Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship

Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship: Advancing Research and Scholarship to Action

What will it take to solve the urgent challenges of our time? How can universities enable their rich academic assets to identify solutions to complex issues, such as climate change, income inequality, democratic renewal, and preparedness for pandemics? How can universities leverage academic expertise to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of solutions to major challenges?

The Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship: Advancing Research and Scholarship to Action is a new part-time, year-long program from Columbia World Projects (CWP) for early career faculty at Columbia University. The Fellowship will support faculty in deepening their expertise in interdisciplinary, applied research for social impact, and advancing their research to policy or impact.

Early career faculty across all Columbia University schools and affiliates, centers and departments, are eligible.

The fellowship begins in spring 2023 with four distinct program phases:

• Applied Workshop and Seminar Series (Spring 2023) 
• Up to $5,000 Summer Planning Grant, Project Planning and Proposal Writing (Summer 2023) 
• Proposal Presentation, Feedback, and Finalization (Fall 2023) 
• Up to $20,000 Seed Grant, Project Implementation, and Monitoring (Fall 2023-Spring 2024)

Program participants will explore key topics to strengthen their ability to address complex societal challenges, which may include developing effective partnerships with organizations and stakeholders outside of the university; power dynamics and equity in research and practice; human-centered project design; and project planning, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and scaling.

Columbia World Projects’ education, leadership and training opportunities are designed to help realize what Columbia University President Emeritus Lee C. Bollinger calls the university’s “Fourth Purpose” – advancing human welfare and confronting the great challenges of our time. As a hub for Fourth Purpose thought and activities, CWP supports the University’s students, researchers, and scholars to pursue bold solutions to the pressing challenges of our time.

ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION PROCESS

The program welcomes applications from full-time, assistant and associate professors who have received their highest academic degree within the last 10 years. Exceptions to this timeline will be considered to accommodate career-specific trajectories or other circumstances.

Join the CWP newsletter to be notified when the next application cycle will open.

Applicants will be asked to share their Fourth Purpose area of interest and research, motivation, and desired learning. They will also be asked about their initial project idea and partners, however, a defined project and partnerships do not have to be in place to be eligible to apply.  A curriculum vitae and the name and contact information of a Columbia faculty advisor, Dean, or Head of Department, who has agreed to provide support to the fellow throughout the year, is also required.  This individual will also serve as a reference for the applicant and will be contacted by the fellowship program if the applicant is short-listed and interviewed as part of the application review process.

A review panel will evaluate the applications and short-list candidates, who will be interviewed. 

The Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship will be offered annually.

For additional information please visit our FAQs page. For inquiries please write to [email protected]