Stanford Impact Labs Welcomes Eighth Cohort of Faculty Fellows

Every year, Stanford Impact Labs (SIL) works closely with a cohort of Stanford researchers through our Design Fellowship, a program for faculty who want to explore how their research can move beyond insight toward action. 

To date, 66 faculty from across the university have taken part in the fellowship, which was built for researchers who share a defining motivation: the drive to contribute science to society in a manner that yields real-world impact. Through workshops, one-on-one support from SIL staff and $50,000 in start-up funding, the fellowship supports faculty to clarify the practical potential of their work, engage the people and organizations beyond the university who can use it, and build the relationships necessary to shape research that responds to tangible needs.

“Our aim with the design fellowship is to offer a level of support and professional development that complements traditional academic training,” explains Matthew Gentzkow, the Landau Professor of Technology and the Economy, and SIL faculty director. “We’ve seen time and again how the program gives faculty the space and structure to step back, invest in learning from and with collaborators beyond the university, and design research that not only advances scientific knowledge but provides the insights that policymakers or practitioners are seeking.”

We are delighted to introduce this year’s cohort of fellows and the research projects they bring to the fellowship:

Claire Adida, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Professor (by courtesy) of Political Science, will collaborate with organizations including the International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps to evaluate interventions that support refugees, deportees, and returnees in newly reshaped migration-destination countries.

Michael O. Allen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, will work with policy stakeholders in Uganda and across Africa to design frameworks that strengthen, rather than substitute for, public legal institutions serving ordinary citizens and small businesses.

Xavier Basurto, Professor of Environmental Social Sciences, will work with governments and fishing organizations in Mexico to help small-scale fishing communities build stronger, self-sustaining organizations that secure their access to vital resources.

Douglas R. Guilbeault, Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Business, will support mission-driven organizations to map the social network structures that shape behavior change and integrate that science into initiatives on issues from vaccine adoption to misinformation.

Benny Kleinman, Assistant Professor of Economics, will work with international organizations to better understand how rising restrictions on skilled immigration and multinational activity affect global innovation, and to inform policies that sustain it.

Meira Levinson, Professor in the Graduate School of Education, will work with teachers, school and district leaders, policymakers, and education technology entrepreneurs to connect them with the people and research needed to build more ethical practices and policies in education.

Katharine Sadowski, Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education, will work with state education and early-childcare agencies to help evaluate policies that strengthen both access to childcare, and the workforce that sustains it.

Rebecca Tarlau, Associate Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education, will work with rural education institutions across Latin America to support the development of programs that equip young people with the knowledge and skills to live a dignified life in rural settings and adapt to sustainable agricultural production.