allowed local transportation to/from airport/railway/bus to and from MIT.

How to apply for the Dean’s Fund for Professional Development:

1. Applications should not be more than 1-2 pages. An application approval page must accompany each application.

2. Please include itemized budget in your proposal making sure to list any compensation, travel, material, equipment and indirect costs such as employee benefits and MIT fund account rates. If planning for conference travel, list number of nights that you will need accommodations for. If nights exceed the official nights of a conference, please provide detailed explanation. 

3. Complete proposals including approval pages signed by Department/Section Head should be submitted to your Administrative Officer by March 31, 2023. 

If you have questions, please direct all inquiries to deansfund@mit.edu.