Are you interested in working in the field of national and international security? Whether you are a student, scholar or young professional, these 18 fellowships offer opportunities to advance your career in international security, foreign policy, peacekeeping, cybersecurity, preparedness, immigration or homeland security, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Intelligence and Cybersecurity Diversity Fellowship Program
Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship
The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship is a highly-competitive national fellowship program that provides college graduates with the opportunity to gain a Washington perspective on key issues of peace and security. Twice yearly, the Fellowship’s Board of Directors selects a group of outstanding individuals to spend 6-9 months in Washington. Supported by a salary, the fellows serve as full-time junior staff members at the participating organization of their choice. The program also arranges meetings for the fellows with policy experts. Application deadlines in October and January.
Boren Scholarships
Boren Scholarships provide funding to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Boren Scholars represent a variety of academic backgrounds, but all are interested in studying less commonly taught languages. Max scholarship awards are $8K for a summer program (special initiative for STEM students only), $10K for a semester and $20K for a full academic year. Boren Scholars commit to working in the federal government for at least 1 year after graduation.
Boren Fellowships
Boren Fellowships provide up to $24,000 to U.S. graduate students to add an important international and language component to their graduate education through specialization in area study, language study, or increased language proficiency. Boren Fellowships support study and research in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East, with a focus on studying less commonly taught languages. Boren Fellowship awards are made for a minimum of 12 weeks and maximum of 24 months.
CFR International Affairs Fellowship in Nuclear Security
The International Affairs Fellowship in Nuclear Security (IAF-NS), sponsored by the Stanton Foundation, offers university-based scholars valuable hands-on experience in the nuclear security policymaking field and places selected fellows in U.S. government positions or international organizations. The IAF-NS is only open to faculty members with tenure or on tenure-track lines at accredited universities. Qualified candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are eligible to work in the United States and be between the ages of 29 and 50. The duration of the fellowship is 12 months and the program awards a stipend of $125,000.
CFR Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship
The Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship Program offers young scholars studying nuclear security issues the opportunity to spend a year at the Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR) offices in New York City or Washington, DC, conducting policy-relevant research. Fellows will lead a project of their own design, conduct original research, and write at least one policy relevant document. Approximately 3 fellowships are awarded each year and include stipends of $100,000 for junior (non-tenured) faculty; $75,000 for post-doctoral; and $50,000 for pre-doctoral fellows.
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowships
As a means of increasing the number of U.S. citizens and nationals trained in science and engineering disciplines of military importance, the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to award approximately 200 new three-year graduate fellowships. The DoD will offer these fellowships to individuals who have demonstrated the ability and special aptitude for advanced training in science and engineering. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowships are awarded to applicants who will pursue a doctoral degree in, or closely related to, an area of DoD interest
Rotary Foundation Global Grant Scholarship
Global grant scholarships fund international coursework or research at a graduate level or its equivalent for a term of one to four academic years. Global grants also may support vocational training teams, which are groups of professionals traveling abroad to either learn more about their profession or teach locals. The field of study must align with one or more of the following areas of focus: Peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy and economic and community development.
Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations
The Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship offers qualified students pursuing a career in international relations the opportunity to spend a summer in professional fellowship positions with a Member of Congress or in the State Department or other agencies. Candidates for the Fellowship must be a graduate student in international relations who plans to continue his or her education after the summer internship. Students may obtain applications through the career director’s office of participating schools.
Hertog War Studies Program
The War Studies Program, run by the Institute for the Study of War, aims to educate undergraduate students about the theory, practice, organization, and control of war and military forces. Over the course of the seven-week summer program in Washington, DC, students will learn from and interact with distinguished senior leaders in the national security and military communities, including retired generals and leading intellectuals. Fellows receive a stipend in addition to housing and some meals. College juniors, seniors and very recent graduates are eligible.
