Libraries Announces Spring 2026 Application Round for Intelligence++ Ventures Grants
Syracuse University Libraries is now accepting applications for the Spring 2026 round of the Intelligence++ Ventures initiative, a funding program designed to help students develop and commercialize innovations that support people with intellectual disabilities.
The initiative was launched thanks to a generous donation from Gianfranco Zaccai ’70 H’09 and the Zaccai Foundation for Augmented Intelligence (Intelligence++™).
Intelligence++ Ventures builds on the success of the Intelligence++ program that began in Fall 2020 in Syracuse University Libraries in partnership with the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education (InclusiveU) and the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). The program includes an inclusive design research course, DES 400/600, which encourages students from across campus to imagine and create products, devices, and services for individuals with disabilities. Registration is open for the fall semester for this course, and it is recommended by not required for an application for the grant program.
Intelligence++ Ventures grants are designed to extend inclusive design research work by providing funding support to help students move promising ideas toward real-world impact. Projects eligible for funding should focus on technological, educational, organizational, or other creative innovations that empower individuals with intellectual disabilities, their families, and their communities.
Student applicants must identify a specific need related to the discovery, testing, development or launch of a product, service, technology, or creative work designed to support individuals with intellectual disabilities. Applications may emerge from coursework, research labs, independent studies, or other innovation programs.
Applications should be submitted via a PDF that includes:
- Cover letter outlining the proposal, funding request, use of funds, timeline and milestones that will be achieved through the grant award
- Executive summary that outlines:
- Problem being solved/opportunity being addressed
- Overview of the solution, features, functionality and how it works
- Customer discovery that supports assumptions around the solution
- Target market, with a specific focus on how this will benefit people or families of people with intellectual disabilities
- Traction have you achieved to date
- Your team and advisors
- Partners needed to move this forward
- Scope of the project you are proposing (describe the prototype you will be building and how you will evaluate it, with whom, over what timeframe, and how will you assess results)
- Next steps if the prototype and testing is successful
- Where you need help
Submit all applications as a single PDF via e-mail to OrangeInnovation@syr.edu
Proposals will be reviewed against these criteria:
- Innovative research or entrepreneurial project that is beyond the idea stage which is moving toward a commercial product (hardware or software), service or technology that holds the potential to make a meaningful impact in the world.
- Proposal viability and feasibility, sound research and development, and quality of the written proposal supported by a team that is actively engaged with the campus innovation ecosystem and is availing itself of technical assistance and mentoring.
- A sound commercialization and product development roadmap that will move the research forward, along with expected outcomes such as development of a prototype for testing, first sales, attracting further investment for commercialization, or moving an idea to market through production or licensing agreements. Supported by a reasonable and well-researched budget that demonstrates that the award will have an impact on overall traction and future roadmap.
“The Intelligence++ Ventures initiative is intended to assist student research and entrepreneurial initiatives emerging from the Intelligence++ program in collaboration with other campus innovation partners,” said David Seaman, Dean of Syracuse University Libraries and University Librarian. “The program helps move student research in this important area to proof of concept and commercialization.”
The program is administered through Syracuse University Libraries in collaboration with the VPA School of Design, InclusiveU, and collaborators that include Whitman School of Management, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the University’s broader research and commercialization ecosystem.
“This competitive program is a valuable tool for student innovators to help commercialize products, services and technologies that will help people with intellectual disabilities,” said Zaccai. “It is intended to accelerate the transfer of inclusive and entrepreneurial design research to the marketplace. It will help students create innovations that can be used by early customers, to gather real-world feedback and to help accelerate solutions for people who will benefit from their ingenuity. Our goal is to attract students from a wide range of disciplines who are working in multidisciplinary teams.”
Students can submit proposals or request additional information by contacting OrangeInnovation@syr.edu.