The competition for the next Wilson Center Pakistan Fellow is currently open.
The application deadline is February 1, 2024.
Thank you for your interest in the Wilson Center Pakistan Fellowship, a nine-month residential fellowship focused on public policy issues in Pakistan and US-Pakistan relations. The Wilson Center Pakistan Fellow may come from academia, journalism, the business or policy worlds, or any category of thought leader or public intellectual. The fellow will conduct research and write in her/his areas of interest (which must focus on public policy issues in Pakistan and/or US-Pakistan relations), publish research through the Wilson Center and beyond, and will have the opportunity to interact with policymakers and thought leaders in Washington. The fellow will also contribute substantively to the Wilson Center’s Pakistan programming and research. Upon completion of the fellowship, the fellow will be expected to have finished a substantive research product resulting in a monograph, a series of articles, or a book.
Eligibility
This competition is open to people from, and based in, Pakistan. Applications will be accepted from individuals in academia, business, journalism, government, law, and related professions. Candidates must be currently pursuing research on key public policy issues facing Pakistan and/or US-Pakistan relations—research designed to bridge the gap between the academic and the policymaking worlds.
The Wilson Center typically expects its visiting fellows to possess the terminal degree in their field. For academics, such as university professors, the terminal degree generally means a PhD But other professions have different terminal degrees; for journalists or business people, it could well be a bachelor’s degree. In exceptional cases, the Wilson Center will waive the terminal degree requirement for highly qualified and unusually talented applicants.
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Applicants must also have at least eight years of professional or research experience. Preference will be given to applicants who have published scholarly books or substantial articles in academic or policy-related journals or newspapers, and whose work demonstrates original thinking on policy-oriented issues of interest to Pakistan and the United States.
Applicants must be completely fluent in both written and spoken English.
Selection Process
All applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be evaluated by a fellowship review committee overseen by the Wilson Center.
The basic criteria for selection are:
- Significance of the proposed research, including the importance and originality of the project;
- Relevance of the project to contemporary public policy issues in Pakistan and/or US-Pakistan relations (proposals focused on non-security issues in Pakistan are especially encouraged);
- Relevance of the project to the Wilson Center’s work on Pakistan;
- Quality of the proposal in definition, organization, clarity, and scope. A clear hypothesis or argument is essential, as is a description of the project’s methodology—how and why is your approach the best way to deal with the issue at hand, and what archives, sources, and techniques do you plan to employ?
- Capabilities and achievements of the applicant and the likelihood that the applicant will accomplish the proposed project;
- Potential of the applicant to actively contribute to the life, priorities, and mission of the Wilson Center by making expert research accessible to a broader audience.
The Application
All applications must be completed online—the Wilson Center will not accept materials submitted via email (with the exception of letters of reference) or by other means. A complete fellowship application form must be submitted online in English, and will include the following:
- A Project Proposal (not to exceed five single-spaced typed pages, using 12-point type);
- A current CV
- Two letters of reference.