Fostering Opportunities to Reimagine Graduate Education (FORGE) Program

Overview

The Fostering Opportunities to Reimagine Graduate Education (FORGE) Program is a new Graduate School initiative designed to spark ambitious, field‑advancing ideas that strengthen doctoral education at Cornell. By offering fellowship funding for cohort‑based, faculty‑led initiatives, the program aims to promote vibrant intellectual communities, support cutting‑edge interdisciplinary research and training, and attract and retain outstanding doctoral students.

A set of frequently asked questions about FORGE is available below.

Through a call for proposals open to cross‑field faculty teams, the program will provide up to five one-year fellowships (or 10 one-semester fellowships) per award to use in academic year 2027-28, with the option of up to two additional academic years of commensurate funding. Fellowships may be used in the early years of doctoral education to enhance recruitment or provide additional training that can meaningfully shape students’ scholarship, research, and professional development, or at later stages of doctoral study depending on the proposed program structure. The FORGE program intends to inspire faculty to design new, academically rigorous enhancements to the doctoral experience, or reimagine existing programs, while alleviating teaching and research assistantship expectations for graduate students.

We are particularly interested in supporting proposals that have the potential to seed longer-term doctoral curricular innovation or student training opportunities, including the development of innovative educational models and interdisciplinary training programs. This should include integration into long‑term program planning and, if opportunities are available in the relevant disciplines, also include concrete plans for future external training or center grant applications.

We encourage innovation and are open to a range of structures. Examples might include:

• a cross-disciplinary collaboration that involves doctoral students from multiple fields participating in a proseminar, two additional courses in a relevant discipline, and a workshop in which they share and critique dissertation chapters related to the topic.
• a program hosted at an interdisciplinary center that seeks to involve doctoral students from multiple fields in a both a core seminar and a lecture series that offers students opportunities to engage across disciplines throughout the year.
• a lecture series, paired with a shared methods course or workshop relevant to the topic, followed by smaller workshops or lab meetings where students bring those methodological approaches back to their own research.

These are simply examples of the kinds of structures we have in mind, and we welcome other approaches that bring doctoral students together across fields around a shared intellectual topic or area of inquiry.

Please read the FORGE program FAQs below and direct any additional questions to gradschooldeans@cornell.edu.

Objectives

• Strengthened intellectual community across fields: Doctoral students experience a dynamic, supportive interdisciplinary network through collaboration across units and fields, helping to address gaps created by smaller cohorts.
• Field-advancing education and research: Doctoral students benefit from new conceptual frameworks, methodologies, and interdisciplinary terrains that meaningfully enrich their educational trajectories and advance their fields.
• Attraction of outstanding students: Distinctive, well-structured cohort programs strengthen recruitment by demonstrating Cornell’s commitment to innovation and excellence in graduate training.
• Sustained disciplinary rigor: Programs deepen and expand the intellectual foundations of their primary fields, and their student cohorts, through innovative new formats and cross-field synergies.

Applicant Eligibility

FORGE program proposals are to be submitted by teams of at least two faculty, coming from at least two graduate fields (exceptions for umbrella fields may be requested), and typically holding appointments in different departments. Participating faculty must have an appropriate appointment or affiliation with Cornell, and at least one of the contact faculty must be affiliated with the identified administrative home (see below). Faculty may lead or co-lead only one proposal per funding round. They may participate as “additional collaborators” (see application form) on multiple proposals, but additional collaborators are not eligible for fellowship lines.

Proposers must commit meaningful time and resources to the proposed program, which may include faculty effort (leading seminars, advising cohorts, hosting colloquia), administrative coordination, or additional commitments.

Proposals must identify a clear administrative home (e.g., a department, center, hub, unit, research institute, or other Cornell entity) that will be responsible for administering the program, coordinating the fellowships, and ensuring a cohesive cohort experience that fosters meaningful connections across fields. Faculty from all disciplines (humanities, social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and engineering) are eligible to apply.

Funding

Each program may receive funding for up to five one-year fellowships (or 10 one-semester fellowships) to use in 2027-28, with the option of up to two additional years of funding of commensurate funding.

Administrative supplements up to $25,000 per year are available. The primary intent is to support the necessary administrative infrastructure, such as staff time and salary, to provide overall program coordination, and support programming and the cohort experience. Additional uses may be considered if they directly support program administration and cohort success.

The Graduate School anticipates awarding up to two proposals in the first cycle.

Funds not used within one year are returned to the Graduate School for reallocation. In the event that the program is discontinued or no longer viable, any unexpended funds will be returned to the Graduate School.

Funding for these fellowships is being made available by the Graduate School without cutting other fellowship lines.

