Building Strong Partnerships for Early Career Faculty
Call for Applications
Extended Deadline! Due Monday August 3, 2026 at 9 AM
The Office of Proposal Development is accepting applications for a 2-day Workshop on Building Strong Partnerships for Early Career Faculty.
The objective of this in-person workshop, to be held on September 24 and 25, 2026, is to strengthen the ability of early-career faculty to develop, manage, and grow effective partnerships. The workshop will provide participants with practical concepts, tools, and peer-learning opportunities. Through facilitated group discussions and applied exercises, faculty will have the opportunity to use these concepts and tools to further pursue their own partnership ideas.
What You’ll Gain:
- Practical skills to design, initiate, and sustain strong, productive partnerships.
- Strategies for defining clear roles, expectations, and value propositions within collaborative relationships.
- Approaches for applying partnership-building concepts, tools and frameworks to real or emerging collaboration opportunities
The workshop will be facilitated by:
Dr. Priyanka Brunese, Founder & CEO, Saath Partners
Priyanka has over 15 years of experience researching and publishing on partnership and research translation approaches, and enabling effective collaboration across sectors. She has guided global organizations in applying these approaches to design holistic partnership strategies and build collaboration capacity. Priyanka founded Saath Partners to make the practice of partnering more intentional, systematic, and transformative across sectors.
Ms. Pallavi Gupta, Co-Founder & Exec. Dir., Saath Partners
Pallavi is a strategist and systems thinker with deep experience helping researchers
and institutions build partnerships that scale. She has led USAID global initiatives,
advised governments and donors, and guided universities in translating research into
impact across 25+ countries. At Saath Partners, she equips leaders with practical
frameworks to create collaborative, high-impact research ecosystems.
Saath Partners is a mission-driven firm that helps institutions translate bold research into real-world
impact through purposeful collaboration. The firm specializes in research impact,
partnership strategy, and systems approaches across academia, philanthropy, and the
public sector.
Eligibility/Certification
Required
- Tenure-track assistant professor
- Completed at least one academic year at the institution
- Research-active
- Interested in developing collaborative research
Preferred
- In Years 2–5 of assistant professor role
- Passed annual reviews in good standing
- Planning collaborative work, interdisciplinary activities, or cross-sector initiatives
within the next 2 years, which could include grant proposals, collaborative publications,
curriculum development, teaching, conference/symposia
Space is limited. Applications must be submitted by 9AM on Monday, August 3, 2026, via the application link.
Selection Criteria:
Applications will be reviewed by a committee and selected applicants will be notified by August 21, 2026, and will be required to confirm participation.
Post-selection Requirements:
Because of limited capacity, confirmation of attendance must be confirmed no later than Friday, August 28, 2026.
If you are interested in this workshop but are not available the day it is scheduled, email OPD_OVPR@stonybrook.edu and we will reach out if this workshop is offered again.