Grand Challenges Fellowship Program
The Grand Challenges fellowship program is now accepting graduate student applications for Spring 2027! Complete applications must be received by Friday, November 6 at 5 p.m. Application instructions are at the bottom of this page.
Overview
The Grand Challenges fellowship program seeks to engage students in Grand Challenges team research.
The graduate fellowship provides a research assistantship in Spring 2027 at 0.25 FTE/10 hours per week with the option to continue into Summer 2027 at 0.50 FTE/20 hours per week.
The undergraduate fellowship will pay $17.50 an hour for up to 20 hours per week over up to 13 weeks in Summer 2027.
Student obligations
Students will be embedded within the teams and will work on a team-designated research project, meeting at least monthly with team members. In the summer, graduate students will help mentor undergraduate students.
In addition to their roles within the teams, student fellows will attend training sessions (two in spring, three in summer) with their cohort. These in-person, hourlong meetings will teach the students about topics including mentoring, team science, and presenting research. Successful candidates will need to be located in the Albuquerque area and able to attend meetings on campus.
Team Opportunities
Biodiversity Nexus
Biodiversity Nexus links UNM’s natural history collections (biological, paleontological, geological, and environmental) through shared data and interdisciplinary research on environmental change in New Mexico and the Southwest. UNM holds one of the largest concentrations of such collections in the country. They are managed separately, in different databases, with different standards.
Over the spring semester, the graduate assistant will inventory and consolidate quantitative metadata for UNM’s natural history collections, and will document how those collections have been used in inter- and transdisciplinary research. The assistant will compile, for each collection:
- its size and its temporal, spatial, and taxonomic span;
- the databases and platforms that hold its records;
- how data are curated and how outside users can access them.
The result will be a single, consistent summary of what UNM holds and where the data live. The team will use it to plan integrated research, set priorities for digitization, and support funding proposals.
Qualifications: Enrolled in a UNM graduate program. Working knowledge of data management (spreadsheets, databases, R or Python). Interest in natural history collections, biodiversity, or research infrastructure. Biology, earth science, information science, museum studies, or data science backgrounds are all welcome. Strong organization and communication skills.
Eligibility: The fellowship expands disciplinary expertise on the team. Students already involved in the team’s work are not eligible.
Trustworthy AI
The Trustworthy AI (TAI) team seeks a graduate RA for the Spring 2027 semester to support integrative activities of the highly interdisciplinary team. The TAI team includes representatives of every school and college at UNM as well as the Health Sciences Center, and research is divided among three pillars: Trustworthy Communication, Trustworthy Decision Making, and Access to Justice in the Age of AI. The team also includes foundational work including humanities workshops, computing infrastructure, and AI policy.
The RA will be responsible for attending meetings of all three TAI pillars and foundational groups, anticipated to be approximately 5 hours per week. The RA will provide weekly and monthly reports to the TAI leadership and full team synthesizing information across the groups and identifying areas of synthesis for future research.
The primary role of the RA will be to help the team gain a more holistic view of interdisciplinary perspectives on Trustworthy AI. Under the mentorship of TAI faculty researchers, the RA will conduct literature reviews, examine research findings and methodologies across the three pillars, and identify connections, gaps, and emerging research questions. The RA will contribute to interdisciplinary research by critically analyzing existing scholarship and helping develop new research directions that integrate perspectives across the TAI pillars.
The RA will also provide monthly presentations that will be recorded and disseminated to the team members, as well as contributing to the development of a white paper synthesizing research across the TAI pillars and helping to identify opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and future research. The white paper will incorporate scholarly literature, analysis of research findings, and recommendations for future interdisciplinary investigation.
To apply:
Please submit the following documents to grandchallenges@unm.edu by Friday, November 6:
- Your CV (a resume is acceptable for undergraduate applicants)
- A copy of your transcripts (you can print an unofficial transcript in LoboWeb)
- A letter of interest of no more than one page that includes:
- Your name, email address, and Banner ID number
- A description of your research experience and interest in working with a specific team
- The name, phone number, and email address of an academic reference that can speak to your research experience or potential.
Students may apply to work with more than one team but should submit separate letters of interest for each one.
Please contact grandchallenges@unm.edu with any questions about the fellowship or application process.
Please fill out this form to be notified when graduate and undergraduate opportunities are posted and accepting applications!
