The Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University calls application for the Middle East Initiative offers one-year research fellowship program. The position is to establish and carry the research regarding governance and public policy in the Middle East. However, it is a part of the Emirates Leadership Initiative which offers one-year fellowships for researchers at the pre-doctoral, post-doctoral and junior faculty level for research in regard to Middle Eastern governance and public policy.

Applicants who are pursuing studies on any one of these six primary areas of focus are prioritized:

• Improving Governance: Promoting the inclusivity, accountability, responsiveness, and efficiency of governing institutions and also empowering the region’s citizens.
• Building Peace: Addressing the sources of domestic and interstate conflict and generating durable political settlements.
• Revitalizing the State: Improving the capacity of state institutions and reforming social service delivery systems, with a special emphasis on health, education, and social protection.
• Broadening Financial and Labor Markets: Working to ensure that financial and labor markets in the Middle East are open, competitive, and inclusive.
• Governing Technology: Assessing how governments in the Middle East adapt to and integrate technological changes such as the growth of cyberspace, automation, and artificial intelligence, as well as how these advances in technology have shaped governance.
• Adapting to Environmental Challenges: Exploring how the governments of the region can cope and are coping with the challenges of water scarcity and climate change.

Role

Harvard Kennedy School Middle East Initiative expects candidates to do the following tasks

• Complete a 25-30 page Working Paper to be published by the Middle East Initiative.
• Present their research at seminars open to the public as well as attend seminars of other Middle East Initiative research fellows.
• Furthermore, participate in Middle East Initiative activities as appropriate.

Eligibilities 

Applicants must be an advanced doctoral candidate and the recent recipients of a Ph.D. or equivalent degree, and untenured faculty members. Applicants for pre-doctoral fellowships must have passed general examinations, advanced to candidacy, received dissertation prospectus approval, and concluded all necessary fieldwork for the dissertation by the time of application. Harvard Kennedy School welcomes applications from political scientists, sociologists, economists, historians, and other social scientists. Similarly, the organizer encourages applications from women, minorities, and citizens of all countries.

Funding/Stipend 

This Middle East Initiative Research Fellowship Program at Harvard University is the funded position. Moreover, the Middle East Initiative offers ten-month stipends of $40,000 to pre-doctoral fellows and $58,000 to postdoctoral fellows. Pre-doctoral fellows are not benefits eligible. But however, the organizer encourages a position to apply for other sources of funding. All applicants should clearly indicate on their application form whether they are seeking full or partial funding, and indicate other potential funding sources. Non-stipendiary appointments are also open, but the application process remains the same.

Harvard Kennedy School

Harvard Kennedy School (John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University) is the public policy and public administration school of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The school offers master’s degrees in public policy, public administration; and international development; grants several doctoral degrees; and many executive education programs. In addition to that, it conducts research in subjects relating to politics, government, international affairs, and economics

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