Faculty Fellow

Description

The 19 Washington Square North (WSN) Faculty Fellows program is pleased to announce the call for AY 2026-27 fellowships, made possible by the generous support of the NYU Office of the Provost and the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute. The Fellows program aims to foster and strengthen connections between NYU faculty in Abu Dhabi and New York as well as to enhance academic activity at 19 Washington Square North, the home of NYUAD in New York. Accordingly, applications will be welcomed in Fall 2025 from teams that pair one full-time NYU faculty member in New York with one full-time member of the NYU Abu Dhabi standing faculty. Applicants are asked to propose a plan of joint research or artistic creation for AY 2026-27 that results in an original scholarly, creative, or artistic product or event presented at 19 WSN either during the fellowship period or the following summer. Examples might include a symposium, panel, exhibit, film, or performance; previous and current Fellows' proposals are available upon request.

Successful teams will be granted a USD 30,000 project budget as well as office space at 19 WSN. Office space at 19 WSN can be provided as needed, and the New York-based fellows will be expected to actively participate in the scholarly life of 19 WSN.

In addition to organizing an event to be held at 19 WSN, Faculty Fellows will be expected to contribute to scholarly life there to the extent possible. New York-based Fellows, as well as Abu Dhabi-based Fellows when visiting New York, will be expected to work from their 19 WSN office whenever possible, attend events of interest such as programs organized by the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, and participate in occasional gatherings to discuss their work in progress. Videoconference calls each semester will give all the Fellows the opportunity to discuss project developments and thus learn from, support, and brainstorm with their peers in diverse disciplines. Finally, Fellows will submit a brief narrative report of their fellowship activities at the end of the term.

Qualifications

Eligible applicant teams must include one member of each of the following:

• Full-time faculty at any of NYU’s schools or colleges in New York (for example, Arts and Science, Tandon School of Engineering, Stern School of Business, Institute of Fine Arts, etc.) at the time of application.
• Full-time standing faculty at NYU Abu Dhabi in any division or program at the time of application. Please note this does not include NYUAD affiliated or visiting faculty.

Application Instructions

Only one member of the applicant pair should initiate the submission and upload the requested materials, to avoid confusion or duplicate submissions; this may be either the Abu Dhabi- or the New York-based applicant. There will be an opportunity to provide the names and relevant information for both team members.

The fellowship applications will be judged on the anticipated impact of the research topic, the strength of the research plan, the synergy between the collaborators, and the potential for the fellowship to stimulate a longer-term research collaboration. Priority will be given to new collaborations rather than long-standing ones. Topics that have relevance to the UAE and the Gulf region are encouraged, although this is not a requirement. Engagement with the space at 19 Washington Square North and its activities will be considered in the evaluation.

The application requires the following components:

• Title:
• Name of NYUAD applicant, rank/position and division/program
• Name of NYU New York applicant, rank/position and school/program or department
• Summary (250 words): Summarize the fellowship project.
• Research/Creative Plan (1,500 words): Provide a narrative description of the objectives of the proposal, and how you intend to carry out the research or creative endeavor. Please note that the reviewers are unlikely to be specialists in your area of study, so you should write the proposal in a way that is understandable and can resonate with an academic outside of your discipline.
• Collaboration Management Plan (250 words): Describe how the two team members plan to interact throughout the year, and how they plan to manage the collaborative research or creative project. For example, how will the team members communicate with each other? Will they be meeting virtually at a regular frequency? Will the team members visit each other for an extended period? How will they ensure that the project will be enhanced by the creative inputs of each team member?
• 19 Washington Square North Impact (350 words): A major component of the fellowship is the public event planned at the end of the fellowship term. Please describe what event you are planning to develop (public lecture, panel, workshop, performance, etc.). Also, please indicate how the New York fellow intends to contribute to the activities of 19 Washington Square North during the academic year.
• Collaboration (250 words): Describe what strengths each member of the team brings to the collaboration and how they will complement each other’s strengths. Also describe if this is a new collaboration, and if not, how long the two members of the team have been collaborating.
• Potential Impact (250 words): Describe the potential impact of the project on their discipline(s) and wider society. If the project is of particular relevance to the UAE or Gulf Region, please note this in this section.
• Long-term Plans (150 words): Describe any plans to continue the collaboration and sustain it after the end of the fellowship term.
• Output(s) (150 words): Describe the expected outputs of the project (journal articles, books, workshops, grants, etc.).
• Budget and Budget Justification: Please lay out the budget for your project. Note that faculty summer salaries cannot be paid, but the budget can be used for research assistants, travel, supplies, and any reasonable items needed for the completion of the project. The public event planned for your project should be incorporated into this budget. The total budget cannot exceed $30,000 and will need to be spent by the end of the fiscal year of your fellowship.
• Ancillary forms: The individual completing the application will be requested to complete three brief forms. The first, the "Contact, Affiliation, and Project Information" form, provides 19 Washington Square North with basic information on both applicants to the Faculty Fellowship program. It requires both the project title and a project abstract of no more than 250 words.
• The second, "Affiliation Information" form is required by the University. Whichever partner (i.e., Abu Dhabi- or New York-based) is completing it should generally answer the questions on the basis of their own information alone. However, when asked if any member of their family or household is an employee, trustee/director, or officer of NYU or any NYU affiliate, or if they are in a relationship covered under the relevant policy, details should be given if affirmative for either partner.
• The third, "EEO-1 / Affirmative Action Voluntary Self Identification Form" should be completed with information pertinent to whichever applicant is filling it out.

Review Process and Selection Criteria

Applications will be assessed by an internal review committee that includes NYU faculty from Abu Dhabi and New York. Key criteria for the evaluation of proposals will include:

• Anticipated project contributions
• Clarity, comprehensiveness, and feasibility of the planned research, creative, or artistic endeavor
• Synergy between collaborators in terms of their scholarly expertise and/or agenda
• The potential of the proposed presentation, activity, or event to stimulate active interest, partnerships, and/or intellectual community at 19 WSN

Although not a requirement, the program particularly welcomes proposals that are relevant to NYUAD’s five areas of strategic research interest: Bio-Innovation and Health; Cities; Culture and Heritage; Environmental Sustainability; and Governance and Peace, or to the NYU Provost’s six research priorities: Artificial Intelligence; Arts & Humanities; Cybersecurity; Quantum Phenomena; STEM Learning; and Strategies to Reduce Inequality. The program also hopes to support new collaborations when possible and aims for a diverse cohort of Fellows representing different disciplines, divisions, schools, and colleges as well as faculty at all ranks.

The application period will close at 11:59 pm EST on April 1, 2026. Applicants will be notified of their outcomes later in the spring.

For More Information

Information sessions on the Faculty Fellowships will be provided to address questions about the program. These sessions will be announced in advance and interested applicants can sign up for a session through official NYU channels.