Stories

With 12 funding partners and 23 host partners, the second cohort of the Civic Science Fellows program will explore civic science opportunities that promote social progress.

As society faces rapidly developing challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, global climate change, and the impact of technology on democracy, the need for a strong, sustainable, and equitable partnership between science and society has never been more urgent. A collaborative initiative—the Civic Science Fellows program—is eager to expand civic science opportunities that promote progress in the face of these challenges and more.

The Civic Science Fellows program, supported by foundations, scientific associations, researchers, civic institutions, and media organizations, is investing in leaders who work intentionally to create new partnerships and approaches to develop inclusive and effective problem-solving using science and technology. Recognizing that making progress toward a culture of civic science will require building new knowledge, new forms of collaboration, and new ways of working across many different disciplines and sectors, the Civic Science Fellows program is creating a community of diverse change agents to build and foster this mindset of collaboration between science and society.

With a community of 35 pioneering funding and host partners for the 2021–23 program, a new cohort of 22 Fellows will join a community working to strengthen the role of science in public life. Through their expertise in science, media, education, civic engagement, and other fields, the Civic Science Fellows will work to forge new relationships between science and diverse communities, using a variety of innovative, evidence-based approaches. To undertake this work, the Fellows will be embedded for 18 months within organizations that prioritize strengthening the links between science and society.

2021­–23 Civic Science Fellows Program—Funding Partners

• Rita Allen Foundation
• The Brinson Foundation
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund
• Dana Foundation
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• Heising-Simons Foundation
• Lyda Hill Philanthropies
• The Kavli Foundation
• Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• John Templeton Foundation

2021–23 Civic Science Fellows Program—Host Partners

• Advanced Visualization Lab at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• The Aspen Institute Science and Society Program
• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities/Center for Academic Innovation, University of Michigan
• Association of Science and Technology Centers
• Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University
• Ciencia Puerto Rico
• College of Communication, Boston University
• Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI)
• National Geographic Society
• National Informal STEM Education Network
• Open Environmental Data Project  
• Open Research Funders Group
• ScienceCounts
• Science, Media, and the Public Research Group, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Science News
• Science Philanthropy Alliance
• Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Sigma Xi
• SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University
• Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication, National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine
• The US–UK Fulbright Commission/Center for Science Communication Research, University of Oregon

The 2021 class of the Civic Science Fellows program will be announced soon.

About the Civic Science Fellows Program

Civic Science Fellows are emerging leaders from diverse demographic, cultural, and professional backgrounds. They are thought leaders, bridge builders, change agents, and communicators working to learn about community priorities and scientific research and bring those worlds together on equal footing to create fundamentally new ways of solving problems. Designed to create new partnerships, practices, and knowledge to advance meaningful, inclusive engagement on issues at the interface of science and society, the Civic Science Fellows program was established with a 2020–21 cohort, with initial support from the Rita Allen Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Kavli Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and David and Lucile Packard Foundation.