Teaching & Learning Grants

University of Toronto Mississauga Opportunities

These grants are funded and administered by the Office of the Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean (OVPAD) at UTM. Questions about potential proposals can be directed to UTM's Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning at assocdeanteachlearn.utm@utoronto.ca

The PRF provides up to $10000 in funding. In contrast to many of the pedagogical project opportunities below that require impact within a U of T classroom, the PRF is a research grant that prioritizes a clear research outcome. Click here for more information.

This grant is intended to fund projects related to enhancing teaching and learning in an existing course, such as implementing and assessing the effectiveness of a pedagogical innovation. Proposals for the UTM Teaching Development and Innovation Grant may be funded up to a maximum of $5000. (Please note that projects related to experiential learning initiatives might be applicable for the Experiential Learning Development Grant at the Experiential Education Unit). 

Deadline

The Deadline for TDI is Friday, May 16, 2025. 

Eligibility

OVPAD encourages all instructors at UTM with an interest in teaching and learning to apply. This includes faculty members with continuing appointments in the teaching or tenure stream, librarians, sessional instructors II and III (teaching in the current or next academic session at the time of application), and staff. Collaborative proposals from multiple departments or academic support units on campus are encouraged. 

Application 

Applications must clearly define how the proposed project will enhance the quality of teaching and learning at UTM and include strategies for measuring and assessing the project’s impact. Proposals must include the following sections: (i) Abstract; (ii) Project Goals: (iii) Timeline; (iv) Assessment; (v) Dissemination; (vi) Budget; (vii) Budget Justification; (viii) Cover Sheet including Signature of Support from the relevant Department Chair or Director. The application package should be a maximum of four pages long, excluding the cover sheet.  

Selection Criteria

Proposals are reviewed by the UTM Teaching Development and Innovation Grant Committee according to the following criteria: (a) Innovation, (b) Strategies for Assessment, and (c) Inclusion and Accessibility, and (d) Impact on UTM, including transferability and sustainability.  

Submission

Email the submission to anna.reale@utoronto.ca, and use the Teaching and Learning Grant Cover Sheet. Please note that all submissions must be signed by the relevant departmental chair or director.

This grant is intended to support a faculty member’s presentation at a teaching-themed conference (e.g., Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education) or teaching symposium within a discipline-based conference. The fund will also support a presentation at a discipline-based conference when the talk is directly connected to the faculty member’s teaching. 

The TDT provides a maximum of $2000 for a UTM instructor to present at a pedagogical conference or in the pedagogical track at a disciplinary conference. This can be applied to both in-person as well as remote conferences.  

Deadline

The deadline for the TDT is Friday, May 16, 2025. 

Eligibility

OVPAD encourages all instructors teaching at UTM to apply. Sessional Lecturer II and Sessional Lecturer III can apply for funds to present at teaching-themed conferences or symposia, provided that they are teaching at UTM in the current or next academic session at the time of application. The fund will reimburse up to a maximum of $2000 per calendar year. Applicants that have been previously successful for this grant will have lower priority for funding than new applicants.

Application

Applications must include an abstract of the work to be presented, a description of the conference/symposium, a brief budget and a discussion of how the applicant’s attendance at the conference/symposium will enhance the quality of teaching and learning at UTM. Applications should be a maximum of two (2) pages long. The cover sheet does not need to be included with this grant.  

Submission

Email the completed submission to anna.reale@utoronto.ca

The TLCC provides a maximum of $1500 towards the organization of teaching & learning focused conferences or colloquia at UTM.

Deadline

The deadline for the TLCC is Friday, May 16, 2025.

Eligibility

 Eligible conferences and colloquia must take place at UTM, and must have an external component in terms of attendees consisting of both UTM-based instructors and instructors from other institutions. We encourage all instructors teaching at UTM to apply. Sessional Lecturer II and Sessional Lecturer III can apply for funds provided that they are teaching at UTM in the current or next academic session at the time of application. 

Application

Applications must include (1) a description of the conference/colloquia including the number of attendees; (2) a description of how the conference/colloquia would enhance teaching and learning at UTM; and (3) a description of how the conference/colloquia would showcase UTM’s work on teaching & learning to the broader community. Also, applications must include a budget and the cover sheet signed by the appropriate chair. Applications should be a maximum of two (2) pages long, excluding the cover sheet. 

Submission

Email the completed submission to anna.reale@utoronto.ca

UTM is committed to offering innovative, high-impact, and real-world opportunities to all its students through experience-driven programs. Experiential learning (EL) is “the specific process by which a student acquires knowledge or meets learning goals through experience.” Effective EL addresses four learning modes: “hands-on experience,” “reflection,” the “integration of the experience with previous learning,” and an “opportunity to test new ideas.” Examples include academic internships, community-partnered field experiences, organization-partnered experiences, simulated work experiences, and more. 

OVPAD offers the Experiential Learning Development Grant to help faculty offset the range of costs associated with the development and delivery of experiential learning opportunities. Funding can be used towards a variety of purposes, for instance hiring research assistants to support course planning; purchasing equipment, consumables, or software licenses; covering group transportation or registration costs for field experiences; and other expenses. 

Faculty are encouraged to submit project proposals that focus on experiential learning to the Experiential Education Unit. Please visit the Experiential Learning Development Grant webpage for more information. 

Deadline

The deadlines for the ELDG is Friday, November 8, 2024 and Friday, May 16, 2025. Note that OVPAD is offering a one-time off-cycle deadline in November this year as EEU transitions from offering the award twice a year to just once a year.

University of Toronto Opportunities

These grants are funded and administered by the Office of the Vice President & Provost. Questions about potential proposals can be directed to the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education at vp.iue@utoronto.ca as well as to UTM's Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, or UTM's Vice-Dean, Undergraduate. 

