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Civic Science Fellows Program Invites Applications to Host a 2026-27 Fellow

October 20, 2025

Become a Civic Science Fellows Host Partner – Apply by December 15, 2025

The Civic Science Fellows program is announcing opportunities to become a Civic Science Fellow host partner for the next cohort, which will begin in September 2026.

Building connections, changing systems. 

Civic science connects people across different expertise and experiences to strengthen science, communities, and public decision-making—as interdependent elements of a thriving future. Through the Civic Science Fellows program, we are building the capacity, knowledge, innovation, and relationships we need to change systems, so all people can shape and benefit from science and technology. The program spans sectors and fields, bringing together pioneering philanthropic partners and host organizations to support a new generation of leaders and transform science, policy, and communities from the inside out. 

With this cohort, three broad, cross-disciplinary streams will align the Fellows’ work: change rooted in science, change rooted in communities, and change rooted in policy.

A limited number of opportunities for host partners are available for this innovative collaborative Fellowship model to incubate ideas, explore strategic questions, and build capacity and relationships to strengthen connections between science and society. Selected host organizations will receive grants from funding partners to support hiring, compensating, and mentoring a Fellow throughout the Fellowship. Learn more about funding partners engaged across cohorts here.

Organizations interested in being considered as a host for a 2026–27 Civic Science Fellow are invited to read more below and apply by December 15, 2025. Please reach out to fellows@civicsciencefunders.org with questions.

Learn More

Civic Science Fellows Program History

A coalition of philanthropic funders launched the Civic Science Fellows program in 2020 to connect people across different expertise and experiences to strengthen science, communities, and public decision-making—as interdependent elements of a thriving future.

Through the Civic Science Fellows program, we are building the capacity, knowledge, innovation, and relationships we need to change systems, so all people can shape and benefit from science and technology. The program spans sectors and fields, bringing together pioneering philanthropic partners and host organizations to support a new generation of leaders and transform science, policy, and communities from the inside out. 

Civic science connects people across different expertise and experiences to strengthen science, communities, and public decision-making—as interdependent elements of a thriving future.

The program is supported by a growing community of leaders and organizations who recognize that a culture of civic science will be key to solving the grand challenges of today and tomorrow.

Learn more here.

The Civic Science Fellows Community

The Civic Science Fellows program aims to build a vibrant cross-sector community through the engagement and participation of a variety of different partners, working together to strengthen the field of civic science:

  • Civic Science Fellows are next-generation leaders from diverse demographic, cultural, and professional backgrounds. They have expertise in disciplines relevant to civic science and are poised to work effectively across communities and stakeholders. They may come from any number of professional backgrounds, including in the biological, physical, or social sciences; math, technology, or engineering; media, journalism, or communication; science education or museums; science funding; community organizing; or public policy.
  • Host partners host Fellows for 18 months as they pilot cutting-edge civic science projects, equipping them to serve as bridge-builders and change agents. Hosts are innovative organizations with high potential for leverage across different spheres and disciplines. They may include scientific societies, academic institutions, media organizations, community organizations, philanthropic associations, and nonprofits, among others.
  • Funding and other partners provide financial support to host organizations to support Fellowship positions and invest in building the program and network.
  • Advisors and Civic Science Advisory Committee Members are experts and practitioners across a variety of fields and sectors. Drawing on their knowledge and relationships, they strengthen the work of the Fellows, provide project development support, and link the program to other relevant efforts. View members of the Committee here.
  • The broader Civic Science Fellows community, including Fellows and partners from the first three Civic Science Fellows cycles, experts contributing to the Fellows learning program, and adjacent programs and organizations with whom we share connections and insights.

Through participating in the program, Fellows and advisors advance shared learning and practice, expand their networks, and create reciprocal trusted relationships as a basis for collaboration. Partners also contribute to developing a shared learning agenda to advance collective knowledge and shared impact within and beyond the Fellowship.

For more information on participants in the first three Fellowship cycles, please see our website.

