Research & Innovation Fellowship
Funded by a grant from VentureWell, the Research and Innovation Fellowship seeks to engage students in innovative problem-solving strategies on issues vital to their communities, such as, but not limited to, public health, access to new technologies, climate change, educational equity, voting access, or income inequality.
The Research and Innovation Fellowship is a virtual program open to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at any Minority Serving Institution (MSI) in the United States.
Participants will learn techniques for framing a problem from an asset-based perspective; collecting data in partnership with people who are directly affected by the problem; creating a prototype solution; evaluating the impact of their work; and disseminating their findings in a way that promotes public understanding, engagement, and action.
Professors from a diverse group of institutions and academic disciplines will join the program leaders, sharing how they have used these strategies in their practice. Students who complete the program and submit a Capstone project (a short policy/research brief, op-ed, or a mini–TED Talk) by June 15, 2025, will be eligible to receive a Rutgers University Digital Badge.
The six-session program includes an Orientation on December 3, 2024 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.ET, and individual sessions that meet from 7:00-8:30 p.m. ET throughout the Spring semester. These sessions are:
Tuesday, January 28, 2025 Design Thinking
Tuesday, February 18, 2025: Participatory Action Research (PAR)
Tuesday, March 25, 2025: Inquiry-Based Learning
Tuesday, April 29, 2025: Critical Evaluation Capital
Tuesday, May 20, 2025: Writing for Public Audiences
MORE INFORMATION | VIEW THE SCHEDULE
Applications are now closed!
About the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions
The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) brings together researchers and practitioners from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions. CMSI’s goals include: elevating the educational contributions of MSIs; ensuring that they are a part of national conversations; bringing awareness to the vital role MSIs play in the nation’s economic development; increasing the rigorous scholarship of MSIs; connecting MSIs’ academic and administrative leadership to promote reform initiatives; and strengthening efforts to close educational achievement gaps among disadvantaged communities. The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions is part of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity and Justice (Proctor Institute) at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. For more information about CMSI, please visit http://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/.
