MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program

Sandbox (short for MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program) provides meaningful seed funding of up to $25,000 for student-initiated ideas, mentoring from within MIT and from a broad network of committed partners, and tailored educational experiences.

The objective of Sandbox is to help students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be successful innovators and entrepreneurs. It is about developing people, not ideas.

However, the learning is in the context of advancing innovative ideas or projects of the students’ own creation -- ones that serve important needs in the world.

Sandbox's mission is to give every interested student on campus a serious experience in pursuing innovative and entrepreneurial ideas in conjunction with their education. The Sandbox Innovation Fund Program will provide educational experiences, mentoring, and financial resources to MIT students. The objective is for students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to be effective innovators. While the context will be a specific project or entrepreneurial venture, the primary focus is on developing people, not ideas and start-ups.

ABOUT
Sandbox (short for MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program) provides meaningful seed funding of up to $25,000 for student-initiated ideas, mentoring from within MIT and from a broad network of committed partners, and tailored educational experiences.

The objective of Sandbox is to help students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be successful innovators and entrepreneurs. It is about developing people, not ideas.

However, the learning is in the context of advancing innovative ideas or projects of the students’ own creation—ones that serve important needs in the world.
A Different Approach

Sandbox is…

(*) Open to all; not a ‘competition’. The opportunity will be accessible to all 11,000 MIT graduate and undergraduate students, and set up so that as many students / student teams as possible can receive support (to develop skills, explore the innovation landscape, and collaborate as part of a team) and gain seed funding. It is not organized as a contest that “picks winners.”

(*) Learning-centric. Sandbox is designed to fit within the traditional university experience -- helping students pursue independent ideas—and to be synergistic with classwork and research activities.

(*) Broad. It is not solely about start-ups. Sandbox is about innovation writ broadly—through new or existing organizations, for-profit or non-profit. It is designed to reflect the breadth of pathways through which our students and alums have an impact on the world.

(*) Flexible. Not designed to fit within a summer or a semester, Sandbox offers a flexible model that can support student innovation on their schedules.

(*) Mentor-based. Students and/or student teams are matched with an independent mentor and given personalized curricula to ensure they are well supported to carry their project forward.

(*) Real world. Sandbox provides students with the opportunity for real-world experience in moving their ideas to impacts through: funding to discrete milestones based on specific budgets (from $1K to $25K); and presentations for funding and re-investment decisions.

Based in the MIT School of Engineering and in partnership with the MIT Innovation Initiative, Sandbox will be overseen by an MIT governing board including the Chancellor, the Provost, the Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management, the President of the Graduate Student Council, President of the Undergraduate Association, or their designates.