Please note that applications involving UTM faculty or staff as co-investigators must go through the internal UTM vetting process.  

The Learning Education Advancement Fund (LEAF) program aims to support the President’s Three Priorities

  • Leverage our urban location(s) more fully, for the mutual benefit of University and City; 
  • Strengthen and deepen key international partnerships by means of a well-defined strategic focus; 
  • Reimagine and reinvent undergraduate education. 

The fund supports projects that improve undergraduate education at the University of Toronto. LEAF grants have two funding streams: 

Seed Grants ($5,000 to $10,000 per year up to three years)

Seed Grants are intended to encourage experimentation at the local level, either within a course or a set of courses, as a means of fostering small-scale enhancements or pilots with the potential for future scalability. These projects should have the potential for either scalability within their home unit or transferability into other undergraduate learning contexts. 

Seed Grants are accepted twice a year:

  • Fall Expressions of Interest are accepted between June and September. A full application is due in early November. 
  • Winter Expressions of Interest are due between January and February. A full application is due in mid-April. 

Impact Grants ($10,000 to $100,000 per year for up to three years) 

Impact Grants are designed to support large-scale projects with the potential to significantly enhance core elements of undergraduate education within or across academic units and divisions at the uUniversity. This can range from scaling high-impact teaching practices that have already experienced successful experimentation in their local contexts, to the development of new pedagogical or curricular approaches and practices. 

Impact Grants are accepted once a year. 

  • Expressions of Interest must be completed between June and September. 
  • Full applications are due in early November. 

Deadlines 

2024 Fall Seed and Impact Grants 

  • Expression of Interest deadline: September 10, 2024 
  • Full proposal deadline: November 12, 2024

2025 Winter Seed Grants 

  • Expression of Interest deadline: February 27, 2024
  • Full proposal deadline: April 10, 2024

Eligibility

Visit the Learning and Education Advancement Fund (LEAF) webpage for more information on eligibility, application process, and the adjudication and evaluation of proposals.

Consultations

Consultations about projects are encouraged and may be particularly useful prior to submitting an expression of interest. Email a draft expression of interest submission to Anna Reale at anna.reale@utoronto.ca to set up a consultation with the Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning. 

Submission

Email the full proposal submission to anna.reale@utoronto.ca, and use the Teaching and Learning Grant Cover Sheet (.doc). Please note that all submissions must be signed by the departmental chair or relevant director. If the proposal receives support from OVPAD, a supporting letter will be provided to be included in the application package that is submitted to the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education.

The ITIF fund is no longer available. Instructors who are interested in funding opportunity related to technology for teaching are encouraged to explore the LEAF program instead.

The objective of the International Student Experience Fund (ISEF) program is to foster a learning environment on the University of Toronto's campuses that aligns with the U of T’s global mission and profile. The fund is intended to support academic and non-academic initiatives that: enhance the experience of international students; foster intercultural and international-to-domestic student, staff and faculty engagement; and internationalize the U of T student experience. 

The fund supports two streams of activities:

Seed: $5,000-$15,000 per year, maximum three years
Impact: $15,000-$60,000 per year, maximum two years

This two-tiered system is intended to provide opportunities for projects that explore, implement and scale up promising practices at different stages of their development and implementation, and create a pathway for projects from their initial inception to their full potential. Proposals will be accepted from U of T faculty and staff with continuing appointments. The primary beneficiary of the proposal must be undergraduate and/or graduate students. The fund is intended to support both curricular (academic) and co-curricular (non-academic) initiatives. It is recommended that curricular proposals include a co-curricular collaborator. 

Deadlines 

2023-24 ISEF Seed Grants 

  • Accepted on a rolling basis.  

2023-24 ISEF Impact Grants 

  • Letter of Intent Deadline: Friday, October 15 2024
  • Full Proposal Deadline: Monday, January 22, 2025

Eligibility

Visit the International Student Experience Fund (ISEF) webpage for more information.

Consultations

Consultations about projects are encouraged and may be particularly useful prior to submitting a letter of intent. Email a letter of intent submission to anna.reale@utoronto.ca to set up a consultation with the Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning. 

Submission

Email the proposal submission to anna.reale@utoronto.ca, and use the Teaching and Learning Grant Cover Sheet. Please note that all submissions must be signed by the departmental chair or relevant director. If the proposal receives support from OVPAD, then a supporting letter will be provided to be included in the application package. 

The Graduate Education Innovation Fund (GEIF) aims to foster excellence in graduation education by enriching the experience of graduate students in both research and professional degree programs. Proposals should support at least one of themes listed in the call: Experiential Learning; Interdisciplinary Learning; Technological Innovation; Indigenous Ways of Knowing; Diverse Cultural Perspectives; Decolonization, Anti-oppression, and Anti-racism; Professional Development; and Public Scholarship.

The GEIF provides up to $5000 on an annual basis. While the projects to be funded may be implemented at a local level, there should be a clear path to scale the project should evaluation demonstrate success. Faculty with continuing appointments are invited to apply; typically, applicants hold a graduate appointment in SGS.

Deadlines

2024-25 GEIF Grants

  • UTM Letter of Support deadline: TBA 
  • Proposal Deadline: November 6, 2024

Eligibility

Visit the Graduate Education Innovation Fund (GEIF) website for more information on eligibility.

Consultations

Consultations about projects are encouraged. Email vdgraduate.utm@utoronto.ca to set up a consultation with the Vice-Dean, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs

Submission

Email the proposal submission to anna.reale@utoronto.ca, and use the Teaching and Learning Grant Cover Sheet. Please note that all submissions must be signed by the departmental chair or relevant director. If the proposal receives support from the OVPAD, a supporting letter will be provided to be included in the application package.