The 2026-27 Cohort
The inaugural Innovation Sandbox cohort was selected through a two-stage process that opened in January 2026 and closed in May. This page records the eligibility rules, criteria, and questions used in that cycle.
We expect to open applications for the next cohort in early 2027. The Sandbox is an evolving program, and what follows describes how the first cohort was chosen rather than how the next one will be. [Sign up for updates] to hear when the next cycle opens.
Outcome
More than one hundred institutions applied. Forty-nine were selected, from 23 countries across five continents:
- Startup Institutions: 15
- Early-Stage Innovations within Existing Institutions: 27
- Amplifying Signature Innovations: 7
Eligibility and Scope
To ensure a focused cohort experience in the first year, the Innovation Sandbox was limited to degree-granting colleges and universities and to startup institutions actively pursuing accreditation. Innovation takes many forms, and we value the work of those operating outside these boundaries, but for the inaugural cycle we chose to focus.
The program was not designed for:
- Vendors or organizations primarily selling products or services to institutions.
- Intermediaries that convene higher education institutions but do not themselves educate or credential students.
- Isolated pilots, single courses, or short-term programs that lack clear institutional-level implications.
- Projects without senior leadership support or authority to implement change.
- Work that was primarily exploratory and not connected to institutional strategy.
Institutions applied to a single pathway, the one that best fit their most pressing strategic priority. Applications from institutions in U.S. embargoed countries could not be accepted, and all programming was conducted in English.
Which Pathway Applicants Chose
| Pathway 1: Startup Institutions | Pathway 2: Early-Stage Innovations within Existing Institutions | Pathway 3: Amplifying Signature Innovations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Newly launched, or with concrete plans to launch within two years | Existing universities in the later stages of designing or the early stages of implementing a major initiative | Mature initiative with multi-year proof of impact |
| The work | Building the core model: curriculum, governance, finance | Designing, implementing, and stabilizing structural change | Evaluating how the model might extend, and mapping the path forward |
| Who applied | Founding teams | Presidents, provosts, or deans, with the initiative's leader | Leaders of signature initiatives, with leadership endorsement |
The Two-Stage Process
Stage 1: Expression of Interest
Focus: strategic alignment and fit.
The first stage asked institutions to share their vision and their leadership's commitment, and to explain how the Sandbox aligned with their strategic priorities.
- Format: a pathway-specific set of questions, with responses totaling roughly 1,200 words (2-3 pages).
- Deadline: March 6, 2026.
Stage 2: Invitation-Only Application
Focus: feasibility and readiness.
Finalists were invited to a second stage that explored the practical details of the proposed work. The goal was to assess feasibility and team capacity, and to confirm that a team was positioned to get real value from the year.
- Format: a deeper set of questions, followed by interviews as needed. Additional materials were provided to finalists.
- Deadline: May 15, 2026.
Timeline
- January 26, 2026: Applications open
- March 6, 2026: Stage 1 deadline
- March 31, 2026: Finalists notified, Stage 2 opens
- June 15, 2026: Cohort selection announced
- July 1, 2026: Innovation Sandbox begins
- October 3-5, 2026: Global Summit, Durham, North Carolina
- June 30, 2027: Innovation Sandbox concludes
What We Looked For
Across all three pathways, we looked for work that was institution-shaping rather than a single course or isolated pilot; that was central to institutional strategy; that had explicit backing from senior leadership with the authority and resources to see it through; and that was far enough along to be in concrete planning or implementation rather than exploration.
We also built for range. The cohort was assembled to span geographies, institution types, and stages of development, so that teams would encounter genuinely different conditions rather than variations on their own.
The criteria below applied within each pathway.
Three Pathways
For founders and senior leaders in the later stages of designing, or the early stages of launching, a new college or university.
Criteria
- Launch stage: Already launched and in the first few years of operation, or not yet launched but with viable plans to launch within the next two years.
- Dedicated leadership: A committed leadership team with clear roles, authority, and decision-making responsibility.
- Concrete planning: Past the purely conceptual phase and actively engaged in planning and institutional decision-making.
- Financially viable: Resources secured, or credible access to them, to support near-term design and operational work.
