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MIT News: Global MIT At-Risk Fellows program expands to invite Palestinian scholars
Launched in 2023 as a two-year pilot, the Global MIT At-Risk Fellows program (GMAF) gives international scholars the opportunity to temporarily engage with the MIT community on campus, with the aim to foster innovation around the world through the fellows’ academic contributions and leadership.
The GMAF pilot program, which initially focused on Ukrainian faculty, is expanding to bring Palestinian research fellows, known as “GMAF fellows,” to MIT. For each year of the pilot, MIT will select up to 5 Palestinian fellows, currently either in Palestine or recently displaced from Palestine. They will each spend a semester at MIT. The research fellow will be paired with an MIT faculty advisor in their field, who will act as collaborator and academic mentor.
MIT covers expenses including travel, accommodations, visas, health insurance, instructional materials, as well as a general living stipend.
The the first GMAF-Palestine fellow, Dr. Shireen Bader Alqadi, arrived at MIT in September 2025.
GMAF Palestine welcomes applications from all qualified faculty and researchers who:
- Have held academic or research appointments at a Palestinian university within the past 5 years.
- Hold a PhD or equivalent degree in a field that is also represented at MIT.
- Are Palestinian
- Legally able to exit the country where you are currently residing in order to travel to the US to participate in this program and have a reasonable expectation of receiving a U.S. visa.
- Are working in a research area represented at MIT.
The application for 2026 GMAF Palestine fellowships is now open.
The deadline to apply is January 15, 2026.
Apply here.
For more information, please contact gmaf-palestine@mit.edu or sign-up for our newsletter.
GMAF Palestine Program Director
Kamal Youcef-Toumi, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Director, MIT Mechatronics Research Laboratory; GMAF Palestine Program Director; Director Center for Complex Engineering Systems; Director, Ibn Khaldun Fellowship for Saudi Arabian Women
GMAF Palestine Advisory Committee Members
Philip Khoury, Ford International Professor of History and Vice Provost for the Arts
Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Tavneet Suri, Louis E. Seley Professor of Applied Economics
Munther Dahleh, William A. Coolidge Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Member, MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS)
Franz-Josef Ulm, Class of 1922 Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Faculty Director, Concrete Sustainability Hub
Haynes Miller, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics
Nancy Kanwisher, Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Investigator, McGovern Institute
GMAF Palestine Administrative Team
Dorothy Hanna, Program Manager
We hope this opportunity will not only enrich both the Palestinian and MIT communities but also benefit the world at large through the fellows’ academic contributions and leadership.
Prof. Kamal Youcef-Toumi, GMAF Palestine Program Director