A new grant program at MIT will encourage and support projects at the intersection of science and the humanities. The Ada Lovelace Grant is sponsored jointly by MIT’s Program in Science, Society, and Technology and the MIT Libraries and generously funded by donors. Each year, one recipient will receive up to $10,000 to support a project using technology to make historical materials accessible and engaging to people outside the academy. Given the enormous gender gap in technology in general and sciences in particular, this grant will be reserved for women enrolled in graduate programs at MIT.

“Ada Lovelace was one of the many women pioneers in science, technology and engineering,” says Chris Bourg, director of the MIT Libraries. “This new grant program honors that tradition while building on the promise of technology to ensure more equitable access to knowledge and to historical archives.”

Proposed projects should use technology to increase access to historical materials including archives, manuscripts, government documents and records, oral history recordings, and other primary source material, broadly defined. The end result of the project should be a website or digital exhibition of some kind, and successful applicants will be expected to deliver a final report and give a public talk on their project upon completion.

Applicants should submit a two-page proposal, outlining the creative vision and practical execution process of the project. The proposal should include:

• Description of the project and its timeline
• Clear statement of the digital product and how that product will be shared with the public, including how relevant permissions will be secured
• Budget
• CV

Applications should be sent to adalovelacegrant@mit.edu.

UPDATE: The deadline for the 2016–17 academic year is October 25, 2016.