Stage 1 questions
- Launch Status: Is the institution pre-launch or newly launched?
- Launch Year: What is the actual or anticipated launch year?
- Project Team: Names, titles, and brief bios of the 2-3 key people who would take part in monthly sessions and the Global Summit.
- Vision and Context: What are you building, and why? What inspired this journey, and what has informed your thinking along the way?
- Model: Describe the core academic and operating model. How is it innovative or distinct relative to other universities?
- Status: Where are you on the journey? List specific accomplishments (funding, accreditation, faculty hiring) and critical milestones for the next 12-18 months.
- Interest: What kind of support are you seeking? How do you hope to benefit from joining this peer learning network? Can your team commit to being an active participant for the 12-month experience?
- Additional Information (optional): Anything else you would like to share with the selection committee?
For senior academic and institutional leaders at existing colleges and universities, accredited or seeking accreditation, driving major change from inside their own institutions. We looked for work that was high-stakes and structural: substantial new academic entities, major curricular or degree reform, large-scale reorganization of academic units, significant new partnerships, or meaningful changes to faculty structures and roles.
Criteria
- Implementation stage: The initiative was designed and ready to move into active implementation in the 2026-27 academic year, or had launched within the previous one to two years and was being stabilized. An exploratory committee was too early.
- High-stakes and structural: The work was consequential at the institutional level and went well beyond a single course, isolated pilot, or short-term program.
- Innovation mindset: The institution treats the university as a design studio, with its academic and organizational model something to be intentionally designed, tested, and refined over time.
- Leadership-backed: The effort had explicit sponsorship from a president, provost, or equivalent, with authority and resources committed for the year.
Stage 1 questions
- Initiative Name: What is the name of your initiative?
- Senior Sponsor: Who is the senior leader (name and title) championing this initiative?
- Project Team: Who are the 2-3 key people involved (names, titles, and brief bios)?
- Innovation: What is the core problem you are addressing, and what is your solution?
- Status: Where are you on the journey (accomplishments, and critical milestones over the next 12-18 months)?
- Obstacles: What major challenges are you currently facing or anticipating?
- Interest: What kind of support are you seeking? How do you hope to benefit from the peer learning network? Can your team commit to being an active participant for the 12-month experience?
- Additional Information (optional): Anything else you would like to share with the selection committee?
For institutions with a mature, high-impact signature innovation, looking outward. By signature innovation we mean an initiative deeply integrated into the institution's core academic or organizational model, operating successfully for multiple years, with demonstrated impact. The central question in this pathway was not whether the innovation works, but how it should travel.
Criteria
- Mature, well-refined model: A high-impact model, program, or initiative that had operated successfully for multiple years and was integrated into the institution's core academic or organizational model.
- Proven impact: Clear evidence of effectiveness, quantitative, qualitative, or both.
- Dedicated team: A committed internal team prepared to engage in outward-facing strategy and sustained peer exchange.
- Open and curious: Open to multiple paths, including open dissemination, network-based adoption, formal replication, training models, licensing, or new entities.
- Leadership support: Senior leadership backing to consider external partnerships, intellectual property decisions, and strategic investment.
Stage 1 questions
- Name of Innovation: What is the name of your innovation?
- Senior Sponsor: Name and title of the senior leader championing this initiative.
- Signature Innovation: Describe the innovation and its history. What impact has it had on your campus, quantitatively and qualitatively? Have you begun sharing it beyond your campus?
- Ambition: Why do you want this innovation to travel to other institutions? Who do you hope will benefit? What is your hypothesis for the best way to share it (for example, open source, licensing, a new venture)?
- Contribution and Need: What is your institution prepared to commit to support these plans? What challenges do you foresee, and what do you need to overcome them?
- Interest: What kind of support are you seeking? How do you hope to benefit from the peer learning network? Can your team commit to being an active participant for the 12-month experience?
- Additional Information (optional): Anything else you would like to share with the selection committee?
The Next Cycle
We expect to open applications for the next cohort in early 2027. Subscribe to our Substack, follow us on LinkedIn, or write to futureuniversities@duke.edu.