IGP Announces 2026–27 Faculty Grant Awards

The Institute of Global Politics and Columbia SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi‑Milo today announced the recipients of IGP’s newest round of faculty grants, an annual initiative supporting innovative research at the intersection of global challenges, public policy, and academic inquiry. Seven projects, led by SIPA faculty and their collaborators, will explore topics ranging from household finance and economic development to the geopolitics of critical minerals, the future of long-term care, electricity grid modernization, democratic leadership, workplace technology, and the politics of extraction in the Amazon.

“This year's grantees reflect the breadth and depth of expertise across SIPA's faculty, from energy markets in the Amazon to the economics of the Arctic,” said Keren Yarhi‑Milo, dean of Columbia SIPA and cofounder of IGP. “These grants are one of the strongest ways for IGP to support scholarship that speaks directly to the challenges shaping global politics today.”

Selected through a competitive review process, the projects were evaluated by the IGP Faculty Advisory Board based on their scholarly excellence, policy relevance, interdisciplinary collaboration, and plans for public engagement. In addition to supporting original research, the grants are designed to help faculty translate their scholarship into policy reports, public events, practitioner convenings, and other products that advance public understanding of pressing global challenges.

“These seven projects share a common thread: they combine rigorous research aimed squarely at the policy questions that practitioners are grappling with in real time. We look forward to seeing where this scholarship leads,” said Jacob J. Lew, professor of international and public affairs and IGP faculty policy director.

This year’s grantees are:

• Fernando Cirelli, assistant professor of international and public affairs – Household Portfolios and Economic Development: This project will assess whether household portfolio choices serve to slow down or accelerate overall economic development, culminating in a research paper for publication in a leading economics or finance journal.
• Robert Metcalfe, professor of energy policy – Designing Smarter Electricity Grids through Real-Time Pricing: This project will evaluate the effectiveness of real-time pricing in coordinating energy demand and alleviating stress on electricity grids, culminating in a policy report, a research paper, and a public webinar presenting the project’s key results.
• Timothy Naftali, senior research scholar and member of the IGP faculty advisory board – The Green Economy and the New Politics and Geopolitics of the Arctic: This project will investigate the international scramble for critical and rare earth minerals by governments and industries as part of global climate change mitigation efforts, culminating in a policy report, a three-part webinar series, and the launch of a dedicated task force.
• Suresh Naidu, professor of international and public affairs, Jack Wang and Echo Ren Professor of Economics – Conditions of Work and Conditions of Care in the Minnesota Long-Term Care Industry: This project will assess the direct relationship between the working conditions of nursing-home employees and the healthcare outcomes of their residents, culminating in a policy report and a dedicated webinar event.
• Nicole Peisajovich, lecturer in the discipline of international and public affairs – The Future of Democratic Leadership: This project will convene leading global scholars and practitioners to critically examine the current state and future trajectory of democratic leadership, culminating in a policy report and a major public event.
• Eric Verhoogen, professor of international and public affairs and of economics  – Leveraging New Digital Technologies to Improve Productivity: This project will explore how social media technology that facilitates internal information-sharing can be leveraged within firms to boost productivity, culminating in a policy report and a research paper.
• Cesar Zucco, Lemann Family Foundation Professor of Brazilian Studies and professor of international and public affairs, and Daniela Campello – Oil in the Amazon: Neo-Extractivism, Public Opinion, and the Politics of the Standing Forest: This project will analyze how political and economic elites across the Amazon basin countries shape public opinion regarding environmental conservation versus economic development, culminating in a policy report and a closed-door roundtable event.

This year’s cohort builds on the momentum of IGP’s inaugural faculty grant awards in 2025–26. In their first year alone, seed funding for IGP’s five inaugural projects has already delivered high-level policy engagement, student training, and groundbreaking research:

• Global Reach: IGP support backed Anya Schiffrin’s worldwide briefings in Paris, Brussels, London, and Kuala Lumpur, culminating in global press coverage and a landmark Data & Society report, Deepfake Financial Fraud. Forthcoming peer-reviewed research from Erica Lonergan in Contemporary Security Policy will further expand IGP’s reach in space domain dynamics.
• Closed-Door Policy Convenings: IGP convened policy practitioners and scholars to address escalation pathways in space warfare, the evolving legal landscape of deep-sea mining, and an upcoming symposium driving a new research agenda for international trade policy.
• Student Labs: Grantees Tamar Mitts and Rumela Sen brought together SIPA and Data Science graduate students for a hands-on workshop on generative AI in India, examining how emerging democracies regulate political communications and AI risk.

Media Contact: Lionel M. Beehner, Senior Editorial Director, [email protected], 212-814-2050