The National Fellowship Program supports outstanding scholars at leading institutions of higher education who are completing dissertations in United States politics, with an emphasis on historical and institutional analyses of politics, public policy, and foreign relations.
Under the leadership of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, the National Fellowship Program:
- Funds up to four National Fellows per year to support dissertation research and writing
- Awards each Fellow a stipend of $30,000 in their first year; $30,000 should they qualify for a second year
- Pairs each Fellow with a renowned senior scholar in his or her field. These senior scholars serve as Mentors, suggesting relevant literature to frame the Fellows’ work, offering a critique of the Fellows’ writings, and providing general advice on research.
- Supports Fellows in assembling collaborative research networks focused on their area of expertise as it concerns broader policy-facing publics. In addition to the Fellow, who is responsible for leading and maintaining the network, and the Mentor, who will assist in recruiting collaborators, networks may include former Fellows, Mentors, and faculty as well as graduate students of the University of Virginia.
- Provides Fellows with training in skills relevant to leadership in academic research and institutions of higher education and policy-making more generally. Skills may include grant writing, data analytics, budgetary and statistical analysis, and public engagement (including social media curation, crafting op-eds and blogs, as well as expressing ideas through techniques employed by the digital humanities).
- Provides up to $5,000 in research funds.
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2025
An applicant must be a Ph.D. candidate who is either expecting to complete his or her dissertation by the conclusion of the Fellowship year or has outlined a detailed and workable two-year write-up plan that is persuasively documented. This is not a post-doctoral fellowship. Non-U.S. citizens are eligible to apply. Each Fellow will work with a Mentor to assemble a network of scholars focused on an area of her/his research expertise as it engages significant policy-facing questions. A meeting at U.Va., or the Hagley for the Galambos Fellow in the fall, will set the agenda for year-long collaboration and recruitment of additional network members, who may subsequently meet for virtual reading groups, workshops, conference panels, symposia, manuscript workshops, or similarly focused activities. Expenses for network events and activities are paid for by a dedicated budget for each Fellow.