CIS Faculty Projects

CIS is a community of faculty, researchers, practitioners, and students who advance innovative, policy-relevant scholarship that addresses critical global challenges, including on topics of climate adaptation, global governance, democratic development, and international security. We share this knowledge via events, seminar series, analysis, publications, and dialogue with partners. 

CIS invites proposals from MIT faculty and research scientists with PI status interested in developing new research projects and/or research communities around a critical international issue. Selected projects will be eligible for up to $100,000 and other forms of support over a two- to three-year period. CIS has previously hosted projects on the future of Jerusalem, Human Rights and Technology, and international migration; and currently hosts projects and labs on BRICS, Global Diversity and, within the Security Studies Program, Wargaming.

Collaborative and interdisciplinary projects are welcome, and may include faculty and students from Boston-area colleges and universities. Awarded investigators will receive CIS affiliate status during the funding period.

We are particularly interested in proposals that focus on one or more of the following themes (these may include a focus on the United States, but must also relate to at least one other country), but we welcome proposals on any topic with a clear international dimension:

• International migration
• Climate adaptation and loss and damage
• Global public health and pandemic threats
• US foreign and development policy, including policy toward the Global South and new directions in foreign assistance
• International trade
• Global governance of artificial intelligence, outer space, and oceans
• Human rights and technology
• Democratic backsliding
• Themes at the intersection of security and development  

Project funding may be used for one or more of the following types of activities:

• Hosting events, including lab meetings, research workshops or conferences, and hosting public seminars for the MIT community
• Development of public-use datasets or databases
• Travel to attend workshops or conferences
• Convening policymakers
• Hosting UROPs or MISTI internships
• Graduate student summer research support
• Policy workshops or hackathons
• Development of podcasts or other public resources
• Hosting visitors for short-term stays
• Other activities as appropriate

Funding provided is scaled according to the ambitions of the project. For instance, a proposal focusing on organizing a research workshop might receive $15,000, while a more comprehensive proposal featuring a range of activities might receive up to $100,000, exclusive of overhead.

Priority is given to projects that seek to advance knowledge and disseminate it to the wider community and policymakers. We encourage proposals from junior faculty who would like to develop their research within CIS.

Selected projects also benefit from other forms of support from CIS, including being hosted on our website, assistance with communications, and potentially the ability to recruit temporary visitors.

The current funding round has concluded. If you have any questions about this opportunity please contact cis-info@mit.edu.

What Now? US Policy Toward Global Development
Bish Sanyal, Urban Studies and Planning

Co-Creation Roadmap: MIT & Ukraine Co-Designing Resilient Knowledge Ecosystems
Elizabeth Wood, History

Technofascism, Human Rights and Democracy: AnOpen, Transnational Learning Community
Catherine D'Ignazio, Urban Studies and Planning

The Political Economy of Innovation and the Impacts of Innovation Policy
Jacob Moscona, Economics

Transnational Christian Nationalism and Global Media Infrastructures
Rebekah Larsen, Comparative Media Studies/Writing

Materiality of Transnational Infrastructure Diplomacy: Policy Toward Prosperity at the Energy-Water Nexus
Christine Ortiz, Materials Science and Engineering

Asia in Dialogue
Emma Teng; Sana Aiyar; Tristan Brown; Hiromu Nagahara, History

Local Governance Lab
Daniel Hidalgo, Political Science