Science to Policy

The Civic Openness, Reasoning, and Engagement (CORE) Incubator

The CORE Incubator is a pioneering initiative dedicated to fostering civil discourse and civic engagement at UC Riverside (UCR) and in the Inland region. Led by UCR, in partnership with George Mason University and the Meridian International Center, CORE aims to counter rising polarization by equipping students and regional participants with essential skills in evidence-based reasoning, structured dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving. Through a curriculum enhanced by Meridian’s proven diplomatic training, participants will learn to navigate complex, high-stakes topics constructively. The project will feature Inland Deliberations—a series of public forums in which students, policy experts, and regional stakeholders convene to tackle pressing local challenges. Ultimately, the CORE Incubator will deliver a civic engagement training method that empowers universities across the nation to build durable, resilient cultures of respectful, solutions-oriented public engagement.

NEW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY
APPLICATION DEADLINE: JUNE 12, 2026 AT 5PM PDT

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE • CORE INCUBATOR

DIPLOMATIC SKILLS TRAINING FOR EMERGING LEADERS

Transdisciplinary Craft, Civil Discourse, and Deliberative Facilitation

Grant Funding: Funded by US Department of Education Grant P116J250958.

Context: The Civic Openness, Reasoning, and Engagement (CORE) Incubator advances the Department of Education’s priorities for strengthening civil discourse, evidence-based reasoning, and institutional capacity for constructive engagement with complex public issues.

Principal Investigators: Dr. Susan Hackwood (UCR), Dr. KL Akerlof (George Mason Univ.), Dr. Richard L. Edwards (UCR), Dr. Michalis Faloutsos (UCR), and Dr. Annika Speer (UCR).

The CORE Incubator, in partnership with the Meridian International Center, invites applications from faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students who are policy novices to join the Summer 2026 cohort of the Diplomatic Skills Training for Emerging Leaders. This high-impact, outcomes-driven opportuity engagement, academic leadership, and cross-sector institutional problem-solving.

BRIDGING DIPLOMACY & CIVIL DISCOURSE

In an era where public reasoning and campus discourse face mounting structural pressures, the methods of professional diplomacy offer a robust alternative framework for structured advocacy and good-faith engagement across disagreement.

This curriculum purposefully reframes diplomacy from an instrument of foreign policy into an internalized personal practice. Participants examine how unexamined assumptions and cultural blind spots undermine dialogue—a dynamic as common in a university seminar or town hall meeting as it is in a formal bilateral negotiation. Scholars are equipped to hold deliberate positions, consider counterarguments with rigor, and constructively manage conflict without fracturing vital cross-sectoral relationships.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

VIRTUAL SEMINARS
Six-Week Sequence
Mondays, July 6 – August 10, 2026 2-hour afternoon sessions from 3pm -5pm Combining professional tradecraft lectures, interactive exercises, and guest practitioners.

WASHINGTON, D.C. CAPSTONE
August 17–18, 2026
A two-day immersive workshop featuring site briefings at federal institutions, embassy dialogues, and an exhaustive full-day negotiation simulation.

CORE THEORETICAL COMPETENCIES
  • Evidence Translation & Public Reasoning: Formulating scientific and academic expertise into structured, evidence-based public arguments.
  • Stakeholder Analysis: Mapping complex institutional landscapes to build coalitions across varied professional and cultural disciplines.
  • Deliberative Facilitation: Guiding collective decision-making environments under pressure while maintaining stakeholder legitimacy.

Apply for this opportunity now

core incubator QR code
COHORT SUPPORT & ELIGIBILITY

Funding available for UC Riverside-based participants with dedicated spots for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty who are policy novices across all disciplines. This opportunity fully covers round-trip air travel from California to Washington, D.C., shared hotel accommodations (3 nights), scheduled working meals, ground transportation, and copies of the text Diplomatic Tradecraft .

Apply today!

Dedicated spaces available for faculty members, graduate students and post-docs.

VIRTUAL SESSIONS & CURRICULUM SEQUENCE

The program runs across eight sessions from July through August, combining six virtual evening sessions with a two-day inperson immersive workshop in Washington, D.C. Virtual Sessions (Two-Hour Sessions for Six Consecutive Weeks Beginning in July 2026): Each virtual session follows a consistent, high-engagement structure: a core “nuts-and-bolts” lecture, a guest speaker from the diplomatic or policy community, and an applied interactive exercise or simulation. Sessions are thematically sequenced to build competencies progressively:

SESSION INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS, THEMES & APPLIED SIMULATIONS
Session 1 Introduction to Diplomacy: Overview of U.S. diplomacy, the State Department, and the intersection of knowledge and foreign policy. Interactive exercise: funding negotiation simulation.
Session 2 Multilateral Diplomacy: How international institutions function; benefits and challenges of multilateral cooperation. Exercise: Ebola outbreak multilateral response case study.
Session 3 Connecting Across Cultures: Cross-cultural communication principles applied to academic, civic, and diplomatic contexts; Hall’s and Hofstede’s frameworks. Exercise: Artemis Accords Policy Debate, Part 1 — which nations to invite into initial negotiations.
Session 4 Session 4 Public Diplomacy: How governments and institutions engage diverse audiences; the role of soft power and strategic communication. Exercise: Communications planning challenge.
Session 5 Protocol: Strategic use of diplomatic protocol to build relationships and advance institutional interests. Exercise: Order of precedence activity; Artemis Accords Policy Debate, Part 2 — legally binding vs. political commitment.
Session 6 Internal Diplomacy: Using diplomatic skills to advance priorities within organizations; the demarché as a professional tool. Exercise: Artemis Accords Policy Debate, Part 3 — accession.
THE ARTEMIS POLICY DEBATES

A defining curricular pillar of this program is the three-part structured debate series designed and facilitated by Dr. Jonathan Margolis. Centered around the real-world development of the NASA/State Department Artemis Accords governing responsible behavior in space exploration, these debates force participants to research complex alignments, defend policy positions, and practice civil engagement across acute points of disagreement.

D.C. IMMERSIVE ITINERARY (TENTATIVE)
  • U.S. Department of State: Briefings with Foreign Service Officers specializing in science, space, and global health.
  • National Academies of Sciences: Analysis of how interdisciplinary researchers shape national policy priorities.
  • Embassy and Private Sector Site Visits: High-level dialogues on international cooperation and private innovation scalability (e.g., 3M, Moderna).
  • Full-Day Negotiation Seminar: A high-pressure, simulated multilateral scenario combining all elements of tradecraft.
PROGRAM LEADERSHIP & FACULTY

Dr. Jonathan Margolis

Holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in negotiation and conflict resolution. Served for 30 years at the State Department, notably as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Space, and Health.

Frank Justice & Vishva Bhatt

Primary program directors. Frank Justice serves as Vice President of Open Diplomacy Programs; Vishva Bhatt serves as Senior Program Manager at Meridian.

LONGITUDINAL OUTCOMES & SCALABILITY

Now in its fifth year, this proven program tracks rigorous metric-driven outcomes. Data from the 2024 and 2025 cohorts demonstrated that 100% of standard participant learning goals were fully achieved. Beyond personal development, selected curriculum materials, simulation debriefs, and facilitator guides are contributed directly to the CORE Incubator’s digital library, establishing a robust train-the-trainer framework to scale dialogue on university campuses.

SUMMER 2026 OPPORTUNITY APPLICATION: APPLY BY JUNE 12, 2026 AT 5PM

Apply now

 For Inquiries: email coreinfo@ucr.edu