CWP Social Impact Awards: Frequently Asked Questions for 2025

Yes, full-time faculty and research scientists from all Columbia University schools are invited to apply.

The second required Columbia University project lead needs to be a full-time faculty, researcher or officer of administration at Columbia University. 

At least one proposal lead must be eligible to serve as a Principal Investigator per Columbia University guidelines. An Associate Research Scientist will not qualify as the sole principal investigator without the approval of the appropriate Chair and Dean (or equivalent officers), though they may apply to be the second project lead. 

• How to Request a PI Waiver

Applicants should submit a PI waiver request following Columbia Global guidelines by the time of the Concept Note or Expression of Interest submission:

• How to Request a PI Waiver

If your proposal includes project leadership from the same department but different divisions or centers, we encourage you to clearly articulate the interdisciplinary aspects of the project and emphasize the distinct areas of expertise or disciplines represented within the leadership team and the different role each lead will play.

Yes, funds can be used to support a portion of Columbia University faculty and staff salaries.

Applicants are not required to budget for facility and administrative costs associated with collaboration with Columbia Global Center(s) or ICAP office(s). However, depending on the scope of the proposed activities, it may be necessary to include direct costs, such as Global Center or ICAP staff time to manage a specific activity.

There is no specific limit on the allocation of funding to sub-awards for non-Columbia University entities, such as NGOs and non-profit partners. The distribution of resources among personnel, contracts and other direct costs will vary based on the specific needs and scope of the project. 

CWP allows IC recovery of up to 10% of the total direct costs budget, assuming that the entity requesting indirect costs has an IC policy or a consistent methodology of identifying, classifying and allocating such costs. CWP does not allow IC for governmental agencies or organizations or for-profit institutions.

Seeking additional funding for an existing project is not permitted under the CWP Social Impact Award guidelines. However, this funding is designed to be catalytic, allowing for the expansion of promising initiatives. For instance, if you have completed the initial phase of a project and are ready to scale, this would be considered an allowable use of funding (e.g., completing a feasibility study on a promising intervention and using the award to officially pilot and evaluate it).

No, there is no preference for specific geographic locations. However projects that demonstrate a clear plan for utilizing Columbia Global Centers or ICAP offices operationally or programmatically will be viewed favorably. 

You can propose collaborating with the nearest Global Center or ICAP office; however, in such cases, we encourage you to email details of your specific proposed country and desired regional collaboration to Christine Hunt at [email protected] for clarification regarding the capacity and ability of a particular Global Center or ICAP office to meet the specific need.

Social Impact Awards are intended to support Columbia University faculty and researchers leading social impact work. Collaborating with Global Centers during the project design stage — to leverage existing resources, relationships, and networks within the Columbia University community — is encouraged. If your project involves testing an intervention in two or more geographies where Global Centers or ICAP offices are located, coordination with multiple centers is encouraged.

Eligible faculty and researchers may serve as proposal leads on only one application, but they may serve as collaborators on additional proposals.

Eligible faculty and researchers may serve as proposal leads for different, concurrent Columbia Global funding opportunities, but they are discouraged from submitting multiple proposals for the same project or one that is very similar.

We are unable to provide individualized feedback to each applicant due to the volume of applications expected and capacity constraints. While we strive to enhance transparency, the current structure of our review process limits our ability to provide feedback at the individual level.

At the Concept Note or Expression of Interest stage, it is not required to articulate specific IP-related plans, such as IP sharing or rights. However, we encourage you to share relevant details regarding IP during the full proposal stage (if invited to advance to this stage).