Tolerate design about to receive investment from university (6)
I believe the answer is:
endure
'tolerate' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'design about to receive investment from university' is the wordplay.
'design' becomes 'end' (both can mean a purpose or goal).
'about' becomes 're' (common abbreviation for 'with reference to').
'to receive investment from' is an insertion indicator.
'university' becomes 'u' (abbreviation for university).
'end'+'re'='endre'
'endre' placed around 'u' is 'ENDURE'.
(Other definitions for endure that I've seen before include "Bear, stick it out" , "Put up with, say hardship" , "Bear something patiently" , "Last or suffer patiently" , "Put up with - last" .)