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CoLAB: Build With Us

Collaborate. Co-create. Contribute.

Program Overview

CoLAB is the Education Team's collaborative partnership program. Through CoLAB, we work alongside students, faculty, staff, and community partners to explore questions, develop initiatives, create learning experiences, and bring new ideas into practice.

In alignment with this year's theme, Imagining Towards... CoLAB welcomes projects at all stages—from concrete deliverables to emerging ideas that require space for reflection, experimentation, and possibility-building.

Primary Pathways

Project Partnerships

For projects with a clear need, audience, opportunity, or intended outcome.

Possible outcomes include workshops, resource hubs, guides and toolkits, public programs, curricula, and learning series.

Futures Lab

For emerging ideas that need structured imagination, inquiry, experimentation, or incubation.

Possible outcomes include concepts, prototypes, speculative proposals, guiding questions, pilots, and creative interventions.

Program Details

What We Offer

  • Collaborative Design and Development: Our team will partner with you to shape and launch your initiative, program, or resource.
  • Funding Support: Access to seed funding or full support depending on scope and alignment.
  • People Power: Dedicated hours from our facilitators, educational designers, and project managers.
  • Thought Partnership: Strategic insight from experienced educators and collaborators to make your idea sustainable and impactful.

Who Should Apply?

  • Faculty interested in creating new tools, programs, or cross-campus learning initiatives.
  • Staff seeking to build workshops, resource hubs, or pilot programs for their department or team.
  • Students hoping to develop tools or experiences that connect with the broader campus community.
  • University Offices (Departments/Units) looking to bring creative ideas to life with support from a skilled education team.

What We’re Looking For

  • We are especially interested in proposals that:

    • Respond to emerging needs or opportunities on campus.
    • Bridge roles, disciplines, or departments.
    • Offer new approaches to learning, working, or building connection.
    • Can be adapted, scaled, or shared across the university.
    • Contribute to a more engaged and responsive campus environment.

Examples to Spark Ideas

  • Partnering with an office to develop a Digital Wellness Toolkit for navigating campus tech tools more mindfully.
  • Collaborating with students and faculty to build a Pop-Up Exhibition on Local and Global Migration Stories.
  • Creating a Workshop Series on Navigating Uncertainty and Change, tailored for department staff or advisors.
  • Co-creating a Conversation Guide and Resource Collection for teams going through internal transitions.
  • Designing a Cross-Unit Training Module to support onboarding and shared team culture

Apply for CoLAB

Applications for CoLAB are open to all Northwestern faculty, staff, and student. Submit your application today!

Apply