FEDERAL AGENCY:

THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS

AUTHORIZATION:

Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968, Public Law 90-637, 82 Stat. 1356; 82 Stat. 1357, 20 U.S.C. 80c-80j.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars was established by Congress to symbolize and strengthen "the fruitful relationship between the world of learning and the world of public affairs." It aims, in a strictly nonpartisan fashion, to foster scholarship and to promote the exchange of views between scholars and decision makers. The Center sponsors research, meetings, and publications on history, economics, politics, international relations, the environment, and many other areas. Fellows from around the world are brought to Washington, DC, to encourage discourse among disciplines and professions. The results of the activities are published. The Center enriches the quality of knowledge and debate in the Nation's capital and throughout the world.

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:

Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant Eligibility:   Individuals from any country are welcome to apply. Men and women with outstanding capabilities and experience from a wide variety of backgrounds (including government, the corporate world, and the professions, as well as academia) are eligible for appointment. Because the Center has no laboratory facilities, primary research in the natural science is not eligible. However, projects that seek to relate the natural sciences to broader intellectual and social issues are welcome. Proposals that represent essentially advocacy are not eligible. The Center normally does not consider projects that represent essentially the rewriting of doctoral dissertations; the editing of papers and documents; the preparation of textbooks or miscellaneous papers and reviews; anthologies, memoirs or translations.

Beneficiary Eligibility:   Citizens from all countries will benefit.

Credentials/Documentation:   For academic participants, eligibility is limited to the postdoctoral level, and normally it is expected that academic candidates will have demonstrated their scholarly development by publication beyond the Ph.D. dissertation. For other applicants, an equivalent degree of professional achievement is expected. An applicant working on a degree at the time of application (even if it is to be completed prior to the proposed fellowship year) is not eligible. All applicants should have a very good command of spoken English, since the Center is designed to encourage the exchange of ideas among its Fellows.

Pre-application Coordination:   There is no official pre-application process. Individuals who have questions about their eligibility or the focus of their proposed research should contact the Office of Scholar Selection and Services. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure:   Applications can be obtained from the Office of Scholar Selection and Services. A complete application must include the following: 1. a completed two-page fellowship application form; 2. a list of the applicant's publications (not to exceed three pages); 3. two letters of references sent directly to the Center by the application deadline; 4. a project proposal not to exceed 5 single-spaced or two double-spaced pages (the most important element); and 5. a completed financial information form (included with the application form).

Award Procedure:   Applications are evaluated by peer review panels.

Deadlines:   The Center holds one round of competitive selection per year. The annual deadline is October 1.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:   Decisions on appointments are announced by early April.

Appeals:   There is no official appeals process.

Renewals:   There is no official renewal process.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Formula and Matching Requirements:   The Woodrow Wilson Center seeks to follow the principle of no gain/no loss in terms of a Fellow's previous year's salary. However, limited funds make it essential for most applicants to seek supplementary sources of funding: sabbatical support, other fellowships, or foundation grants. Each Fellow is assigned a furnished office available every day around the clock. The Center's main offices are located in the heart of Washington, DC, in a smoke-free space. Professional librarians provide access to the Library of Congress, university and special libraries in the area, and other research facilities. Windows-based personal computers or manuscript-typing services are available, and each Fellow is offered a part-time research assistant. Publishing services are available through the Woodrow Wilson Center Press, which co-publishes with Cambridge University Press, the Johns Hopkins University Press, and the Stanford University Press.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:   Stipends cover the length of the residential fellowship.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Reports:   Fellows are asked to provide the Wilson Center with two copies of any publications that result from research undertaken during the fellowship period.

Audits:   None.

Records:   None required.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Account Identification:   33-0400-0-1-503.

Obligations:   (Grants) FY 01 $1,166,000; FY 02 est $1,218,000; and FY 03 est $1,259,000.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance:   In 2000-2001, the yearly support, which included travel expenses and health insurance for Fellows, their spouses, and their dependent children ranged from $20,000 to $60,000.

The Wilson Center has hosted hundreds of scholars working in fields spanning the humanities and the social sciences. Some distinguished scholars of recent years have included Bruce Ackerman, Anatoli Dobrynin, John Lewis Gaddis, Juan Williams, and Gordon Wood. Books written by Fellows at the Center have included David Levering Lewis' W.W. Dubois, Biography of a Race, 1868-1919, and Thomas Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem.

REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:

Annual reports, current Fellows' listing, and application forms are available.

INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Regional or Local Office:   None.

Headquarters Office:   Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20523. Contact: Rosemary Durkin Lyon, Office of Scholar Selection and Services. Telephone: (202) 691-4213.

Web Site Address:   http://www.wilsoncenter.org

EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:

Listed below are a few of the 20 fellows chosen for the academic year 2001-2002. 1) Joel Barkan, Professor of Political Science, University of Iowa. "Early Elections in Transitional Polities." 2) Feroz Hassan Khan, Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs, Strategic Plans Division, Government of Pakistan. "The Strategic Stability Regime in South Asia." 3) Lilia Labidi, Professor of Anthropology and Clinical Psychology, University of Tunis, Tunisia. "The Construction of Public Morality in the Arab World and Africa: Four Case Studies and Their Policy Implications." 4) Rebecca Tsosie, Professor of Law and Executive Director Indian Legal Program, Arizona State University. "Native Nations and Inter-cultural Justice: Toward a Jurisprudence of Indigenous Rights."

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:

1) The importance and originality of the project (the quality of the project proposal and the degree to which the key questions have been identified and a promising approach outlined); 2) the applicant's scholarly promise, capabilities, achievement, and ability to accomplish the proposed project; and 3) the likelihood that the work, when completed, will advance basic understanding of the topic under study. The Center devotes special attention to the exploration of three prominent themes: governance; the U.S. role in the world and issues of partnership and leadership; key long-term future challenges confronting the United States and the world. Projects should involve fresh, critical research, both in terms of the overall field and of the author's previously published work. The Center welcomes projects that transcend narrow specialties and do not represent essentially technical, methodological issues of interest only within a specific academic discipline. The main criterion is the general importance of the project-will it change our understanding of a problem that is fundamental for society and important to the United States.