McCourt School of Public Policy
McCourt School of Public Policy

Grants Program

2026-2027 Request for Proposals

The Tech & Public Policy program in the McCourt School of Public Policy supports Georgetown University research that explores how technology might better protect values such as democracy, freedom and autonomy. In partnership with Project Liberty Institute , we are pleased to announce the 2026-2027 Tech & Public Policy Grant Program. The program supports technologists, ethicists, legal scholars and social scientists working in collaboration to explore novel uses and misuses of new digital technologies, their effects on individuals and society and new governance models to replace outdated regulatory frameworks. 

The Tech & Public Policy program will draw upon the depth and breadth of the University’s teaching, learning and scholarship in the areas of technology, public policy, ethics and law and its rich history of interdisciplinary work to invest in innovative, impact-oriented research.  

Areas of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

Possible areas of exploration include:

  • Identifying, characterizing, understanding, limiting and/or mitigating mis and disinformation, political polarization, toxicity and viral content.
  • Exploring the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce the potential harm of some social media products including mitigating social media addiction and potential negative effects on overall happiness and well-being.
  • Evaluating the cohesion and resilience of different platform models, including:
    • Interest-Based
      • Social networks forged around specific interests, communities, or professional networks that foster deeper, context-specific interactions.
    • Ephemeral
      • Platforms centered around events, projects, or support groups, allowing users to engage deeply without long-term data storage or attachment.
    • Profit-Sharing or Micro-Payments
      • Platforms that involve the redistribution of revenue generated from ads and other content monetization models back to users.
      • Micro-payments go from users to news organizations when people read their stories on the platform to support journalists and local news.
    • Micro-Work
      • Pilot networks where users can earn income through meaningful tasks, such as fact-checking, content moderation, or crowd-sourced projects.

Possible areas of exploration include:

  • Understanding the mechanisms for, and efficacy of, community input.
  • Evaluating collective vs. hierarchical rule-setting and decision-making. 
  • Assessing the current and future role of digital identity in enabling or disabling participatory governance.
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of prosocial incentives, including the use of reputation scores or trust networks, to encourage constructive interactions by letting users earn trust badges for positive contributions and for discouraging trolling and abuse.

Possible areas of exploration include:

  • Public Sphere:
    • Public Information Systems
      • AI-generated information re: elections; regulating AI via new methods such as sandboxes and other AI-information and civic structures.
    • Participatory Governance
      • Policies and technologies for AI-driven participatory governance through AI-facilitated input and consensus-building
    • Open-Source, Public AI
      • AI as an open-source, public utility with basic AI resources — such as language processing or automation tools — available to all.
    • Public Data Trusts
      • Ethical and privacy-protective shared datasets for public benefit. 
    • Towards AI Accountability
      • Solutions for auditing, explainability and transparency in public systems.
  • AI to Human Communication:
    • New governance frameworks and ethical considerations for companion AIs.
    • New and emerging uses in human to AI communication.

Possible areas of exploration include:

  • Creating robust, high-quality datasets for research purposes through techno-policy means, e.g.:
    • Data donation pipelines that ensure individuals providing their personal data for social benefit can do so in an easy, secure and streamlined way.
    • Code bases for collecting data sets using different social media and newspaper APIs.
  • Researching, writing policy for, or piloting the creation of regulatory and/or research sandboxes that mimic online ecosystems or user interfaces to enable innovative problem-solving such as modeling AI risk, or to measure and assess the efficacy and impact of various behavioral incentives and interventions.

Possible areas of exploration include:

  • Green Tech:
    • Incentivizing green tech through policy (e.g. tax structures for the carbon footprint of digital services like streaming or high-energy AI applications) or other frameworks for mitigating the environmental costs of technology.
    • Data Centers: Governance frameworks, potential (economic, social, behavior) impacts on different communities
  • Outer Space:
    • New frameworks for government and private actors towards defining the “rules of the road” around issues such as space security, flight safety and space manufacturing, e.g. whether a comprehensive licensing framework for investment, development and intellectual property protection would benefit the development of semiconductor technologies.

Applying for a Grant

The Tech & Public Policy 2026-2027 Grant Program will support work that meet the following criteria:

50% Research Team’s Academic Expertise, Ability to Contribute to Academic Literature, Academic Merit:
The research team has experience and expertise in technology and public policy and the proposal demonstrates understanding of a range of policy, ethical, technological and/or legal issues raised by the problem being studied and the solutions being proposed. PIan also demonstrates a track record of delivering funded work on time and on budget and present a defensible budget, staffing profiles and timeline for completing the work.

Plan offers clear potential for the project to contribute to the academic literature and/or policy debate (we seek a mix of projects). The project proposes an innovative approach to studying or researching a defined problem, can be applied in existing policy or technology or proposes other approaches toward policy or technology impact and applicability and demonstrates that it meets established criteria for scientific, scholarly and policy merit, such as:

  • Outlines a robust data collection and analysis plan, including: reference to underlying theory, previous research literature findings, relevant legislative history and the research methods that will be used to establish findings and reach conclusions.
  • Demonstrates a clear understanding of relevant ethical, technological and/or legal issues raised by the problem being studied and the solutions being proposed.
  • Approach is expected to result in research findings that are evidence-based, unbiased and reliable.


25% Connection to Tech & Public Policy and Project Liberty Institute Programming and Values:
The research being proposed is consistent with Tech & Public Policy’s mission and programming , such as projects undertaken by past Tech & Public Policy’s grantees . The research being proposed is consistent with Project Liberty Institute’s mission to enhance ethical governance by supporting timely, actionable research on digital technology and responsible innovation.

