We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Spring 2026 Early Career Scholarship and Early Career Scholarship Symposium Grants.
In response to the rapidly evolving research and funding landscape, and in line with the Office’s ongoing commitment to helping faculty navigate change and achieve scholarly success, in Spring 2026, the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement launched a mini-grant program to support faculty as they explore new approaches to sustaining and advancing their scholarly work.
Early career faculty could apply for two categories of small grants:
Scholarship Grants supported the cost of resources needs in support of advancing scholarship including equipment, reagents, supplies, travel, staffing, and event and registration costs.
Scholarship Symposium Grants supported proposals to share faculty scholarship and engage with colleagues in the Columbia academic community and beyond.
The enthusiastic response to this opportunity underscored both the challenges facing researchers across disciplines and the innovative ways faculty are adapting to meet them. The awarded projects reflect a wide range of strategies, including developing interdisciplinary collaborations, strengthening proposal competitiveness, and exploring emerging areas of research and engagement.
We are pleased to recognize the faculty members selected for these grants and thank the panel of reviewers for their time and commitment to this vision.
Paris Adkins-Jackson, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Sociomedical Sciences
Vanessa Agard-Jones
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Sabrina Hermosilla, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health
Eunji Kim
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Charles H. Lea III
Assistant Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Xuelin Li
Assistant Professor of Business, Finance Division
Tianyi Lin
Assistant Professor
Jin Xu
Jane and Leopold Swergold Associate Professor of Chinese Art History
Makeda Tekle-Smith
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Yuan Zhang
Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center
Zoey Yiyuan Zhou
Assistant Professor of Climate, Columbia Climate School
Nina Alvarez
Assistant Professor of International Journalism
Symposium: "Covering Sexual Violence: Ethics, Power, and Accountability in Reporting"
Kacie L. Dragan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management
Symposium -"The Safety Net Under Threat"
Nikhar Gaikwad
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Symposium: "Identity and Emigration in Ranked Ethnic Systems"
Oscar Nordness
Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering
Symposium: "Columbia Symposium for Chemistry and Soft Materials Engineering"
The projects above exemplify creativity, resilience, and a commitment to advancing scholarship in a changing environment.
As the funding landscape continues to evolve, the OVPFA remains committed to supporting faculty in identifying opportunities, building connections, and developing competitive proposals for a broad range of funding sources. Please join out mailing list to learn about future opportunities.