Application Process

The application cycle for the 2026 CIIS Fellowship is now open!

Application Due Date: February 27, 2026
Interviews for select applicants: March 16-27, 2026
Applicant Notification Date: April 15, 2026
Fellowship Start Date: July 1, 2026

Application details can be found below and linked here.

See our FAQ page here.

Submit your completed application here.

Who should apply? Clinician or non-clinician early career scientists with a strong interest in a research career that involves Implementation and Improvement Science and a Departmental commitment to their research career development. For this application, early career scientists are defined as either (1) BU faculty at the Instructor or Assistant Professor level or (2) Post-doctoral fellows (either clinician [e.g., MD, DMD, DO, PharmD, NP, etc.]) or non-clinical ([e.g., PhD, DrPH, ScD]) fellows who have a commitment to remain at BU/BMC as junior faculty after fellowship. The CIIS Fellowship is intended to serve as a bridge to a Career Development (K) Award or similar research funding. Applicants are not currently expected to be funded researchers, but to be individuals willing to learn new research skills and pursue IS research as a substantial part of their career goals. Those with an active Career Development Award are also encouraged to apply.

CIIS is accepting applications for two separate fellowship positions:

  • BU Department of Medicine Supported Fellow: Open only to members of the Department of Medicine. The 50% FTE support for this position will be funded 25% by the applicant’s section and 25% by CIIS through Department of Medicine funding. Clinical fellows in their last year of fellowship may apply if they will join the BUMC faculty.
  • Non-DoM Supported Fellow: Open to all eligible applicants across the BU and BMC campuses. The 50% FTE support for this position will be funded fully by the applicant’s department or section.

What is needed for the application?

  • NIH Biosketch
  • A letter of support from Section Chief or Department Chair that outlines:
    1. Local need for an Implementation Scientist
    2. If applicant is a post-doctoral fellow, a commitment to retain applicant as faculty after fellowship (co-signed by applicant).
    3. Total proposed FTE of the applicant devoted to CIIS fellowship (50%) and % FTE support that will be provided by the sponsoring Section/Department as protected research time (minimum 25% FTE for Department of Medicine Fellow, full 50% for non-Department of Medicine Fellow).
    4. How applicant will spend non-protected time (% clinical, administrative, teaching, etc. outside of Fellowship time).
  • Budget that includes anticipated cost of salary support requested from CIIS (for DoM applicants) and support contributed by home Department/Section.
  • Completed CIIS Fellowship Application (linked here).

CIIS Fellowship Application

  • Please describe your plan for career development towards becoming an independent researcher, and how the CIIS Fellowship will play a role in your career development plan (up to 500 words).
  • Please describe your proposed implementation research project. Please ensure you have addressed the domains listed in Table 1 linked here which will be used to evaluate the proposed research project (up to 2000 words):
    1. The care gap or quality gap within the safety net setting to be addressed
    2. The evidence-based or evidence-informed intervention implemented
    3. Conceptual model (i.e., Implementation Science Framework)
    4. Stakeholder priorities, engagement, and readiness for change
    5. Implementation strategy(ies) to be tested
    6. Your experience with the setting, intervention, and implementation strategies
    7. Proposed outcomes, measurement and analysis plan
  • Please describe your current methodological strengths and the areas you are looking to improve upon with the CIIS Fellowship (200 words).

Criteria for Selection

  • Plan for career development
  • Quality of proposed implementation or improvement research project
  • Willingness to learn new methodologic skills outside of content area of interest through collaborative research projects
  • Commitment to actively participate in CIIS activities, including educational seminars, team meetings, etc.
  • Department/Section’s commitment to and investment in the applicant’s research career development