Digital Policy Hub Call for Applications: 2025–2026 Academic Year Cohort

Closing Date: Monday March 3, 2025

About the Digital Policy Hub Program

The new Digital Policy Hub at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) hosts a diverse group of emerging, innovative thinkers from the social, natural and applied sciences, providing opportunities for them to further develop their own research, analytical and policy skills. The Hub, in partnership with universities, governments and the private sector, offers a highly collaborative space for undergraduate, masters, doctoral, post-doctoral and visiting (professional) fellows.

Hub fellows will spend periods of up to 12 months linking to CIGI’s existing network of more than 100 fellows and policy experts from around the world. Participants join common seminars and other activities that cut across research, analysis and policy, while advancing their career development. Full funding for academic fellowships is available; please see the program FAQ document for more information.

Research Focus Areas and Approaches

Transformative technologies are rapidly reshaping our world. Many are widely known — although often not well understood (for example, new hyper-connected social media platforms such as TikTok, mRNA vaccines, electric vehicles, blockchain, quantum computing and artificial intelligence large language models). In parallel, the digitalization of almost everything has created a more interdependent, data-driven world.

While broad technological change is nothing new, many current developments are moving at an accelerated pace and on a global scale, outpacing governance frameworks nationally and internationally. There is, therefore, a pressing need for transdisciplinary understanding of governance challenges and opportunities across a wide range of technologies.

The Hub’s research focuses address this need, centering on digital ethics and rights frameworks that assist in identifying and mitigating the gaps between rapid technological disruption and diffusion, as well as the lack of governance frameworks at the national and international levels.

Core research areas include:

  • data, economy and society;
  • artificial intelligence;
  • outer space;
  • digitalization, security and democracy; and
  • the environment and natural resources.

Value of Participation for Hub Fellows

  • Hub fellows will be part of a diverse community of emerging, innovative thinkers from the social, natural and applied sciences, and will have opportunities to develop their own research, analytical and policy skills.
  • In partnership with universities, governments and the private sector, the Hub offers a collaborative, policy-relevant experience.
  • The Hub’s interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary environment will help build broader capacity for a new generation of emerging researchers, including an alumni network.
  • Hub fellows will benefit from exposure to CIGI’s global research and policy community (with more than 100 experts from around the world).
  • Participants take part in frequent seminars and professional development sessions tailored to foster policy making, analysis and research mobilization skills.
  • Fellowships are fully funded (with the exception of visiting fellows) based on 8–12 month commitments depending on fellowship tier (for more information on this, please see our Program FAQ linked below).

Value of Participation for Supervisors

  • Academic supervisors will have opportunities to build connections between their home institution and CIGI’s global network of fellows, as well as to connect to decision makers in the private and public sectors associated with the Hub.
  • Hub fellows will return to their home institutions with new capacities and perspectives with which to pursue their degrees and academic work.
  • Supervisors will be invited to participate (unfunded) in Digital Policy events hosted by CIGI, such as the end-of-term research conference, either in person or online.
  • Supervisors have the opportunity to enrich the Hub fellows’ professional development and research skills through their participation in the Hub.
  • University supervisors and administrators are encouraged to view the Hub experience as complementary to existing academic and research programs.

Program Requirements

  • Hub fellows must attend weekly seminars (either remotely or in person) and engage actively in discussion.
  • Hub fellows must also follow the research output expectations outlined in the term curriculum and onboarding processes. This includes:
    • One research proposal per term
    • One working paper per term
    • Cohort member peer-review of working papers
    • Please note: specificities on research output expectations based on fellowship tier (word/page count, style, etc.) are shared once the fellowship begins, and all works must adhere to CIGI’s Style Guide. The program offers opportunities to become familiar with the Style Guide with ample time for Hub fellows to plan for their submissions (e.g., a Style Guide walkthrough with the organization’s Publications team).
  • Fellows must communicate the roles and responsibilities of the program to their academic supervisor throughout the duration of their tenure at the Hub.
  • Fellows must attend and present at the end-of-term research conferences held at the CIGI Campus.
  • Fellows are expected to support community building within their Hub cohort through active participation in discussions at seminars and in digital spaces such as the Hub Slack channel and LinkedIn group.