What Fellows Bring to Host Organizations

As part of the Civic Science Fellows program, funding partners support host partners to identify, hire, and support an early-career Fellow. Working in partnership with innovative host institutions, Fellows pilot civic science projects in partnership with diverse communities. These projects are co-developed by the Fellow and the host partner. Fellows will contribute as active participants in the intellectual life and work of the organizations that host them. Over the course of their Fellowship, Fellows will:

  • Lead the co-design and implementation of a Fellowship project in close collaboration with their host institution.
  • Create at least one substantial concrete civic science work product to capture new knowledge and share it with a broader community by the end of their Fellowship. Products may include media or content, community events, learning experiences, pilot programs, research or tools, among others, and should have the potential for contributing significant new knowledge to both the field and the host institution.

Fellowships are typically 18 months, including a core 12-month cohort learning period, and 6 months dedicated to finalizing their Fellowship project. During the core 12-month cohort learning period, Fellows will spend approximately 75 percent of their time (~30 hours/week) on carrying out the project co-designed with their host institution, and 25 percent of their time (~10 hours/week) on shared learning and networking activities outside of their direct work with the host institution, including periodic convenings.

To date, the program has been supported by more than 75 partners and 70 next-generation leaders to develop cutting-edge civic science projects over 12–24 months, while equipping them to serve as bridge-builders and change agents. The projects to date reflect how civic science is coalescing as a field, connecting research and participatory tools, and supporting institutional change. With their host organizations, they have created signature programs marking new approaches to collaboration across science, policy, and communities, including:

  • Resources for scientists and science communicators to effectively listen to and engage with communities to build reciprocal trust and understanding
  • Capacity for professional societies and research institutions to develop more rigorous approaches to issues at the intersection of science and society, from the use of race in the design of clinical algorithms to translational research on infectious disease and climate change to the use of AI in healthcare settings
  • Courses and online platforms to prompt dialogue on emerging science and technology, from neuroethics to AI to climate change
  • Campaigns, training, and visual media that bridge divides, from decreasing the effects of polarization to sparking curiosity across populations
  • Research-backed interventions for removing barriers to engagement at science museums

Learn more about Fellows here.

What Host Partners Contribute

Organizations selected to serve as host partners receive support through grants and network connections to hire and host an early-career Fellow. Together, along with support from the Civic Science Fellows program, host organizations and Civic Science Fellows shape projects around central learning questions of importance to the host organization and communities they serve. Fellows complete at least one substantial work project to share with a broader community addressing these questions.

In becoming part of the Civic Science Fellows program, host institutions identify, hire, and support a Civic Science Fellow for the duration of their Fellowship. As part of this, host partners agree to:

  • Provide an environment and other support conducive to a productive Fellowship experience, from physical resources to ongoing mentoring. Hosts can serve as coaches and mentors or connect Fellows to others who can play that role. Hosts should also establish opportunities for regular check-ins with their Fellow and will engage with our growing cross-sector community of practice—sharing learning, participating in events, and advancing civic science approaches.
  • Support the co-design of a Fellowship project, a process which will be led by the Fellow in close collaboration with their host throughout the duration of the Fellowship. While Fellowships are typically 18 months, flexibility to accommodate terms from 12–24 months may be possible.
  • Center best practices in their Fellow hiring process to recruit candidates who bring a variety of experience, expertise, and perspectives, including candidates from underrepresented backgrounds. Civic Science Fellows capitalize on the strength of diverse coalitions. Their work is guided by the recognition that the scientific community alone cannot effectively navigate the complex challenges and opportunities presented by emerging technologies and the promise of new discoveries requires action from within and beyond science. Host partners are expected to conduct an inclusive search for a Fellow (fellowship funds are not intended to support existing staff). Once an organization is confirmed as a host partner, they will receive guidance and support for conducting an aligned and effective selection process.
  • Contribute financial, administrative, technological, and other necessary resources to select, onboard, and compensate a Fellow for the Fellowship term—typically with support from one of the program’s funding partners. This includes a fellowship stipend (typically $80–$85K/year), in addition to benefits and administrative expenses, equipment, and travel.
  • Provide logistical support needed for the Fellow to attend virtual and in-person Fellows convenings. These include weekly virtual Fellows Labs from September 2026–September 2027, as well as an in-person Civic Science Fellows and Partners Convening in February 2027. Host organizations are encouraged to offer additional professional development opportunities for their Fellow, including connections to networks, collaborators, and experiences that will extend the Fellow’s growth and reach.

Through participating in the Fellows program, host institutions have the opportunity to amplify their work with events, webinars, and other activities; to access resources relevant to civic science; and to build connections with other hosts, Fellows, funders, and partners within the wider network.

