Fellowships & Programs
BUILD THE PEOPLE
THROUGH WHOM
TRUST CAN GROW.
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SENDRIL designs and operates multi-month fellowships for institutions and funders seeking to develop credible public voices, stronger expert networks, and durable communication capacity.

Each program combines training, mentorship, community, institutional support, and applied work. It is built around a field, an audience, and a public challenge.

Discuss a fellowship  →
01  /  Why fellowships

BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE
AROUND PUBLIC-FACING EXPERTS.

Institutions often hold deep expertise but lack the systems to develop experts as public communicators. The work falls to individual initiative, spare time, and self-teaching.

A fellowship creates structure around that work. Participants receive time, training, feedback, mentorship, and institutional backing. Over several months, they define a public role, understand their audiences, practice new formats, and publish real work.

The value continues after the program. Each fellow becomes part of a wider network of credible communicators. When future public questions arise, the institution has more capable people ready to respond.

02  /  The fellowship model  —  Five connected elements

SKILL, SUPPORT,
COMMUNITY, AND PRACTICE.

01
Curriculum
Practical instruction in voice, audience, story, platforms, production, growth, and measurement.
02
Mentorship
Experienced communicators provide feedback, accountability, and strategic guidance.
03
Community
The cohort creates momentum, shared learning, and a safe place to experiment.
04
Institutional Partnership
Institutional backing gives the work legitimacy, resources, visibility, and a clear public mission.
05
Applied Practice
Fellows publish, present, revise, and build public-facing assets throughout the program.

These elements formed the core of the Museum of Science fellowship model.

03  /  Featured program  —  Museum of Science, Boston × SENDRIL

FROM EXPERTISE
TO INFLUENCE.

Museum of Science, Boston

The inaugural Museum of Science Digital Science Communication Fellowship helped scientists build distinctive public voices and sustainable systems for digital communication.

SENDRIL designed and delivered the program architecture, curriculum, mentorship model, cohort experience, weekly support, and measurement framework.

33
Fellows
12
Mentors
JAN—JUN 2026
Inaugural cohort

The fellowship brought together scientists with deep subject expertise and experienced digital communicators with established public practices.

The cohort began with an in-person convening at the Museum of Science in Boston. Fellows then moved through monthly learning units, mentorship pods, weekly office hours, and public-facing assignments.

Participants developed work across video, social platforms, podcasts, websites, public speaking, and institutional programs. The curriculum covered voice, audience, story, content systems, production, growth, measurement, and misinformation response.

The program gave fellows a structure for answering one practical question through practice.

How can experts communicate inside the current information environment while protecting the rigor of their work?
Cohort 01  /  Institutions represented

FELLOWS AND MENTORS CAME FROM
SIXTY-THREE INSTITUTIONS.

Museum of Science, Boston
Universities & research centers28
MIT Kavli InstituteMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCarnegie Mellon UniversityThe Ohio State UniversityUniversity of WisconsinArizona State UniversityStanford UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard ForestFXB Center for Health & Human Rights, HarvardBrown UniversityPrinceton UniversityHoward UniversityNew York UniversityClemson UniversityThe University of ChicagoNortheastern UniversityNortheastern University Marine Science CenterNC State UniversityBoston UniversityUCLATulane UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityUniversity of California, BerkeleyGeorgia TechUC San Diego, Scripps Institution of OceanographyFlorida State University, Institute of Sports Sciences and MedicineTReNDS, Translational Research in Neuroimaging & Data Science
Labs & organizations14
Centers for Disease Control and PreventionU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyUnited NationsNASA Goddard Space Flight CenterUNESCONSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental InteractionsCenter for Astrophysics, Harvard & SmithsonianSpace Telescope Science InstituteCERNArgonne National LaboratoryMax Planck Institute for Solid State ResearchMIT Lincoln LaboratoryCenter for Synthetic Organic ElectrochemistrySkAI
Medical schools & health systems15
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthInstitute for Vaccine SafetyHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthBoston Children's HospitalMass General BrighamRagon Institute of MGH, MIT and HarvardHarvard Medical SchoolColumbia University Irving Medical CenterNYC HealthUT Southwestern Medical CenterMilken Institute School of Public Health, GWUStanford MedicineIndiana University School of MedicineMcGill University Health Centre Research InstituteFox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health
Museums & cultural institutions06
American Museum of Natural HistoryNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyPioneer Trails Regional MuseumSmithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryNew England AquariumOregon Museum of Science and Industry
04  /  What the cohort achieved  —  Outcomes

FROM HESITATION
TO PUBLIC PRACTICE.

Fellows launched channels, published their first videos, rebuilt dormant platforms, created websites and media kits, appeared on podcasts, and earned speaking and collaboration opportunities.

Among the 31 fellows who completed the outtake survey:

97%
Had opportunities to apply
what they learned
97%
Felt more prepared for
future opportunities
94%
Developed or
strengthened skills
90%
Made meaningful progress
on career goals
97%
Would recommend
the fellowship
100%
Would join future
alumni programming

All 11 mentor respondents said they would consider mentoring again.

These findings document gains in skill, confidence, public activity, and career momentum. Population-level trust remains a longer-term measure.

“This fellowship was the push I needed. I never would have started this journey without it.”
Cohort 01 Fellow
05  /  Partner with SENDRIL  —  Build a fellowship with us

CREATE THE COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE
YOUR FIELD NEEDS.

Every fellowship begins with a public challenge.

Which expertise is absent from public conversation? Which audiences remain underserved? Which experts are ready to build a public practice? What support will make that work sustainable?

SENDRIL turns those questions into a functioning program.

A SENDRIL fellowship can include
Program strategy and theory of change Recruitment and participant selection Curriculum design and facilitation Mentor recruitment and support In-person and virtual convenings Participant communications and office hours Publishing and production systems Measurement and evaluation Alumni and network strategy
06  /  Partnership models
01Design + Operate
#01
Design + Operate
SENDRIL builds and runs the full fellowship with the commissioning institution or funder.
02Co-design + Enable
#02
Co-design + Enable
SENDRIL develops the model, curriculum, mentor system, and measurement plan alongside an internal team.
03Evaluate + Evolve
#03
Evaluate + Evolve
SENDRIL assesses an existing fellowship, ambassador program, speaker network, or public-engagement initiative and redesigns it for stronger participation and output.

Partner types  Museums, universities, research institutions, health systems, foundations, professional associations, scientific societies, and mission-driven networks.

Contact

BUILD THE PUBLIC COMMUNICATORS
YOUR FIELD NEEDS.

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