20-25 residential fellowships on social sciences and humanities
Deadline: October 1, 2011
Through an international competition, the Center offers 9-month residential fellowships. Fellows conduct research and write in their areas of interest, while interacting with policymakers in Washington and Wilson Center staff. The Center accepts non-advocacy, policy-relevant, fellowship proposals that address key challenges of past, present and future issues confronting the United States and the world.
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars aims to unite the world of ideas to the world of policy by supporting pre-eminent scholarship and linking that scholarship to issues of concern to officials in Washington.
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/fellowship-application-guidelines
Application Process
The Wilson Center invites scholars, practitioners, journalists and public intellectuals to take part in its flagship Fellowship Program and to take advantage of the opportunity to engage actively in the Center’s national mission. The Center awards approximately 22-25 residential fellowships through its annual international fellowship competition. Fellows will be affiliated with one of the Wilson Center programs/projects and are encouraged to interact with policy makers in Washington, D.C. as well as with Wilson Center staff who are working on similar research and topics.
Eligibility
* Citizens or permanent residents from any country (foreign nationals must be able to hold a valid passport and obtain a J1 Visa)
* Men and women with outstanding capabilities and experience from a wide variety of -backgrounds (including government, the corporate world, professions, and academia)
* Academic candidates holding a Ph.D. (Ph.D. must be received by the application deadline of October 1)
* Academic candidates demonstrating scholarly achievement by publications beyond their doctoral dissertations
* Practitioners or policymakers with an equivalent level of professional achievement
* English proficiency as the Center is designed to encourage the exchange of ideas among its fellows
Ineligibility
* Applicants working on a degree (even if the degree is to be awarded prior to the proposed fellowship year)
* Proposals of a partisan or advocacy nature
* Primary research in the natural sciences
* Projects that create musical composition or dance
* Projects in the visual arts
* Projects that are the rewriting of doctoral dissertations
* The editing of texts, papers, or documents
* The preparation of textbooks, anthologies, translations, and memoirs
Selection Process
Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis. External interdisciplinary panels of distinguished scholars and practitioners assess the applications. The panels’ recommendations are presented to the Center’s Fellowships Committee of the Board of Trustees, composed of public officials who serve ex officio, citizens appointed by the President of the United States, and citizens from the private sector. The Fellowships Committee of the Board of Trustees makes the final decisions on selection.
The basic criteria for selection are:
a) significance of the proposed research, including the importance and originality of the project;
b) quality of the proposal in definition, organization, clarity, and scope;
c) capabilities and achievements of the applicant and the likelihood that the applicant will accomplish the proposed project;
d) the relevance of the project to contemporary policy issues.
e) potential as a fellow, including what is the applicant’s potential for participating in the life and priorities of the Center and its outreach in fulfilling its mission.
The Center welcomes in particular those projects that transcend narrow specialties and methodological issues of interest only within a specific academic discipline. Projects should involve fresh research-—in terms of both the overall field and the author’s previous work. It is essential that projects have relevance to the world of public policy, and fellows should want, and be prepared, to interact with policymakers in Washington and with Wilson Center staff who are working on similar issues.
Primary Themes for 2012-2013 Fellowship Competition
The Center accepts non-advocacy, policy-relevant, fellowship proposals that address key challenges of past, present and future issues confronting the United States and the world. Applicants should be aware that the work and priorities of the Center’s activities will be focused on its primary themes. Within this framework, the Wilson Center supports projects that intersect with contemporary policy issues and provide the historical and/or cultural context for some of today’s significant public policy debates.
Global Sustainability and Security
* Terrorism
* Transnational crime and citizen security
* Climate change, natural resource scarcity, and their impact on national security
* Urbanization, migration, and immigration
Regional Power Shifts
* Transitions from autocracy
* Rising powers and regional orders
American Challenges as a Global Power
* American competitiveness and innovation
* Future of America’s social contract: the role of government and the economic future
* Energy: its costs, availability, impact on national security, and prospects for the future
Stipend
The Center tries to ensure that the stipend provided under the fellowship, together with the fellow’s other sources of funding (e.g., grants secured by the applicant and sabbatical allowances), approximate a fellow’s regular salary. Stipends provided in recent years have ranged from $26,000 to $85,000 (the maximum possible). Stipends include round trip travel for fellows. If spouses and/or dependent children will reside with the fellow for the entire fellowship period, money for their travel will also be included in the stipend. In addition to stipends, the Center provides 75 percent of health insurance premiums for fellows who elect Center coverage and for their accompanying family members.
Length of Appointment
Fellows are expected to be in residence for the entire U.S. academic year (early September through May, i.e., nine months), although a few fellowships are occasionally awarded for shorter periods with a minimum of four months. The Center does not award fellowships for the summer months (June, July, August). Fellowships cannot be deferred, and extensions into the summer months have not been possible in recent years.
Deadline for Applications
The Center holds one round of competitive selection per year. Fellowship applications must be postmarked or submitted online by October 1. Applicants are notified of the results of the selection process in March of the following year.
The Application
Applicants may submit their applications online.
If submitted by mail, a complete application must include the following:
1. the two-page, single-sided Fellowship Application Form; (we strongly recommend typing the application form.
2. a list of your publications that includes exact titles, names of publishers, dates of publication and status of forthcoming publications (not to exceed three pages);
3. a Project Proposal (not to exceed five single-spaced typed pages, using 12-point type); The Center reserves the right to omit from review applications that are longer than the requested page length;
4. a bibliography for the project that includes primary sources and relevant secondary sources (not to exceed three pages);
5. the one-page Financial Information Form.
All application materials must be submitted in English. Applications submitted via fax machine will not be considered.
Woodrow Wilson Center, Scholar Administration Office, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. DC 20004-3027 Washington, DC USA
tel: (202) 691-4170 fax: (202) 691-4001
fellowships@wilsoncenter.org
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/
