Application
2025 COHORT APPLICATION TIMELINE
Thursday, October 3rd, 2024: Applications Open
Wednesday, October 30th, 2024, 5 PM EST: Applications Close
Note: Some candidates may be invited for a brief virtual interview.
December 17-19th, 2024: Fellows Notified
Fellows are requested to accept or reject their appointment within 24-48 hours of notification.
Optional Open Q/A Sessions
Interested students are invited to attend an open Q/A session to ask their Fellowship questions in real time.
Tuesday, October 8th, 1pm ET
Monday, October 14th, 2pm ET
Can’t attend these but have questions? Check out the FAQs and then email us with any outstanding questions!
PROCESS
The application process for the ClimateCAP Fellowship is done entirely online. There is no application fee or program cost.
APPLICATION ELEMENTS
Application form
Professional and educational qualifications
Acknowledgment of Fellow Expectations
Short Response Questions (500-character max per question, approximately 75-100 words)
How are you currently engaging in climate-related extracurriculars, academics and/or activities?
What kind of work do you hope to do after graduation?
What climate-related questions or topics would you want to explore as a group/individual in the cohort
Short Essay Questions (1,000-character max per question, approximately 150-200 words)
What topic within climate is most important to you and why?
What do you think are the most important levers of change that could positively impact climate in the next 10 years, and why?
What unique perspectives and backgrounds might you bring to the fellowship cohort
A one page climate-action project pre-proposal that includes:
A summary of the proposed fellowship project that addresses impacts of climate change;
How this proposed work is climate-relevant and actionable;
How this idea relates to your broader perspective of how change happens;
An estimation of the time commitment and explanation of how it’s possible within the framework of the ClimateCAP fellowship;
Feasibility of project given time, financial, and scope constraints;
Definition of success for this project at the end of the fellowship; and,
Why this project is value-added to your ongoing graduate studies.
Fellows should refer to detailed project information below for additional pre-proposal guidance.
Brief video statement to introduce yourself, your proposed project, and why it’s a good fit for the program (Videos should not exceed 1 minute)
Shortlisted candidates may be contacted for a brief virtual interview to be held in early December.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING CLIMATE-ACTION PROJECTS
As part of their application, students will propose a project that they want to develop and execute during their fellowship. The project is an opportunity to develop an idea of personal interest which has the ability to 1) enhance the student’s understanding of, and applied experience in, climate and business, and 2) advance climate innovation in the student’s campus, business, or community setting. The strongest projects are those that enhance the student’s climate expertise and can be used as a resume builder. There is no right or wrong project or topic.
The structure of the fellowship will enable students to develop and complete their project with ongoing support from their cohort and mentorship from ClimateCAP leadership. Early in the fellowship, students will be able to refine their ideas and may choose to pursue their project individually or to modify the scope of their project and partner with other fellows. There will be periodic group check-ins and feedback sessions over the course of the year. At the end of the year, fellows will submit and present their project to the ClimateCAP leadership team and their peers.
The climate-action project is self-directed and the project and its outcomes are wholly owned by the fellows. No work is being done for ClimateCAP, but fellows are asked to publish a public output about their project that will be linked to the ClimateCAP website at the conclusion of the fellowship. The format of the output is determined by the fellow in partnership with the ClimateCAP team and will vary based on the project type, but could include media channels such as whitepaper, article, blog, case study, podcast, etc.
Fellows should consider the time and scope constraints of the fellowship and their other commitments when developing their ideas. To guide fellows in scoping the size and impact of their projects, fellows should target projects that will take approximately 2-4 hours a week during the school year and 1-2 hour a week during the summer. These guidelines are for the fellows’ project management benefit and there is no requirement of hours or tracking of time spent on the project.
Projects do not need to be new or standalone ideas. The project may include working on the fellows’ startup, but it should not consist of work they are being paid to do from another source (either at the university or an external entity). The project may not include content that is being developed under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or proprietary information under a client consulting agreement.
Potential projects could include, for example:
Research and/or publication projects on topics related to climate change and business risk/innovation
Business planning and/or launch of a new climate-related business or social enterprise
Projects that create new curricular or extracurricular learning opportunities on climate topics, either at the Fellows’ home school or at a consortium of schools/general audience
Projects that broaden the reach and impact of the ClimateCAP initiative itself
Here are some insights from previous fellows: an analysis of blue bonds to boost investment in ocean conservation, the implementation of hospital waste reduction pilot project, a discussion on the ClimateCAP Fellowship, a self-reflection on career experimentation in business school, an exploration of the investment potential of regenerative agriculture, and the launch of NetaCarbon.