Professional Fellowship Programme 2027 | UG Science and Mathematics Education

Supporting early-career educators in reimagining undergraduate science and mathematics education through mentorship and practice

Details

The Undergraduate Science Educators’ (USE) Network at Azim Premji University invites applications for its Professional Fellowship Programme 2027. The fellowship offers early-career educators and researchers an opportunity to explore new approaches to undergraduate science and mathematics education, develop their teaching ideas, and strengthen their teaching practice through mentorship and hands-on experience.

Moving from disciplinary research to undergraduate teaching often brings new challenges. Educators are required to make decisions about how to teach, engage students, assess learning, and design courses, often with limited opportunities for formal pedagogical preparation. The fellowship seeks to provide a space and support for early-career educators to engage with these questions and work on ideas that respond to their own teaching contexts.

During the fellowship, participants will work closely with a faculty mentor, engage with undergraduate classes, and develop or refine a teaching activity, tool, or resource. The programme combines online mentorship with an on-campus residency, providing opportunities to discuss ideas, learn from teaching practices, and try out and improve their proposed work.

The fellowship is open to:

  • Early-career lecturers and assistant professors currently teaching undergraduate science or mathematics, with up to five years of experience.
  • PhD scholars and postdoctoral researchers with undergraduate teaching or teaching-assistant (TA) experience.

The Fellowship

The fellowship has two phases, combining sustained mentorship with an opportunity to engage directly with undergraduate teaching.

Phase 1: Virtual Mentorship

January – February 2027 | 1 – 2 months

Fellows will be paired with a faculty mentor from Azim Premji University. Through regular online interactions, they will develop and refine a pedagogical idea or project relevant to undergraduate science or mathematics education.

This phase will provide an opportunity to discuss teaching approaches, explore relevant literature and existing practices, and plan how the proposed idea can be developed and tested.

Phase 2: On-Campus Residency

Early March 2027 | Two weeks
 

Fellows will spend two weeks at Azim Premji University, engaging with undergraduate teaching and learning in a university setting.

During the residency, fellows will have opportunities to attend undergraduate classes, interact with faculty, and test and refine the teaching ideas, activities, or resources developed during the online mentorship phase.

Each fellow will work towards developing a teaching or learning resource relevant to undergraduate science and mathematics education. This could include:

  • Classroom activities and active-learning resources
  • Laboratory experiments and teaching resources
  • Learning materials, workbooks, or assessment tools
  • Other pedagogical approaches or resources relevant to their teaching context

Fellows’ work and reflections may be developed into resources for the wider USE Network community. Selected outputs, such as teaching activities, laboratory resources, and reflective reports, will be shared through the USE Network Digital Repository following peer review.

Fellows will receive a stipend. Accommodation and meals will also be provided during the two-week on-campus residency at Azim Premji University.

Important Dates

Applications open

Application deadline

Tentative announcement of results

Fellowship commences (Tentatively)

–

Virtual mentorship (Tentatively)

–

On-campus residency (Tentatively)

Interested applicants are required to submit:

  1. A recent CV.
  2. A proposal outlining the teaching idea or project they would like to develop. The proposal can be submitted in any of the following formats:
    • A typed document of 2 – 4 pages
    • A short video or audio recording explaining the idea
    • Images or other visuals, where these help communicate the proposed idea

The proposal should include:

  • The teaching idea, activity, or pedagogical project you would like to develop or improve.
  • A brief background to the idea, including relevant literature or existing approaches.
  • A proposed timeline for developing and testing the idea.

Your proposal need not describe a fully developed project. We are interested in understanding the idea you wish to explore, why it is relevant to undergraduate education, and how you propose to take it forward. You are encouraged to draw on your own teaching experiences, observations, and interests.

A note to applicants: We encourage you to express your ideas in your own words and discourage the use of AI-generated content. Grammar, writing style, and production quality will not influence the selection process. We are primarily interested in understanding your idea and how clearly you communicate it. If you choose to use AI-generated diagrams for any specific purpose, please make sure to disclose this.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an online interview.

Apply now →

Contact

For any queries about the fellowship, please write to us at usenetwork@​apu.​edu.​in