Markaz Graduate Student Mini-Grants

2025-2026 Deadline Extension: Due to popular request, deadline for mini-grant proposals has been extended. Applicants must now submit by Tuesday, October 28 (application link here).

Overview

The Markaz Mini-Grant Program supports innovative, community-rooted research and projects led by graduate and professional students at Stanford. The program is designed to foster intellectual engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and mentorship across academic levels, while uplifting the mission and communities served by the Markaz Resource Center.

Purpose

We invite proposals for projects or research that meet the following criteria:

1. Intersect with the mission of the Markaz.
2. Positively impact the communities served by the Markaz.
3. Include a component of mutually beneficial mentorship or collaboration between the graduate awardee and an undergraduate student from any field or discipline.

Grant Benefits

• Funding: Awardees receive up to $1,500 to support their project.
• Community & Space: Access to a shared working space in the Markaz Graduate Hub, fostering a vibrant interdisciplinary cohort.
• Mentorship: Built-in structure to engage and mentor an undergraduate student throughout the project period. Additionally, if graduate students express a need to be matched with a faculty mentor, Markaz can help facilitate that on case to case bases.
• Professional Development: Quarterly check-ins with the cohort coordinator and peer cohort to support project progress.
• Symposium Presentation: The program culminates in a public symposium, where graduate awardees and their undergraduate mentees will present their collaborative work and learning experience. The format of the symposium will be tailored to reflect the diversity and nature of the accepted projects.

Program Goals

• Support graduate and professional student research aligned with the Markaz mission.
• Create meaningful mentorship opportunities between graduate and undergraduate students.
• Build community across disciplines through collaborative intellectual engagement.
• Provide visibility and a platform for innovative, community-centered projects.

This program reflects Markaz's commitment to nurturing scholarship that is both academically rigorous and socially impactful. By centering mentorship, collaboration, and community engagement, the Mini-Grant Program strengthens the fabric of intellectual life on campus.

Grant Details

• Amount: Five mini-grants in the amount of $1500 will be awarded
• Usage: Recipients can use the funds for a variety of needs for a project with collaborative potential that aligns with the ethos of the fellowship
• Symposium: Recipients will be asked to participate in a Markaz Grad Student Symposium during Spring Quarter to present their research (whatever stage of the process they are in).

Eligibility

• Current Master’s, PhD, law school, or medical school students are eligible to apply.
  • First year Master’s and PhD students are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants' projects should advance the interests of Markaz communities (broadly defined).

2025 Application Process

How to Apply: Submit a project proposal through this application link.