2026-2027 Call for Course Proposals

The LCAU is pleased to announce that a new round of funding is available to MIT faculty for the 2027 academic year. The Center is soliciting proposals for an Urbanism Studio (must be an urban design studio open to both ARCH and DUSP students).

We will host a virtual info session on Thursday, February 19th from 10:30-11:00AM. Please email lcau@mit.edu for a calendar invitation and link to the info session.

The deadline for proposals is Monday, March 9th by 11:59 PM. Any questions? Please be in touch with us at lcau@mit.edu.

For Academic Year 2027, the LCAU will be able to provide up to $40,000 in funding to support a studio on the design of urban environments. The studio can take place in Fall 2026 or Spring 2027, and its focus should align with the goals of the LCAU and our mission to advance research in urbanism through collaborative, interdisciplinary projects.

The studio must accept students from both DUSP and ARCH.

If competing requests are made,* there will be a preference for courses that:

• Are led by LCAU Affiliated Faculty**
• Engage with the LCAU's upcoming research theme, "Energy Intersections," which is intended to explore energy transition at an urban scale.
• Demonstrate a willingness to collaborate with peers in adjoining fields or departments.

*Funds may be distributed to more than one application should they be of interest and fall within the funding available.

**For more information on becoming affiliated with the LCAU, please reach out to Jennifer Balasus (jbalasus@mit.edu).

Funding recipients will be required to provide a report or publication upon completion of the studio.

Applications should state that they are applying for Urbanism Studio funding in the subject line, include the following, and not exceed three pages:

• Proposal title and introduction: Provide a brief description of the class, including its goals and an outline of the semester.
• Class description: Proposals should address the following questions with brief answers:
  • What is the focus of the studio?
  • How will the course use skills from both Architecture and Urban Planning?
  • What is the broader context of the challenge you seek to investigate?
  • What is the potential for impact?
  • How does the work address one of the LCAU research themes (Infrastructure, Suburbs, Housing, Equitable Resilience, Digital Urbanism, and our current theme, Energy Intersections)?
• Team and collaborators: List names and titles of co-instructors and teaching team.
• Resources and budget: Describe the approximate resources required for the class. Please also include a note on other sources of funding for your class that you either have in place or are planning on applying for. Your budget should include funds to support a publication of materials produced during the class.

The deadline for submission is Monday, March 9th, 2026. Please send applications to Berit Lavender at beritl@mit.edu.