Hertog Advanced Institutes
The Hertog Advanced Institutes offer exceptional students and professionals, from a broad range of academic and professional backgrounds, an opportunity to engage in the serious discussion of a topic in public policy or political theory with established experts in the field. The two weeklong seminars take place in Washington, DC and New York City during the spring and summer. Institute participants are eligible to receive a stipend to cover travel and lodging. Applicants may include those pursuing study or careers in public policy, including national security and economics, academia, journalism, law, business, and military. Open to international applicants proficient in English.
World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship
The World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship program is an annual grant competition to support Ph.D. dissertation research on American foreign policy, international relations, international security, strategic studies, area studies, and diplomatic and military history. The fellowship’s objective is to support the research and writing of policy-relevant dissertations through funding of fieldwork, archival research, and language training. In evaluating applications, the Foundation will accord preference to those projects that could directly inform U.S. policy debates and thinking. The Foundation will award up to twenty grants of $7,500 each.
Belfer Center Fellowships
The Center offers both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral research fellowships for one year, with a possibility for renewal. Applications for fellowships are welcome from recent recipients of the Ph.D. or equivalent degree, university faculty members, and employees of government, military, international, humanitarian, and private research institutions who have acquired appropriate professional experience. The Belfer Center seeks applications from political scientists, lawyers, economists, those in the natural sciences, and others of diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The Center offers 10-month stipends of $20-$34K.
Kroc Institute’s Visiting Research Fellows Program
The Kroc Institute’s Visiting Research Fellows Program brings outstanding scholars focused on peace research to the University of Notre Dame during each academic year. We seek applications from scholars working on peace processes, peacebuilding in the context of armed conflict, and post-conflict transformation. Junior fellows receive a stipend of $25,000 per semester; senior fellows receive $30,000 per semester. Housing is provided in furnished Institute apartments at no cost. Fellows have library and Internet access and document retrieval services.
Jennings Randolph (JR) Peace Scholarship Dissertation Program
Each year, the United States Institute of Peace awards approximately 10 Peace Scholar Fellowships to students enrolled in U.S. universities who are researching and writing doctoral dissertations on topics related to international conflict management and peacebuilding. Proposals from all disciplines are welcome. Fellowships last for 10 months, starting in September. Peace Scholar Awards are currently set at $20,000 for 10 months and are paid directly to the individual.
Anna Sobol Levy Foundation Fellowships
The Anna Sobol Levy Foundation provides fellowships to U.S. citizens who are college graduates to pursue a master’s degree in English at the prestigious IDC Herzliya’s Raphael Recanati International School, located near Tel Aviv. The Fellowship covers tuition at the IDC (up to $16,000). Levy Fellows must enroll in one of the IDC’s security-related MA programs: (1) counter-terrorism and homeland security, or (2) diplomacy and conflict studies. Candidates must be U.S. citizens under age 30 at the time application and should have studied in the fields of military studies, economic geography, international relations, political science, history, or similar fields.
POSCO Visiting Fellowship Program
The Program invites outstanding scholars and policy makers to engage in policy-relevant, contemporary research on political, security, and economic issues in Northeast Asia, as they relate to Korea. POSCO visiting fellows are in residence at the East-West Center in Honolulu for 1-2 months and undertake research and writing on an agreed topic. Fellows are provided with a stipend and round trip economy airfare between their home base and Honolulu. POSCO Visiting Fellows will be required to prepare a quality paper addressing the issues as outlined above or developed in his or her proposal to be published in academic journals or in book format.
Foreign Policy Interrupted Fellowship
Foreign Policy Interrupted’s Fellowship program for women is targeted to diversifying voices and opinions in the foreign policy space. The program has two core components: a 6-week online educational module that includes media training, a guide to understanding the media, and brand building; and a non-resident 1-3 month “externship” with a major media outlet. Fellows are matched with an editor and/or producer with whom she’ll work to develop her expertise for print and/or on-camera appearances. FPI’s Fellows Program is open to women 26 and older experienced in foreign policy and international affairs. US citizens and non-US citizens fluent in English are eligible.
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