Eligibility Requirements

  • Academic fellows — Enrollment at a Canadian post-secondary institution:
    • Academic fellows are those applying at the undergraduate, masters, doctoral and/or post-doctoral levels.
    • Fellows must be able to demonstrate enrollment at a Canadian institution at the time of application and maintain their status as a current student at the institution for the full duration of the program. (This means, for example, that students in one-year master’s programs are generally not able to demonstrate eligibility.)
    • We welcome post-doctoral applicants, including recent Ph.D. graduates. To be eligible, candidates must have completed their Ph.D. at a Canadian institution within the past four years and have current post-doctoral status at a Canadian academic institution at the time of the application and for the duration of the program. The candidate must have documentation verifying existing and official post-doctoral status to access funding via their university.
    • At the discretion of the program, Ph.D. students who successfully defend their dissertation during the fellowship may be able to transfer to post-doctoral fellowship status if ample notice is given and they continue on to a post-doctoral position with the same academic supervisor and academic institution.
    • Canadian citizens, permanent residents and international students with a valid visa allowing them to work in Canada are eligible to apply.
    • In addition to the requirements set by CIGI above, academic fellows must meet eligibility criteria for the Mitacs Accelerate program.
  • Supervisors: Students and post-doctoral applicants must have a supervisor at their academic institution who is willing to supervise them on their proposed project. They must also support their participation in the Hub, act as an applicant and signatory on the funding application, and hold and administer the funding at the academic institution. The supervisor must be eligible to hold a research account at their institution (for example, Tri-Council funding such as NSERC or SSHRC).
  • Disciplines: All academic disciplines will be considered. The Hub cultivates disciplinary diversity in the cohort.
  • Visiting fellows — Government and private sector professionals: Government practitioners and private sector professionals from within Canada are encouraged to apply and will serve as unfunded visiting fellows.
  • Location: The Hub fellow must be based within Canada, and a mix of in-person, hybrid and remote participation is possible to facilitate geographic diversity in the cohort. As there are benefits to in-person participation such as shared office space and meeting the cohort face to face, we strongly urge fellows within commuting distance to attend seminars and events onsite. All fellows will be required to travel to the CIGI Campus in Waterloo, Ontario, to participate in the end-of-term research conferences.
  • Applicants based at an academic institution abroad, please note: At this time, funding only allows for applicants based in Canada and registered at a Canadian academic institution. CIGI is not able to sponsor participants for legal status in Canada.

Application Information

  • Applications will be submitted via SurveyMonkey at the link below.
  • The SurveyMonkey application form will ask for basic information and will require that you upload the following:
    • A cover letter (1 page)
    • Resume or CV (no more than 3 pages)
    • A research proposal (2-3 pages, excluding citations)
      • While we do not have a formal template, please be sure to include the following items in your proposal:
        • clear articulation of research question
        • alignment to Hub research areas
        • research topic background
        • originality of proposed research (particularly at the Ph.D. and post-doctoral levels)
        • research methods
        • policy relevance
      • Tips for a successful research proposal can be found in the FAQ linked below.
    • Two letters of support
      • For academic applicants, one letter must show, beyond their recommendation, the supporter’s intent to provide research supervision and administration of Mitacs funding during the duration of your tenure at the Digital Policy Hub.
      • For visiting applicants, one letter must be from your current employer showing support for participation in the Hub program in conjunction with your current responsibilities. Independent consultants may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
      • Letters of support should be uploaded in the online application — if your references feel more comfortable sending in their letter directly, please have them send it to [email protected]. Please ensure that you have arranged to have all submitted letters at the time of filling out your application. Applications are not considered complete until the Hub team has received all letters.
    • Academic applicants will also be asked to provide documentation verifying active status at their academic institution in the application portal.

Digital Policy Hub Program Info Sessions

The Digital Policy Hub team will be hosting two virtual information sessions to provide an overview of the program, application requirements and research output. Those interested in the program can register to attend and meet several members of the Hub team and ask questions.

  1. First info session: Thursday, February 6, 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET: Register here.
  2. Second info session: Thursday, February 13, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET: Register here.

More Program Information:

The deadline for applications to be considered for the 2025–2026 academic year cohort is Monday, March 3, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Click to apply to 2025–2026 Academic Year Cohort application.

Contact

To learn more about the Digital Policy Hub, please visit www.cigionline.org/digitalpolicyhub.

For additional information or inquiries, please contact the Digital Policy Hub team at [email protected].

Partners

Thank you to Mitacs for its partnership and support of Digital Policy Hub fellows through the Accelerate program. We are also grateful to the John Holmes Trust for the support of fellows whose research focuses on Canadian foreign policy.