25% Impact Orientation, Collaboration and Innovation:
The plan is action and impact-oriented, with metrics defined to measure this impact. The plan describes strategies for translating research findings into policy impact and for communicating research findings beyond academic circles. For example, the plan might describe partnerships with NGOs, governmental entities, the Tech & Public Policy program and other collaborations inside and outside of Georgetown to broaden outreach and education efforts. Such networks may include Project Liberty Institute partners such as Stanford University and the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University, as well as non-Project Liberty Institute affiliates at other universities. 

Interested Georgetown faculty and research staff should submit a proposal here . Interested non-governmental entities, principle-driven organizations and researchers who would like to explore a collaboration with GU researchers should contact those researchers directly. If you have questions, please contact Maria Sanchez at: ms5271@georgetown.edu  

The application outlines requirements for the following materials:

A short description of how you believe the project will impact policy, including metrics that will be used to measure that impact, links to organizations (e.g. academic institutions, civil society, government, NGOs) with whom researchers plan to engage and/or collaborate to drive impact, and anticipated activities (e.g. briefings for Hill offices, outreach campaign, building technical specifications). 

Cover page with project summary, with basic information on the primary investigator, additional researchers, funding request amount and proposed start and end dates.
    a. Please indicate on the cover page if you are applying for an additional year of a TPP-funded project. Use the cover to include the updated information (P.I., researchers, funding request, proposed start and end dates, and other relevant information). Please include the previous cover page under the new cover page. 
    b. If your new funding request does not substantially differ from your previous proposal, it’s not necessary to submit #2, #3, and #4 (below). However, please be sure that all your new work is adequately covered by your previous proposal.

Project narrative of no more than four pages that includes:

a. Project goals and objectives

b. Research methods

c. Relevance for public policy and/or technology development

d. Plan for impact, including partnerships/collaborations, dissemination of findings to key stakeholders, and engagement with stakeholders before, during and after research publication.

e. Any new or existing external funding sources which you intend to leverage.

f. Existing track record of completing work of this kind.

Project budget outlining categories of spending (e.g., personnel, student assistance, data acquisition/collection, equipment, convenings, travel, etc.) over the proposed funding period.

Awards of funding will be determined by a committee, which includes Georgetown faculty, representatives from partner universities and representatives of Project Liberty’s Institute.

12/11 Call for proposals

1/10 Final proposals due

2/21 Announcement of grantees 

Why is the application for 2026-2027, and when will I receive funding for this grant cycle?
The application is for funding distributed from the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Although grantees will begin receiving funds on July 1, 2025, this funding falls within the 2026-2027 fiscal year of TPP’s budget cycle.


Who can apply for funding?
Georgetown University (GU)  faculty and research staff.
Non-GU researchers (researchers from NGOs, other academic institutions, private industry, etc) interested in collaboration must work with a GU faculty member or researcher in order to be eligible for a TPP grant. Non-GU researchers should contact eligible GU researchers directly. 


Is international collaboration allowed?
Yes, TPP has supported international collaborations in the past. Please ensure that the collaborating university or entity is comfortable with the funding relationship from Georgetown.


Can projects address topics beyond the listed areas of interest?
Yes. While specific focus areas are highlighted, proposals addressing other relevant topics in the intersection of technology and public policy may be considered. 


How are funding decisions made?
Proposals are evaluated by a review committee based on:
Research Team’s Academic Expertise, Ability to Contribute to Academic Literature, Academic Merit (50%)
Connection to Tech & Public Policy and Project Liberty Institute Programming and Values (25%)
Impact Orientation, Collaboration and Innovation (25%)

What is the range of funding?

Funding levels are dependent on projects. Past projects have been funded anywhere from 30-300k. See below to view funding amounts for most projects:

  • Building Consensus in the Digital Landscape: The “Viewz” Platform Initiative: $199,026.00
  • Biomanipulation: The Looming Threat Year 2: $220,000.00
  • Can Civic Tech Reduce Administrative Burdens and Increase Trust? An Evaluation of Two Public Interest Technology Solutions: $320,000.00
  • Redesigning the Governance Stack: New Institutional Approaches to Information Economy Harms: $182,700.00
  • Exploring the “Collateral Damage” Argument in Internet Censorship Resistance: $116,346.23
  • Generative AI, Humanness, and Misinformation in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election: $440,000.00
  • USDS Founding, Primary Source Archive: $30,000.00


Are multi-year projects supported?
TPP does support multi-year projects; however, the program asks grantees to apply for each additional year of funding for ongoing research.

About the Tech & Public Policy program

The Tech & Public Policy program at the McCourt School of Public Policy works to shape technology’s promise for a better world. Tech & Public Policy incubates and catalyzes cross-disciplinary research, supports emerging leaders, and connects experts and policymakers to address the challenges and opportunities posed by our ever-evolving digital society.

The McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University is a diverse community of problem-solvers, committed to moving bold ideas to action. We are global citizens, conducting policy-relevant research and building bridges between our work and the communities we serve.

About Project Liberty Institute

Project Liberty Institute (PLI) aims to enhance ethical governance by supporting timely, actionable research on digital technology and responsible innovation. It serves as an international meeting ground for technologists, policymakers, academia, investors, civil society, entrepreneurs and governance experts. Together, these interdisciplinary partners and leaders from the public and private sector create frameworks for how we build, invest in, deploy and regulate new technologies for the common good.