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The Public Engagement Project (PEP) invites applications for 2025 Public Engagement Faculty Fellowships from research-active lecturers, extension professors and faculty members at UMass Amherst who want to share research with audiences beyond the academy, write an effective op-ed piece or policy brief, testify before Congress or work with community and professional groups.

Public Engagement faculty fellows:

• Develop a public engagement plan tailored to their expertise and aspirations for reaching broader publics
• Receive technical training in communicating with non-academic audiences, cultivating networks to reach those publics and workshopping their public engagement products
• Receive a $1,000 stipend for their research account

Faculty fellows meet twice per month during the spring semester, attend skill-building workshops offered by faculty, communications experts from University Relations, and others experienced with public engagement. Fellows also work in small groups to receive peer feedback on their public engagement plans and products based on their scholarship to engage with public audiences.

Selection criteria include:

• A substantial record of research and/or scholarship as a faculty member, extension professor or lecturer
• Research or scholarship with the potential for significant public impact
• A commitment to developing materials for non-academic audiences and a capacity to pursue public engagement activities during the fellowship period and beyond

PEP is a faculty-driven initiative to support colleagues who want to use their research to contribute to social change, inform public policy and enrich public debate. PEP is sponsored by the colleges of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Natural Sciences, Education, Engineering and Humanities and Fine Arts, the School of Public Policy, Center for Research on Families, Institute for Social Science Research, the Office of the Provost and University Relations.

The application deadline is Tuesday, Dec. 3. For more information, or to apply for the 2025 fellowship, visit http://www.umass.edu/pep/fellowship-program.