Timeline

• September 29, 2026: Request for proposals opens
• October 14 and October 23, 2026: FORGE information sessions. REGISTER.
• January 18, 2027, 5 p.m. ET: Proposals due
• Mid-March 2027: Applicants notified
• Spring/summer 2027: Initial students recruited and appointed
• Fall term 2027: First programs launch

Review Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed by a faculty committee using the criteria below. Because reviewers may come from a range of disciplines and areas of expertise, the proposal should be written for a broad academic audience and should clearly explain discipline-specific concepts, terminology, and approaches.

FORGE program proposals will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Innovation and Intellectual Contribution: Does the proposed program introduce ambitious, innovative approaches to doctoral education that advance the intellectual or educational experience of participating students? Does it meaningfully engage new conceptual frameworks, methodologies, interdisciplinary terrains, or approaches to research and learning? Do the participating faculty have the appropriate training, background, and experience to meaningfully participate and lead the proposed program?

• Collaborations/Interdisciplinarity: Does the proposed program bring together perspectives, expertise, and students from multiple graduate fields and/or campus units in ways that genuinely enhance the educational experience? Does the proposal establish or strengthen meaningful collaborations among Cornell faculty, fields, departments, centers, institutes, or other units? Is the rationale for the interdisciplinary structure clear and compelling?

• Student Experience and Impact: Does the program have the potential to meaningfully enrich doctoral students’ educational and professional development while supporting timely progress toward completion of the degree (and not extending time to degree)? Does it create a compelling, inclusive, and intellectually engaging cohort experience, and are the anticipated benefits to students clearly articulated?

• Sustainability: Does the proposal demonstrate potential to develop into a sustainable, longer-term doctoral education or training initiative? Does it include concrete plans for future external funding, including training, center, or other grant opportunities, or for incorporating successful elements into longer-term program or field planning?

• Program Design, Feasibility, and Assessment: Is the proposed program well designed and feasible to implement? Are the administrative structure, fellowship allocation, student programming, cohort activities, and faculty responsibilities clearly articulated? To what extent is the budget justification reasonable, well justified, and aligned with the proposal activities and goals? Are the roles and contributions of participating faculty and units clearly defined? Does the proposal include appropriate measures of success and a realistic timeline?

Proposal and Application Guidelines

Please use the submission form to submit your proposal before January 18, 2027 at 5 p.m. ET. Late and/or incomplete proposals will not be reviewed.

Proposal submission form

Have the following information ready to answer or paste into the FORGE program application form: 

• Proposal title
• Lead and co-lead collaborator names, NetIDs, titles, department, graduate field(s), and college affiliations
• Additional collaborator names, affiliations, and email addresses
• Total fellowships requested and duration of proposed program (up to three years)
• If applying for the administrative supplement, amount of request (up to $25,000/year)
• A one to two-sentence summary of the program (45 words max.) for posting on the Graduate School website if the program is selected.

For Upload:

• Proposals should be uploaded as a single PDF document.
• Proposal narrative that is at least 1.15 spaced and no more than five pages in length (see guidelines below)
• CVs for all lead collaborators/PI’s (no more than two to three pages each)
• Letters of support (can be statements or email) from participating department chairs or administrative leaders, and college deans, or their delegate (no more than one page each)
• A detailed budget justification if you are requesting the administrative supplement (no more than one page)

Proposal narrative guidelines: Should not exceed five pages, should be at least 1.15 spaced, 12-point font.

Provide a comprehensive description of the proposed doctoral fellowship program, including:

• Field-advancing research: Provide an overview of the conceptual frameworks, methodologies, and interdisciplinary terrains the program will explore and how these will advance participating fields, and create distinctive educational, research, or training opportunities for students.
• Student learning and program activities: Describe the proposed timeline and faculty engagement and innovative approaches to doctoral education, such as group presentations, collaborative online discussions, co-authored seminar papers, shared research activities, and other forms of intellectual partnership.
• Cohort experience: Describe plans to build an inclusive, collaborative, and intellectually engaging cohort experience that fosters connections and meaningful interdisciplinary exchange across units and fields.
• Fellowships: Specify the number and duration of fellowships proposed, how students will be recruited, how fellowships will be assigned, and the faculty who will participate.
• Administrative structure: Describe the administrative home and framework for administering the program, including responsibility for coordinating fellowships, student programming, faculty participation, and the overall cohort experience. Describe the faculty effort, administrative capacity, and/or additional resources that will be committed to ensuring the program’s success. If you are applying for the administrative supplement, state the amount and explain how these funds will be deployed.
• Assessment: Describe the plans for assessing the program including intended outcomes and impacts, measures of success, and a timeline for assessment activities.
• Sustainability: Describe the plan and timeline for long-term program integration and, if relevant, plans for pursuing additional training grant or center funding (including a link to RFP), if any, for example and NSF NRT or NIH T32. If applying for future external funding, include an explanation of how the program will continue to provide opportunities for both domestic and international students if they receive federal funding.

FORGE Program Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)