Grand Strategy Fellows Program

Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellows Program

The fellowship in Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft is a one-year fellowship hosted by the International Security Program at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Security Studies Program at MIT. The program is supported by a grant from the Charles Koch Foundation with applicants from political science, history, and other relevant disciplines. It is intended to support research addressing fundamental issues of U.S. grand strategy, foreign policy, and America’s role in the world and we are especially interested in projects that are likely to broaden the contemporary debate on these topics.

Each institution hosts one fellow during the academic year ’22-’23, who will spend one year in residence, and will be expected to participate in activities in both programs during the fellowship year. (The fellowship normally starts in late August). ISP and SSP will provide office space and a computer, and fellows will have access to the Harvard and MIT libraries and most of the other facilities of the university at which they are located.

Pre-doctoral research fellows are expected to work on—and ideally complete—their doctoral dissertations during the fellowship and must have passed their general examinations and made significant progress (three chapters) on a thesis in order to be eligible. Post-doctoral fellows must have their Ph.D. in hand by the beginning of the fellowship period and are expected to work on a book, monograph, or other significant publication during their period of residence. All fellows are expected to be in residence for the duration of the fellowship and to participate on a regular basis in weekly seminars and research colloquia.

The Program offers a ten-month stipend of $75,000 for postdoctoral research fellows and $55,000 USD for predocs. Each institution offers reimbursement for some health insurance premiums, according to its own policies.

The joint program is directed by Barry Posen, Ford Professor of Political Science at MIT and former director of the Security Studies Program, and Stephen Walt, Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and Faculty Chair of the Belfer Center’s International Security Program.

Applications are not being accepted for academic year ’23-’24 at this time.