Global MIT At-Risk Fellows Program Palestine

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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 visiting scientists, 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 visiting scientist 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 target date for the first GMAF-Palestine fellows to arrive at MIT is September 1, 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.
  • Were born in Palestine, Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem, or refugee camps.
  • Have a reasonable expectation of receiving a U.S. visa.
  • Are working in a research area represented at MIT.

For fellowships beginning in 2025, applications are initiated via nominations from MIT faculty. If you would like to nominate someone for the fellowship, please complete this nomination form.

Applications are due by January 10, 2025.

For more information, please contact gmaf-palestine@mit.edu

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

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


Dorothy Hanna, Program Manager


Barbra Williams, Program Coordinator


Samantha Menke-Whitney, Administrative Assistant

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