Faculty Fellowship Program

The Faculty Fellowship Program provides HBCU faculty members the opportunity to contribute to the Center’s mission of empowering Black entrepreneurship, specifically through research and scholarship. This fellowship supports faculty to conduct  innovative and impactful research, produce peer-reviewed articles, books, monographs, e-books, digital materials, and other content that addresses critical challenges, explores new frontiers, and advances knowledge and scholarship related to Black entrepreneurship. Fellows are selected by each of our four (4) regional centers, and each fellow is given a $10,000 award for their program participation.

2024-25 Call for Proposals

The Howard University & PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship is excited to announce the call for proposals for the 2024-2025 Faculty Fellowship Program. We are seeking innovative and impactful research projects that address critical challenges, explore new frontiers, and that advances knowledge and scholarship related to Black entrepreneurship. This fellowship specifically supports HBCU faculty of any discipline to conduct research, produce books, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, e-books, digital materials, and other content in this area of study. Fellows are given a $10,000 award as a support to their participation and are also asked to present at the Center’s annual conference in 2024 and 2025. 

Fellows are selected on a regional basis, with each region of the National Center for Entrepreneurship awarding at least two Faculty Fellows.

Research projects that could be proposed include, but are not limited to:

• Research which provides insight into the issues, challenges, and barriers facing Black entrepreneurs
• Research which highlights best practices for advancing opportunity for Black entrepreneurs
• Research which studies ecosystem building for Black entrepreneurs
• Case studies, books, article series, and/or multimedia content which feature Black entrepreneurs as protagonists
• Research which investigates entrepreneurship education at HBCUs and considers best practices
• Research which considers the financing and funding of Black-owned businesses

Guidelines for Application Submission

The following should be prepared as a part of the fellowship application: 

• A project proposal not exceeding four typed double-spaced pages detailing the scope of work for the research project
• A recent CV/resume

Proposal Structure

The proposal (limited to four pages) shall contain three main sections as set forth below.

1. Introduction
   • Statement of the problem and research question(s) to be addressed
   • Major objectives of the research project
   • Significance of the project in relation to the current state of knowledge.
2. Research Design and Methodology
   • Research methodology, including hypotheses to be tested (if applicable)
   • Data and sources, collection, and analysis
3. Timeline of project activities and expected date of completion of project

NOTE: Fellowship award decisions will solely be made by the National Center for Entrepreneurship team, not by PNC Foundation, PNC Bank or its affiliates. 

Proposal Submission (Extended) Deadline: January 28, 2024

2023-24 Faculty Fellows