ICDE Fellowship Program 2026–2027

The Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy (ICDE) at The New School invites applications for its 2026–2027 Fellowship Program, a global research initiative exploring how cooperatives, unions, and solidarity-economy organizations engage with digital systems, including AI and data-intensive infrastructures.

The fellowship emphasizes empirical, comparative, and interdisciplinary research, supporting projects that produce rigorous, real-world insights and public-facing outputs relevant to practitioners, organizations, and academic audiences.

Fellows participate remotely throughout the year, with required in-person attendance at the Platform Cooperativism Consortium Conference in Bangkok, Thailand (Nov 12–15, 2026).

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Who Can Apply

• Ph.D. candidates, post-docs, junior and early-career faculty

• Applicants with equivalent research experience

• Collaborative or paired applications are welcome

Applicants should demonstrate:

• Engagement with cooperatives, unions, or solidarity-economy initiatives

• Strong research questions grounded in real-world cases

• Capacity to contribute to a collaborative cohort

• Familiarity with cooperative, labor, or solidarity-economy contexts

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Research Focus Areas

ICDE welcomes proposals in areas including:

• Worker-led AI and cooperative AI systems

• AI systems within platform cooperatives

• Analysis of stalled or failed platform cooperatives

• State-facilitated or public-interest platform cooperatives

• Measuring impact and viability of cooperative enterprises

• Global South–grounded research and South–South cooperation

• Imagining the “Solidarity Stack”: federated, democratically governed digital infrastructure

Fellows are expected to produce a substantial research output (8,000–10,000 words) plus at least one public-facing contribution such as a blog post, policy brief, workshop, or resource for cooperatives.

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Fellowship Benefits

• Mentorship from ICDE faculty, senior researchers, and fellows

• Access to a global network of scholars, cooperators, and policymakers

• Opportunities for collaboration on research sprints, publications, and events

• Travel support to attend the Bangkok PCC Conference (conference costs only)

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Application Details

• Deadline: January 20, 2026 (11:59 pm ET)

• Application requirements:

  • CV (max 4 pages)

  • 1–2 page research proposal (including research question, case study, methods, timeline, and relevance)

  • One writing sample

  • Contact info for two references

• How to Apply: Submit via the ICDE online form

• APPLY HERE

Information Session: Early January 2026 (details on ICDE website)

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Why Apply

This fellowship is ideal for scholars committed to building cooperative, democratic, and solidaristic digital futures, connecting academic research with practical applications in platform cooperativism and solidarity economies.

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