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Call for Applications: Wilson Center Fellowship 2025-2026

About the Fellowship:

  • 2025-26 Competition now open
  • Apply by October 1
  • 9-month residential fellowships
  • Open to scholars, practitioners, journalists, and public intellectuals
  • Policy-relevant, non-advocacy fellowship proposals
  • Focused on key global challenges

About the Wilson Center

  • Established in 1968 as the official national memorial to President Wilson
  • Linking scholarship to policy issues in Washington
  • Conducts research, organizes conferences, and disseminates content

Eligibility

  • Citizens or permanent residents from any country (applicants from countries outside the United States must hold a valid passport and be able to obtain a J-1 visa even if they are currently in the United States).  (Read more information on visas.)  Please contact the Center if you have any questions about your eligibility to obtain a J1 visa.
  • For Academic candidates: Post-doctoral level and have published a book or monograph beyond the Ph.D. dissertation.
  • Practitioners or policymakers with an equivalent level of professional achievement
  • English proficiency required
  • Ineligibility include musical composition, visual arts, advocacy nature proposals

Selection Process

  • Internal and external review
  • Criteria include significance of research, relevance to policy, programmatic alignment
  • Projects with relevance to public policy encouraged
  • Quality of the proposal and author’s capabilities considered

Benefits

  • Furnished office
  • Located in Washington, D.C.
  • Library, conference rooms, dining room
  • Windows-based personal computers provided
  • Stipend of $90,000 for nine-month fellowship

Deadline for Applications

  • All fellowship applications due by 11:59 pm on October 1
  • Results announced in March of the following year

Application Process

  • Submit application HERE.
  • Application checklist includes CV, publications list, project proposal, bibliography, and reference letters
  • Project proposal should address topic importance, originality, methodology, and relevance