The Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Collaboration, Learning, and Engagement (CIRCLE) seeks applicants for its inaugural Graduate Fellowship, 2024-25. See below for the fellowship’s description, eligibility requirements, and how to apply. The application deadline is April 8, 2024.

FELLOWSHIP DESCRIPTION 

The Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Collaboration, Learning, and Engagement (CIRCLE) will support three doctoral graduate students in the CIRCLE Graduate Fellowship (CGFP). This program will build collaborative and interdisciplinary capacity for the next generation of scholars and educators. In addition to gaining important skills for working across boundaries toward shared goals, fellows will have opportunities to contribute to CIRCLE scholarship, programming, and inquiry.   

The CGFP is a guided fellowship focused on interdisciplinary research and practice. Fellows in the program will develop skills and knowledge related to the practice of interdisciplinary inquiry and collaboration, including qualitative and arts-based methods, team building, facilitation, and critical engagement with the concept of interdisciplinarity. This fellowship aligns with CIRCLE’s commitment to training, facilitating, and evaluating interdisciplinary inquiry and fostering a rich community of practice at MSU that collaborates to address grand challenges.    

CIRCLE Graduate Fellows will join CIRCLE programming and orientation in May 2024 in preparation for their 2024-25 fellowships. Fellows will receive a $5000 stipend for their participation, supported by the MSU Graduate School. 

The CGFP will consist of three primary activities: bi-monthly cohort meetings, opportunities to participate in CIRCLE programming, and collaboration on CIRCLE interdisciplinary teams.   

Bi-monthly cohort meetings 

Meetings will be co-developed with the cohort as their interests and projects evolve. These meetings will alternate between cohort building/discussion meetings, led by the fellows, and facilitated by Dr. Louson, and professional development meetings, informed by fellows’ interests and led by members of CIRCLE leadership team or invited experts. In cohort building meetings, fellows will share their experiences, engage with the literature on interdisciplinarity as it relates to their own work, and develop their own individual questions and areas of interest. Through these meetings, fellows will work collaboratively with CIRCLE faculty to build an iterative bibliography and literature review on interdisciplinarity. In the professional development meetings, Drs. Halpern, Louson, and Goralnik will guide skills labs, host discussions, and/or invite guest educators to share about their own work.  

Participation in CIRCLE programming 

Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in CIRCLE’s professional development programming, including workshops and networking events. They will co-facilitate the seed grant teams alongside CIRCLE leadership and have opportunities to contribute individually and collaboratively to CIRCLE projects and resources, including an iterative annotated bibliography and the evaluation of and research on CIRCLE programming.   

Interdisciplinary Team Participation and Mentorship 

In its inaugural year, CIRCLE is supporting three seed grants for new interdisciplinary collaborations. Each grant will provide seed funding as well as facilitation and qualitative observation of the collaboration. Each seed grant will be administered by a member of CIRCLE’s leadership team. The graduate fellows will each join a seed grant team alongside a CIRCLE mentor to shadow the facilitator, practice interdisciplinary facilitation, evaluate the interdisciplinary process, and/or contribute to CIRCLE cross-project research on interdisciplinary dynamics.  

ELIGIBILITY 

CIRCLE’s graduate fellows must be MSU doctoral students, registered during each semester of the fellowship (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025). They must not be concurrently holding another Grad School cohort fellowship during the upcoming fellowship year. 

HOW TO APPLY 

Applications consist of a current CV and a letter of intent (maximum 1 page) emailed to ori.circle@msu.edu by the April 8th deadline, with “CIRCLE grad fellowship” in the subject line. Letters of intent should include: 

ABOUT CIRCLE 

Launched in October 2023, CIRCLE aims to support interdisciplinary research and scholarship, teaching, and engagement by providing training and facilitation for interdisciplinarity, fostering community among interdisciplinary scholars and educators, and conducting research on the nature of interdisciplinarity. More information about CIRCLE is available at research.msu.edu/circle.