Klaus Timmerhaus (1924-2011) was a professor of chemical engineering at CU Boulder and a charter member of the President’s Teaching Scholars Program (PTSP). After a long career dedicated to education, he left a bequest to support activities that promote public understanding of the value of education in Colorado and elsewhere. The PTSP is looking to fund CU faculty who would be interested in becoming Timmerhaus Ambassadors to undertake projects that incorporate these aims. Because Professor Timmerhaus asked that the bequest be connected to the PTSP, proposals will be considered by the PTSP Council.

Call for Proposals, 2023-2024

Annual funding of projects ranges from $5,000 up to $30,000 each.

To apply, submit a preliminary application of no more than two pages outlining the proposed activities, including a rough budget for costs not customarily covered by CU. Chair’s support and approval is needed if offloads, for example, are expected. Submit proposals to Raphael Sassower, PTSP Council Chair, at rsassowe@uccs.edu by midnight 4/30 and 10/31. Promising proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal, including a detailed budget, by midnight of the following quarterly deadline. Preliminary applications and full proposals will be considered during each of the semi annual meetings of the Council in May and November.

The following considerations will guide the selection of projects:

  • Projects must aim to strengthen the understanding of education by audiences outside the university. Projects internal to CU will not be funded.
  • Projects should avoid any duplication of other related CU efforts and when focusing on specific faculty initiatives, no funding should be allocated to paying faculty or students (except for extraordinary cases).
  • Projects should inform audiences, from K-12 students and teachers to citizen-scientists and potential supporters of CU about CU’s role and mission and have broad impact beyond the university.

The program will consider only projects that can be completed within one year.

Examples of responsive projects:

  • Public events in Colorado in which CU faculty discuss their work and the university’s role with members of the public, such as a lecture or panel in a local library.
  • Outreach to schools in which teachers are given support for participation in a program related to CU opportunities for them and their students, such as coordinating with high-school students to track and report wildlife movements in urban setting or collect data on snowmelt and water levels.
  • Activities aimed at connecting CU to industry initiatives that seek to strengthen education, such as music or theater programs that include set-design or multi-lingual proficiency when interpreting media productions. 

Examples of successful proposals:

Bioscience Educator Support & Training (BEST) Program

This project is being lead by Meredith Tennis, PhD & Adela Cota-Gomez, PhD. The project goal is to build a symbiotic partnership between AMC and local teachers to transform local bioscience education, foster a greater understanding of biomedical science in our community, and support AMC trainees interested in teaching.

View the proposal

A Community Artist in Residence Program at LASP

This project is being led by Dave Brain, associate professor in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at CU Boulder. 

View the proposal. 

Experience Anatomy

This project is being led by Maureen Stabio, associate professor in the Modern Human Anatomy Program in the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology at CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

View the proposal.  

Connection through Wastewater

The project is begin led by Cresten Mansfeldt, assistant professor of environmental engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder. 

View the proposal.

Timmerhaus Expansion Project: High School and University Collaboration

This project is being led by Valerie Otero, professor of science education in the School of Education at CU Boulder. 

View the proposal. 

Firefly Conservation in Colorado: Citizen-Science and Artificial-Intelligence

This project is being led by Orit Peleg, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and BioFrontiers Institute at CU Boulder. 

View the proposal. 

COS Interactive: Reframing and Revaluing the Liberal Arts & Sciences in Colorado Springs

This project is being led by Kimbra Smith, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at UCCS. 

View the proposal.

These are only examples, parts of which were not funded (especially that of funding CU faculty and students). We are interested in supporting any promising ideas faculty may have, especially novel ones.

Submit a proposal:

Submit proposals to Raphael Sassower, PTSP Council Chair, at rsassowe@uccs.edu by midnight 4/30 and 10/31.