Fellowships
The Wilson Center 2005-2006

The Center awards approximately 20-25  residential fellowships
annually to individuals with outstanding project proposals in a
broad range of the social sciences and humanities on national
and/or international issues. Topics should intersect with
questions of public policy or provide the historical and/or
cultural framework to illumine policy issues of contemporary
importance. While the Center does not engage in formulating
actual policy, it is particularly interested in those projects
that help provide the essential background against which current
issues can be more thoroughly understood (See Themes below).

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

Applications from any country are welcome. Men and women with
outstanding capabilities and experience from a wide variety of
backgrounds (including government, the corporate world, and the
professions, as well as academia) are eligible for appointment.
For academic participants, eligibility is limited to the
postdoctoral level. It is expected that academic candidates will
have demonstrated their scholarly development by publications
beyond their doctoral dissertations. For other applicants, an
equivalent level of professional achievement is expected. An
applicant working on a degree at the time of application (even if
the degree is to be awarded prior to the proposed fellowship
year) is not eligible.

Scholars and practitioners who previously held research awards or
fellowships at the Wilson Center are not precluded from applying
for a fellowship. However, the nature and recency of the prior
award may be among the factors considered during the peer review
process.

All applicants should have a very good command of spoken English
since the Center is designed to encourage the exchange of ideas
among its fellows.

Proposals of a partisan or advocacy nature are not eligible.
Primary research in the natural sciences is not eligible, nor are
projects that create musical composition, dance, or the visual
arts.

Further, the Center does not consider projects that represent
essentially the rewriting of doctoral dissertations; the editing
of texts, papers, or documents; or the preparation of textbooks,
anthologies, translations, or memoirs.

If you have questions regarding your eligibility or the
suitability of your project, please email the Scholar Selection
and Services Office at [log in to unmask]


Selection Process

Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis. Applications are
assessed by interdisciplinary panels of distinguished scholars
and practitioners. 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:



significance of the proposed research, including the importance
and originality of the project;

quality of the proposal in definition, organization, clarity, and
scope;

capabilities and achievements of the applicant and the likelihood
that the applicant will accomplish the proposed project;

the relevance of the project to contemporary policy issues.

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.

Themes

The Center devotes significant attention to the exploration of
broad thematic areas.

Primary themes are:

governance, including such issues as the key features of the
development of democratic institutions, democratic society, civil
society, and citizen participation;

the U.S. role in the world and issues of partnership and
leadership≈-military, political, and economic dimensions; and

key long-term future challenges confronting the United States and
the world.

Priority will be given to proposals related to these themes.
Within this framework, the Center also welcomes projects that
provide the historical and/or cultural context for some of
today▓s significant public policy debates.

Fellows▓ Responsibilities

The Center▓s ⌠scholars in residence■ are so in both name and
fact. Fellows are expected to work from their offices at the
Center and to participate in appropriate meetings organized by
the Center. Fellows are also expected to present their research
at our informal internal Work-in-Progress seminars, and to attend
the Work-in-Progress presentations given by their colleagues. In
addition, fellows are encouraged to make a more formal
presentation to the public such as a colloquium, seminar,
workshop, or other form of meeting. The Center expects all
fellows to seek ways to share their expertise with the Washington
policy community. The form of such interaction could range from a
deep background briefing for an executive branch agency to an
informal roundtable discussion with members of Congress and their
staffs.

Affiliation at the Center

Fellows in residence will be affiliated with one of the Center's
programs/projects. Program and project directors often
collaborate with scholars in designing seminars, conferences,
and/or meetings related to scholars' research. As of March 2004,
these include the United States Studies Division and the
International Studies Division and programs on Africa, Argentina,
Asia, Brazil, Canada, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Mexico, the
Middle East, Russia and the former Soviet Union, and Western
Europe; and projects on America and the Global Economy,
Comparative Urban Studies, Conflict Prevention, Congress,
Environmental Change and Security, Foresight and Governance, and
History and Public Policy, which includes the Cold War
International History Project. Read more about the work of the
programs/projects at the Center.


Location: DC
Deadline: Oct 1, 2004
Website: www.wilsoncenter.org