Special Call: Thrive GenAI Course Development Grants
2025-2026 GenAI grant funding has been suspended.
Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, DALL-E, and others are increasingly used by students in ways both beneficial and detrimental to their education. The Generative AI in Teaching and Learning Task Force report noted that "ubiquitous access to generative AI has the potential to allow students to learn far more than they did last year, but also means that they could learn far less."
To help foster the thoughtful exploration of generative AI for teaching and learning purposes, the Office of the Provost is offering Thrive course development grants to UVA and UVA Wise faculty interested in incorporating AI instruction into a new or existing undergraduate or graduate course they will offer in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026. Projects might center on developing, for example:
- assignments that require or encourage students to use AI for specific purposes—brainstorming ideas, assessing project outlines, providing feedback on drafts, etc.—and to critically assess its contributions.
- lessons on designing prompts, creating custom chatbots, and other instruction aimed at enhancing student proficiency with these tools.
- class content dedicated to how AI operates and its potential uses, benefits, limitations, and dangers.
- in-class activities designed to explore AI’s capabilities and limitations in relation to specific kinds of content or tasks.
Successful proposals will describe projects that give students extensive opportunities to learn about generative AI, allow them to use it to complete course assignments, and require them to critically assess its outputs.
Note: Proposals for existing courses in which generative AI is already a key topic or tool will not be eligible unless the proposal includes plans to incorporate content about generative AI or uses of generative AI technology that go significantly beyond what the course would normally include.
Commitment
In submitting a proposal, faculty agree that if their proposal is selected, they will:
- teach the proposed course in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026,
- submit all revised course materials (e.g., syllabus, assignments, learning activities) prior to the start of the semester in which the proposed course is taught, and
- submit a brief (2- or 3-page) reflection on the course within 3 weeks of the end of the semester that
- describes in detail how AI was incorporated into the course;
- includes data about the student experience, preferably through a student survey;
- includes an assessment of what worked well, what could be improved, and how well the incorporation of AI contributed to meeting the course’s learning objectives; and
- explains how their own experience in the course will shape their decisions about whether and how to incorporate AI into future courses.
All project personnel are encouraged to explore Teaching in a World with Generative AI, a course built by UVA faculty for UVA faculty. For guidance on incorporating AI into your courses, see Module 3. (If you have difficulty accessing the course, email gen-AI-modules@virginia.edu.)
Compensation
Instructors whose proposals are selected will receive one-time course development funds of $2,000. They may choose to receive these funds as either a one-time, taxable bonus or research funds.
Funds will be disbursed in two batches depending on when revised course materials are submitted to program administrators. For instructors who submit course materials by 8/8/25, disbursements will be processed in late August; for those who submit by 1/9/26, disbursements will be processed in late January. All disbursements are subject to University, state, and federal guidelines, policies and procedures. Additional details will be provided to grant recipients.
Eligibility
All salaried UVA and UVA Wise faculty scheduled to teach in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026 may apply. Graduate students, postdocs, and wage faculty members are not eligible for this opportunity.
Proposal
Please note that grant funding has been suspended.
To propose a course development project, download and complete the proposal template. The template prompts you for the following information:
- Applicant details
- Name, title, home department, and UVA email address of the Project PI
- Name and email address of the Project PI’s departmental financial administrator
- Course details
- Course mnemonic and number (e.g., INST 3150)
- Course name
- Semester when course will be taught
- Anticipated course enrollment
- Number of support personnel (e.g., TAs, learning assistants, graders)
- Whether you have previously taught the course
- A brief description of the proposed incorporation of generative AI and how it may support or advance the course’s learning objectives. Because these grants are intended to allow time to develop a detailed plan for incorporating AI, these descriptions can remain at a high level.
- A brief assessment plan outlining how you will gather data on the student experience and assess the incorporation of AI as required for the reflection document (see above).
We hope to receive proposals from a wide range of disciplines across Grounds. In evaluating the proposals, we will consider the pedagogical promise and potential impact of the incorporation of AI proposed.
Proposals must be submitted to thrive@virginia.edu by Sunday, March 30. Faculty will be notified of whether their course has been selected for this opportunity by Friday, April 18. Please direct any questions thrive@virginia.edu.
Learn more about our regular call for proposals around pedagogical innovation typically announced in early July.