SciComm Identities Project (SCIP) Fellowship Program – US

The SciComm Identities Project (SCIP) aims to shift the paradigm of science communication training and create a more representative suite of academic science communicators. SCIP will elevate science communication activities as a valued aspect of academics’ institutional contributions. They aim for this project to increase representation of underrepresented minority scientists and engineers as science communicators and as public intellectuals in environmental news coverage to foster culturally relevant conservations about environmental issues.

The SCIP Fellowship is a one-year professional development opportunity for pre-tenure faculty at U.S. institutions who identify as underrepresented racial or ethnic minorities. The Fellowship will have a different thematic focus in each of its three one-year cohorts. Each of these foci relates, broadly, to climate change. SCIP Fellows will gain science communication expertise and practice and build their professional networks in ways that may support new collaborations and research insights.

Fellowship Goals 

• The fellowship is designed for researchers at the pre-tenure career stage to:
  • Foster confidence and science communication skills that can be implemented and further honed throughout the Fellows’ careers
  • Emphasize the importance of science communication among tenure-track faculty
  • Facilitate the transfer of these skills and competencies to Fellows’ students and colleagues

Fellowship Thematic Focus

• January – December 2024, Cohort 2: Water
• January – December 2025, Cohort 3: Food

Funding Information

• Fellows will receive financial and other support as follows:
  • a $5,000 honorarium as an acknowledgement of the required time commitment.
  • for each in-person training, reimbursement for roundtrip travel, 5 nights’ lodging, roundtrip ground transportation from local airports, and per diem for any meals not provided as part of the training. Local ground transportation will be provided during the workshops.
  • an audio recorder for use in podcast development.
• The trainings will be developed collaboratively by the Metcalf Institute and Knight Center teams. They will invite speakers and external trainers who represent the racial and ethnic diversity they seek to support via this project to ensure a wide range of perspectives on science communication as an intercultural practice.

Eligibility Criteria

• The fellowship is open to researchers who study any aspect of natural science, social science, or engineering related to the theme of that year’s cohort. The SCIP Fellowship is designed for people who:
  • Self-identify as Black or African American, Indigenous or Native American, Hispanic or Latino/a/x/e, Asian or Asian American, or Middle Eastern or North African;
  • Are tenure-track assistant professors at a U.S. academic institution of higher education;
  • Study anything related to the year’s cohort theme. The 2025 cohort will focus on the intersections of climate change with agriculture, aquaculture, and food security.
• Please note that the SCIP Fellowship is only open to tenure track faculty who are pre-tenure (assistant professor level), postdoctoral scholars who have a confirmed tenure track position that will begin by August 2025, and graduate students who have a confirmed tenure track position that will begin by January 2025.

For more information, visit SCIP.