Stories

The 2026–28 Civic Science Fellows cohort will launch in September 2026. As 2026–28 host partners open applications for Fellows, we will share them here and in our monthly newsletter (see below to sign up). Envisioned as a Civic Science Lab, Fellows and partners carry out pioneering work to co-create pilots, partnerships, knowledge, models, and new ways of working that can help seed collaborations between science and society. All Fellows will engage as a cohort in a learning program and community, developed in collaboration with the network and an interdisciplinary committee of advisors.

The Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University is inviting applications for a 2026-28 Civic Science Fellow to conduct research on the history, institutions, and governance of U.S. federal science and technology policy. During the two-year appointment, the Fellow will explore the role of scientists in federal policymaking and the history of U.S. science policy institutions. Learn more and apply here.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences invites applications for a 2026-28 Civic Science Fellow position in the Academy’s Science, Engineering, and Technology program area to contribute to a proposed initiative on how institutions govern moments of publicly visible scientific revision. The Fellow will lead a defined research workstream and participate in the case-selection process and advisory structure of As the Facts Change, a multi-year initiative studying how institutions respond when scientific understanding, guidance, or policy-relevant evidence changes in public view. Learn more and apply here. 

The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania is seeking a 2026-28 Civic Science Fellow to develop civically oriented research projects focused on topics like climate and health communication, civic engagement and climate action, and social connection and resilience. The Fellow will work with the Center’s Climate Communication Division and with the University’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Learn more and apply here. 

The Center for Health Communication at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health invites applications for a 2026-28 Civic Science Fellow embedded in the Center’s Creator Program to help address pressing questions facing civic science in a social-media-dominated world. Working closely with creators as research collaborators, the Fellow will use computational and quantitative methods to study creator-mediated health communication in online environments, using large-scale, multisource, multimodal data. The Fellow will examine how creators are shifting audiences’ health beliefs and behaviors, what drives trust between creators and their audiences, and whether creators working with health and science organizations can inspire public demands for health policy reform. Learn more and apply here. 

The Center for Media Innovation & Social Impact at Boston University invites candidates to apply for a 2026-28 Civic Science Fellow position to spearhead the Civic Science Communication and Public Engagement (C-SCAPE) initiative. The Fellow will help develop an evaluative framework and practice guide for civic science communication by cataloging and analyzing how Boston University researchers, administrators, and community collaborators define and pursue social impact. The Fellow will conduct research, map university-community partnerships, develop tools and governance models for collaboration, contribute to public resources and scholarly publications, and design workshops for community organizations, faculty, and administrators. Learn more and apply here. 

The Institute for Advanced Study is seeking a 2026-28 Civic Science Fellow for The Public’s Science initiative, a collaborative effort with a leading research center to foster a new social contract for American research policy. This initiative seeks to reimagine scientific research as a genuinely public endeavor—one oriented toward inclusive participation and serving not only national interests but also the diverse communities that sustain and are affected by the scientific enterprise. Learn more and apply here.

The Morgridge Institute for Research invites applications for 2026-28 Civic Science Fellows focusing on evidence-based approaches to communicating about science in polarized political or information environments. The Fellows will develop and empirically evaluate real-world strategies for public engagement with science that meaningfully connect communities across different ideological or value-based fault lines. Learn more and apply here.

The Science Philanthropy Alliance is seeking a 2026–28 Civic Science Fellow to co-create civic science tools, knowledge, and best practices that can inform and inspire philanthropic funding for scientific discovery, beginning in July 2026. The Fellow will work closely with the Science Philanthropy Alliance staff and its philanthropic member organizations to advance scientific discovery through visionary philanthropy. Learn more and apply here.

Supported by the Civic Science Fellows program funding partners, with funding from (list in formation): Rita Allen Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Civic Science Funders Collaborative, Dana Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Feld Family Initiative for Civic Science Communication at the Boston University College of Communication, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, Morgridge Institute for Research, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Kavli Foundation, and William T. Grant Foundation.