International Policy Fellowships: The International Policy Fellowships (IPF) program identifies and supports research by open society leaders in countries throughout the Soros foundations network.

The program strives to build local policymaking capacity and prevent “brain drain” by providing professional policy support and ensuring that fellows have substantial mobility and intellectual freedom while conducting research in their home countries.

The International Policy Fellowships (IPF) program offers fellowships supporting analytical policy research in pursuance of open society goals such as the rule of law, democratic elections, diverse and vigorous civil societies, and respect for minorities.

Each year International Policy Fellowships (IPF) invites research proposals that address critical issues in the development of open societies.

Successful applicants will demonstrate originality, sound project design, and the strong likelihood that their project will lead to significant impact on policy.

Fellows carry out individual research projects within small research teams of 3 to 5 fellows.

Under the guidance of a senior policy analyst, fellows will collaborate and share findings and, where possible, create individual web sites, and organize joint meetings to promote and disseminate their work.

Fellows receive:

• supervision and support from a senior policy analyst;
• optional, specialized policy research and advocacy training courses in Budapest;
• monthly stipends commensurate with local salaries;
• Budget for reasonable research, communications, travel, publication, and advocacy costs;
• discretionary funding for conference participation.

Fellowship Selection Criteria:

• Applicants must be able to demonstrate excellent written and spoken English-language skills.
• Applicants should be able to demonstrate that they can devote the majority of their working time to the project and that other commitments are both complementary to their project and occupy a minority of their time.
• An independent panel of internationally recognized experts will evaluate proposals on the basis of their aims and objectives, research questions, project conceptualization, proposed methodology, contribution to OSI goals, clarity of expression, and qualifications of the applicant.
• Proposals may be country specific or comparative but all should be feasible and justified. Evaluators are looking for innovative proposals that have potential significant impact.

For further details, and application materials, contact: International Policy Fellowships