Prototyping can be expensive, but funding is available!
The UMN Toaster Innovation Hub Resource Guide has even more about mentoring opportunities, courses, and student groups.
- Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROP)
Open to all UMN students. UROP provides funding for students to complete 120 hours of research under the mentorship of a faculty member.
- Acara Impact Challenge
Open to UMN students who have taken an Acara course. The Acara Challenge is an annual competition in which UMN students can win up to $5500 to develop solutions to social and environmental challenges
- BizPitch Contest
Open to all UMN students. A contest to win $1,000 to develop your new venture or implement your idea to support the local community.
- IonE Mini Grants
Institute on the Environment Mini Grants are designed to support and spark collaborative projects addressing environmental and sustainability issues. UMN students who wish to lead a project must have a faculty or staff collaborator who will serve as PI and who will provide a letter of support for the application. These grants of up to $3,000 may be used for a range of research, leadership, education, storytelling, and outreach activities.
- MN Cup
Open to all Minnesota residents. MN Cup is a community-led, public-private partnership supporting Minnesota’s entrepreneurs. It's an annual competition that reaches emerging entrepreneurs, including university students, from across the state and connects them with education, mentorship and support to launch and accelerate the development of their new ventures.
- Anderson Labs Taylor Student Project Fund
CSE Only. Up to $500/project for individual and group non-academic projects. Projects must not be affiliated with a student organization, research lab, or academic course.
- ECE Envision Fund
CSE Only. Projects must contain ECE related content. Up to $500/project for teams of at least 2 students
- Student Groups
Many student orgs have funding for projects. Some (copter club, rocket team, UMN robotics, solar vehicle, etc.) are focused on specific challenges. Others (TeslaWorks, InnovativeEngineers, DesignU) are more open ended.