Apply for the Gambrell Faculty Fellowship

August 25, 2025
Categories: General News

The Charlotte Urban Institute is now accepting applications for the 2025-26 Gambrell Faculty Fellowship program. 

Generous support from the Gambrell Foundation will provide grants up to $21,000 each for six research projects related to economic mobility and quality of life in the Charlotte region.

Fellows will join a growing group of researchers who contribute to our community’s search for solutions to its most pressing challenges. The results of this research could foster greater economic mobility and an improved quality of life for residents in our region.

[Find the full program details and guidelines here. The application materials can be downloaded as a Microsoft Word document.]

All UNC Charlotte full-time faculty members with the title of assistant professor or higher whose job description includes professional expectations for research may apply for this fellowship. This year, we will consider proposals with a broader focus on quality of life for everyone in the region (see the description in the guidelines).

Important details of the fellowship and application are as follows:

  • The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Friday, October 10, 2025
  • The fellowships will fund short-term research projects (up to 18 months)
  • The grant period will begin on November 1, 2025
  • Projects must contain original qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research.
  • Applicants may submit proposals for original art or performance (NEW!)
  • Projects must feature new and innovative uses of existing data, including administrative data held in the Charlotte Regional Data Trust and publicly available data.
  • Thought work that develops theory or synthesizes research and thinking at new intersections and could lead to research, a book, or art/performance (NEW!) will also be considerd.

If you have questions about this process, contact Elaine Jacobs or Liz Morrell at uiresearch@charlotte.edu.

Since 2019, the Gambrell Faculty Fellowship has named 49 unique Faculty Fellows and supported 30 research projects that represent seven colleges (Arts + Architecture, Business, Computing & Informatics, Education, Engineering, Health & Human Services, Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences) and 22 academic disciplines.

You can read about previous Faculty Fellows here.