Civic Science Learning

Civic Science Fellows will meet virtually weekly for shared learning and activities, using a framework of five pillars of civic science learning, developed by the program’s Practice and Science of Civic Science Advisory Committee, with the network beginning in September 2026:

Five Pillars of Civic Science Learning

  • Through the Scaffolding for Learning and Impact pillar, we explore ways of building knowledge, methods of engagement, paths toward change, and evaluation frameworks to help guide each stage of civic science project development.
  • Through the Understanding Science in Context pillar, we examine science as a way of seeking knowledge, looking at the societal factors that influence its contours and application, and grappling with the ethics of decision-making related to science.
  • Through the Designing for Equity and Inclusion pillar, we seek to understand and identify approaches to combat structural factors that lead science, science engagement, and decision-making around science to benefit and include some social groups over others.
  • Through the Communicating for the Future pillar, we develop knowledge, tools, and skills to effectively open lines of connection between science and individual and community priorities, values, curiosity, and ways of knowing.
  • Through the Leading for Systems Change pillar, we cultivate approaches individuals and teams can adopt to spark civic science change at the level of structures, culture, networks, and norms, whether locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.
2026-27 Cohort: Streams

The Civic Science Fellows program is distinctive in its adaptable design, with each cohort tailored to build a more civic, connected, and resilient future. We invite institutions to propose projects aligning with the following three broad, cross-disciplinary streams:

  • Change rooted in communities: Recognizing the need for new approaches to listening and collaborating with communities to address local priorities, these Fellows will be based in community-centered organizations and projects. Informed by collaborative efforts from South Los Angeles to Iowa to Puerto Rico, they will explore ways science and research can build trust, orient toward community assets, and support communities in using science and technology to advance change on goals they define for themselves.
  • Change rooted in science: As U.S. scientific and educational institutions adapt to a changing landscape, Fellows in this stream will explore approaches to integrate civic science practices and training into the fabric of organizations, developing the next generation of scientific leaders. Supporting a growing mandate for civic science capacity among research institutions, they will build new opportunities for trainees and institutions, from community collaborations to professional development, certificate programs, mentorship programs, and research experiences integrated with community and policy engagement—creating a new bridging function between innovation, research, and community priorities.
  • Change rooted in policy: These Fellows will advance efforts to reshape systems surrounding public policy, public health, information, technology, and the environment, with an emphasis on exploring ways community voice can be integrated with science policy advising. This stream will build on strategic initiatives, from statehouses to newsrooms to medical associations, to ensure that the best available scientific knowledge combines with community listening and engagement to inform policy, public discourse, and professional practice, thus increasing policy effectiveness and public buy-in.

Solving for progress on grand challenges. 

Across these streams, Fellows will be engaging around interconnected grand challenges that require civic science approaches and will explore how challenges and opportunities intersect, and how solutions can emerge from communities, from the scientific ecosystem, and from democratic institutions working in partnership. Across their work, Fellows will add resources in five pillars key to addressing these and other grand challenges in civic science: understanding science in context, designing for equity and inclusion, communicating for the future, scaffolding for learning and impact, and leading for systems change.

Timeline

With further details on timing to come, the below is a high-level timeline (subject to change).

2026

  • February-March: Host partners identified
  • March-July: Fellows applications open, public announcement of positions
  • August: All Fellows confirmed
  • September: Cohort announcement and orientation; beginning of 12-month core period for cohort and Labs

2027

  • February: 2027 Civic Science Fellows and Partners Convening (in person)
  • September: end of 12-month core period for cohort and Labs, with project work continuing
Application Process

If your organization is interested in hosting a Fellow in the 2026–27 Civic Science Fellows program, please complete this form by December 15, 2025.

Responses will be reviewed by members of our network, who will evaluate an organization’s fit with the program, and by funding partners supporting Civic Science Fellow positions. An invitation to finalists to submit full proposals will follow.

A limited number of opportunities for host partners are available for this innovative collaborative Fellows and partners model to accelerate learning, capacity, and institutional and systems change.

Connect

Read more and sign up for the monthly Civic Science Series newsletter at civicsciencefellows.org. For further information about how to become involved, please reach out to fellows@civicsciencefunders.org.