Crowdsourcing Hopkins Innovation
The Idea Lab is where we tap the collective wisdom of the Johns Hopkins community to shape the trajectory of the university.
The Idea Lab will feature new challenges over time, which may include seed funding, contests, calls for ideas, crowdfunding requests and more. Questions? Contact us at [email protected]
In 2010, the Applied Physics Laboratory launched the first cycle of the APL Ignition Grants, a community-driven activity that employs discussion, debate and voting to direct seed funding grants. The goal is to promote the exploration of innovative ideas outside of traditional research and development processes and advance collaboration and knowledge sharing across the Laboratory.
As of 2014, after ten cycles of the program, over 3,800 of the 5,400 staff members have participated, submitting over 750 ideas and casting over 55,000 votes, and 67 ideas had won Ignition Grants funding. A significant increase in the number of invention disclosures at the Laboratory in recent years has been tied to the Ignition Grants initiative.