Your main sponsor must be a permanent Columbia University faculty member, but you are encouraged to have additional sponsors and are certainly welcome to have a secondary sponsor from another university. If you have a research advisor who is not a professor at an accredited institution, please see a CUSP Advisor before submitting your application.
Yes, funding has been applied to group projects in the past, but each member will need to submit their own separate application. Make sure you discuss this with your GSM to verify each member has an equitable role and deliverable.
Scholars without secured internships can still apply for the internship fellowship, and should list in the application all of the internships they have applied for. Scholars are required to inform the CUSP office by May 30th to provide an update on what internship was finally secured for the summer. Please speak with a CUSP Advisor if this applies to you.
If you wish to take an unrelated summer class at the same time as your summer project, be mindful that the pace of summer classes is accelerated, and you should beware of the potential of overcommitment, as well as check with your internship supervisor or PI whether additional commitments are permitted.