Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship: FAQs

The Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship seeks applications from faculty at Columbia University who are:

• Full-time, assistant and associate professors who have received their highest academic degree within the last 10 years; however, exceptions to this timeline will be considered to accommodate career-specific trajectories or other circumstances
• Passionate about designing and using their research and scholarship to address societal challenges
• Motivated to work in equitable partnerships with, and curious to learn from, practitioners outside of the University
• Seeking engagement and growth as active members of a cohort of faculty interested in social impact

In addition to the eligibility criteria above, the program is looking for early career faculty who aspire to:

• Deepen their expertise in interdisciplinary, applied research and scholarship for social impact
• Develop social impact leadership skills
• Establish or deepen partnerships with external organizations or practitioners
• Develop a social impact project proposal to be considered for seed funding 

The Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship is a part-time, year-long program that will begin in spring 2024. Faculty will participate in four distinct phases of the program: 

Phase 1: Applied Workshop and Seminar Series (Spring 2024): To explore key topics and strengthen skills to effectively design and implement social impact research, projects, and partnerships. Workshops and seminars will likely be a mix of in-person sessions on the Columbia campus and virtual sessions.  We anticipate that workshops will be no more than two hours in length and workshop sessions will be held at least two times per month. Workshops and seminars will continue in the 2024-2025 academic year. 

Phase 2: Up to $5,000 Summer Planning Grant and Project Planning (Summer 2024):  Faculty will use the summer months to engage in activities that will lay the foundation for developing their social impact project and proposal. They will receive up to $5,000 to support this work. 

Phase 3: Continuation of Applied Workshops and Seminars, and Proposal Development, Presentations, and Feedback (Fall 2024-Spring 2025): Faculty will return in the fall semester of 2024 to continue participation in workshops and seminars, and engage in the proposal writing process.  Proposals will be submitted to CWP in December. Faculty will present their project ideas and proposals to the fellowship cohort and a panel of experts, including CWP, for feedback.

Phase 4: Up to $20,000 Seed Grant, and Project Development and Implementation (Spring 2025): Once proposals are approved, CWP will provide up to $20,000 in flexible seed funding for faculty to advance their social impact project and partnership. CWP will remain in touch with program participants and request periodic reporting from faculty on project implementation and predetermined metrics.

No. Program participants must commit to participating in the full, one-year fellowship, which is part-time, and in all phases of the program. Funding for participants’ projects will be contingent on active and full participation in the program.

Program workshops and seminars will be held in-person on the Columbia University campus, with the possibility of some virtual sessions. With this in mind, faculty should be available to participate in program activities at Columbia. 

No. Faculty are responsible for their own housing and travel expenses during their participation in the program. 

Program participants are eligible to receive a summer planning grant of up to $5,000 to support the project planning process, and a seed grant of up to $20,000 to support project development and implementation. The grant is intended to support the advancement of fellows' work by covering the cost of items and activities such as formative research, pilot data collection, staff time, convenings, travel, and logistics. The fellowship is designed to serve as a stepping stone to position faculty to deepen their Fourth Purpose work and successfully pursue future funding.

Applications for the Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship are now closed. Join the Columbia World Projects newsletter to be notified when the next application cycle will open.

Short-listed candidates will be interviewed, and fellowship participants will be notified in March 2024.  

Interested applicants must complete and submit an online application. Applicants will be asked to submit the following:

• Confirmation of eligibility and commitment to meeting program requirements
• Brief written responses to open-ended questions to help the application review committee understand applicants’ interests, motivations, and goals for participating in the fellowship 
• Curriculum vitae 
• The name and contact information for a Columbia University faculty member, dean, or head of department, who will serve as an advisor if the applicant is selected as a participant in the fellowship; this individual may be be contacted by the fellowship program if the applicant is short-listed and interviewed as part of the application review process 

Prospective applicants are not required to have an existing project or partnerships in place to apply for the fellowship. The fellowship is designed to support early career faculty who are motivated to translate their research and scholarship to action and work in partnership with organizations or practitioners outside of Columbia University to address a societal challenge. After participation in a series of workshops and seminars in the spring semester of 2024, fellowship participants will use the summer of 2024 to develop their project idea, including partnerships, to advance their work. CWP anticipates that project partners will be diverse, including organizations and individuals from the nonprofit, public, or private sector.

Yes. Applicants can include an on-going project and existing partners in their application. However, an existing project and partnerships are not required to apply. 

No. Projects can be focused on challenges that impact communities globally, including in the U.S.

Yes. Upon completion of the program, Columbia World Projects will remain in touch with alumni of the program to understand how their fellowship experience has impacted their professional trajectory.  Alumni will also join a growing network of faculty who will have an opportunity to remain engaged with Columbia World Projects.

If you need additional program information that is not available on this page or other program pages, please email the fellowship administrators at [email protected].