Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Just Tech Fellowship 2027

Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Just Tech Fellowship 2027

The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Just Tech Fellowship 2027 is a closed fellowship opportunity preserved here as a historical reference. SSRC’s official program page records the 2027 application window as April 27, 2026 through June 28, 2026, with the last day to submit a full application at 11:59 p.m. EST. SSRC also states that this was the only application window for the 2027 cohort. This page should therefore be read as an archive entry for the completed application cycle, not as an invitation to submit materials.

The fellowship period for the selected cohort runs from January 2027 through December 2027. The program provides a one-year unrestricted award of up to $60,000 to support research, creative practice, or community-engaged work at the intersection of technology and society. The official page describes the award as flexible support for advancing a proposed project, alongside monthly virtual gatherings, individualized mentoring, and one in-person workshop. Fellows also participate in peer exchange, reporting, and evaluation activities.

SSRC has not announced a successor application window on the official program page. No later deadline is supplied here. The verified June 28, 2026 closing date remains in the page metadata so the entry can accurately represent the 2027 cohort without replacing a known date with speculation.

Key details for the archived 2027 cohort

The date in the deadline field is the closing date for the completed 2027 application cycle. It is not a forecast for a future cohort. The official page’s wording is especially important for anyone finding this entry through a search engine: June 28, 2026 was the only application window for the 2027 cohort, so an applicant cannot use this page to submit a late application.

What the fellowship was designed to support

Just Tech supports rigorous, original, and community-grounded work about how technology is designed, governed, used, and experienced in public life. SSRC describes the eligible community broadly. The program can fit researchers, artists, journalists, community-based researchers, social scientists, humanists, technologists, and other practitioners whose work contributes to public understanding of technology and society.

The subject does not have to fit a single academic discipline. A project might examine the social effects of a digital system, investigate technology governance, develop a creative practice about technological change, or work with a community affected by an infrastructure or policy decision. The central connection must be substantive. Technology should shape the project’s questions, methods, objects of study, or public contribution rather than appearing only as a topical label.

The unrestricted structure matters. The award is intended to give fellows time and flexibility to advance a defined project during the fellowship year rather than requiring a narrow line-item budget. A useful proposal would still explain what the fellow plans to accomplish, why the work matters, how it can progress during one year, and how the results may reach relevant publics. “Unrestricted” does not mean unplanned; the selection criteria require a project with credible scope and a demonstrated capacity to carry it forward.

The cohort model is another defining feature. Fellows are expected to make substantive progress while sharing work in progress with peers. Monthly virtual gatherings, individualized mentoring, and an in-person research workshop provide structured occasions for feedback and exchange. The official commitments also include participation in program evaluation and submission of one midterm report and one final report. Those obligations are part of the opportunity’s design and should be considered alongside the financial award.

Eligibility for the 2027 cycle

The official criteria do not impose a formal degree requirement. An applicant could demonstrate readiness through academic credentials, a sustained record of research, creative practice, journalism, community work, or another public-facing body of work. The absence of a degree threshold should not be confused with an absence of experience expectations. SSRC evaluates whether an applicant has an articulated practice, a coherent body of work, and the ability to move a substantial project toward completion.

Citizens of any country may apply. However, fellows must reside in the United States for the duration of the fellowship year. SSRC does not sponsor visas and may not be listed as an immigration sponsor. Citizenship and residency are therefore separate questions: international citizenship is not itself an exclusion, while the United States residency requirement remains a practical condition of participation.

Individuals currently enrolled as full-time students are not eligible to apply. Applicants should also be prepared to make sustained progress on the proposed project while participating in monthly virtual gatherings, mentoring sessions, and one in-person workshop. The program page says that applicants should demonstrate substantive engagement with questions related to technology and society. A strong fit would show that connection through prior work as well as through the proposed project.

Application materials used for the closed cycle

The following package describes what applicants to the 2027 cycle were asked to submit. It is retained to document the opportunity and to help readers understand the standard of preparation SSRC set for that cohort; it is not a live submission checklist for a future round.

