Description

There will be two Rita Allen Civic Science Fellows at the Morgridge Institute; each is a full time 18-month fellowship position focusing on evidence-based approaches to communicating about science in polarized political or information environments. The fellows will develop and empirically evaluate real-world strategies for public engagement with science that meaningfully connects communities across different ideological or value-based fault lines.

The Civic Science Fellows are emerging leaders from diverse demographic, cultural, and professional backgrounds. They are thought leaders, bridge builders, change agents, and communicators working to learn about community priorities and scientific research and bring those worlds together on equal footing to create fundamentally new ways of solving problems. The Fellows spend 18 months experimenting with new evidence-based approaches in science communication and community engagement in order to co-create strong, diverse, and inclusive connections between science and civic life (https://civicsciencefellows.org/).

One Fellow will be embedded in the Science Communication Incubator Lab (SCI Lab), while the other will be embedded in the Community Engagement group. The SCI Lab and Community Engagement teams collaborate to create research-informed science engagement programs that connect the scientific enterprise with the public. The selected individuals must be able to begin employment no later than September 1, 2026.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Co-create opportunities for the public to meaningfully engage with scientists at the Morgridge Institute for Research, especially in ways that bridge different ideological backgrounds.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of such programming and create case studies and other documentation that will enable other practitioners to deploy similar programs.
• Conduct literature reviews, (co-)author publications, and disseminate information to appropriate entities
• Collects and analyzes complex research data according to established policies and procedures
• Coordinates collaborations with external partners and stakeholders and with related projects and collaborators at UW
• Works in close collaboration with Morgridge Institute investigators and practitioners to increase community engagement and inform the programs and communications at Morgridge and the University of Wisconsin-Madison more broadly

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each primary duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary duties.

Education and Experience:

• A PhD in a social sciences discipline, such as (the science of) science communication, , formal or informal science education, psychology, sociology, political science, computational social science, or another position-relevant discipline. Those with relevant experience alongside doctorate degrees in natural sciences or engineering can also be considered.
• Experience in scholarly or on-the-ground engagement with communities that might see themselves as disconnected from science, based on real or perceived divides across value-based, ideological, or demographic differences
• Experience in creating informal science programming is a plus.
• Experience in research program or project management is a plus.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Interest in connecting science communication research and practice
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate or create science engagement programming.
• Demonstrated ability to design, conduct, and publish high-quality social scientific research
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, particularly the ability to communicate scientific information effectively with expert and lay audiences
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment, and develop positive relationships with co-workers

Working Conditions and Physical Effort:

• No or very limited physical effort is required
• No or very limited exposure to physical risk