- Learning/Skill Building (Early Fall) - Weekly training with a focus on Design Thinking, as well as systems thinking, project management, specific skills development like interviewing, qualitative research, teamwork, and more.
- Ground Work (Mid/Late Fall) - Once an issue is identified, Fellows focus on qualitative data collection and ecosystem mapping to understand the challenge via interviews, surveys and focus groups.
- Implementation (Spring Semester) - In the spring, Fellows focus on developing a prototype (which can be an event, app, document, etc.) to test and collect feedback on.
Design thinking is not a linear process and this structure is is a starting point. Cohorts may move through the process in various ways.
Students are hired the year prior. Applications for the 2026-2027 SwIF cohort will open Spring 2026 for all current Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors. Select candidates will be invited to an in-person interview with CIL staff. Decisions will be emailed late April or early May.
Please note you cannot participate in SwIF if you are:
Studying abroad in the same cohort year (but you can apply while abroad).
Concurrently participating in another Swarthmore Fellowship during the same cohort year (President's Sustainability Research Fellowship, Inclusive Excellence Fellows Initiative, Lang Opportunity Scholar, etc).
Holding or planning to hold more than 2 leadership positions or roles with responsibilities in the same cohort year.
- Ashley Rehrig ‘26
- Harrisson Li ‘26
- Natalie Rosa ‘26
- Sammi Chai ‘26
- Lydia Morris-Kliment ‘27
- Mathews Agani ‘27
- Yara Shobut ‘27
- Angela Solorio ‘28
- Dalton Mwangi ‘28
- Imanie Walters ‘28
- Isaiah Moreno ‘28
SwIF is replacing our University Innovation Fellows (UIF) position.