Résumé or CV

Applicants submitted a résumé or CV of up to two pages. The useful emphasis for this program was evidence: selected projects, publications, exhibitions, reporting, community work, tools, or other accomplishments that showed a sustained practice connected to the proposed work. A concise document would make the applicant’s role and relevant record easy to assess.

Personal statement

The personal statement could be a written statement of up to 1,000 words or a recorded video statement of up to five minutes. SSRC asked applicants to describe their research or creative practice, primary areas of focus, and the questions guiding their work. Prior projects could be used to show how the applicant’s approach developed. A useful statement would connect the applicant’s record to the proposed project without turning into a general biography.

Work proposal

The work proposal could be submitted as a written document of no more than 3,000 words or as a project deck of up to 10 slides. SSRC’s requested topics were specific:

• A clear description of the central idea, question, problem, or area of inquiry.
• An explanation of how the project engages digital or emerging technologies in substantive ways, including through design, use, analysis, critique, or governance.
• The project’s approach and contribution, including what distinguishes it and how it relates to conversations about technology and society.
• Practical, conceptual, and logistical feasibility risks, with ways to address them during the fellowship year.
• Field context, including related people, initiatives, or organizations and the project’s relationship to that work.
• Public contribution, engagement, dissemination, or evaluation during or beyond the fellowship year.

This structure rewarded specificity. A proposal needed to identify a real line of inquiry, explain why technology was central, and show what meaningful progress could occur between January 2027 and December 2027. The public-contribution section was also important because the fellowship is concerned with public understanding, not only private or internal research activity.

Work samples

Two work samples were required. They could reflect research, creative practice, or public-facing work. Each sample needed a brief description explaining the applicant’s role. The strongest choices would have made the proposed practice visible: they would show how the applicant thinks, works with others, communicates findings, creates an artifact, or engages a technology-related question.

AI use in applications

SSRC allowed applicants to use digital tools for brainstorming, editing, or translation. Submitted materials still had to reflect the applicant’s own original ideas and voice. This requirement placed responsibility for the substance and authorship of the application with the applicant.

How the closed timeline worked

The official timeline identifies four points. The application window began April 27, 2026 and closed June 28, 2026. Selected fellows were notified in November 2026. The fellowship itself runs from January 2027 through December 2027.

Because the window was single and finite, a practical application plan would have needed to work backward from June 28, 2026. Early preparation could establish the project question, technology connection, eligibility, and work samples. A middle drafting phase could develop the personal statement and proposal, test the one-year scope, and identify feasibility risks. A final review could check the page limits, video length if applicable, sample descriptions, and consistency across the application. Those are retrospective planning notes for the completed cycle, not an instruction to submit after the deadline.

Selection considerations

SSRC evaluates more than the novelty of an idea. The published criteria include an articulated practice, project strength, capacity to execute, public engagement, fit with the fellowship, and collaboration. Applicants needed to show a coherent body of work and a project that could be meaningfully advanced during the fellowship year. They also needed to explain how their participation would contribute to the cohort rather than treating the program as financial support in isolation.

For researchers, that may mean translating a complex question into a project with a clear public contribution. For artists and creative practitioners, it may mean explaining how the work examines or changes understanding of technology and society. For journalists or community practitioners, it may mean describing the relationship between evidence, affected communities, methods, and public communication. Across these backgrounds, the recurring test is whether the work is substantive, feasible, and connected to the fellowship’s purpose.

Historical-reference guidance

This entry should remain associated with the 2027 cohort because the fellowship period and award details are specific to that cycle. Readers looking for a future opportunity should consult SSRC’s official Just Tech Fellowship page and confirm whether a new cohort has been announced. The archived entry does not provide a replacement deadline, a new award amount, or a new eligibility rule. It records the last verified application window and the requirements published for that cohort.

The official source remains the Social Science Research Council program page: https://www.ssrc.org/programs/just-tech/just-tech-fellowship/. Questions about the program can be directed to [email protected]. Since the 2027 application window closed on June 28, 2026 and SSRC identified it as the only window for that cohort, prospective applicants should not treat the archived materials as evidence that submissions are currently being accepted.