The Anthony Lester Fellowships are run by the Human Rights Project at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and were inaugurated in 2024. They carry the name of Anthony Lester QC (Lord Lester of Herne Hill), a British human rights lawyer.
Two fellowships are awarded each academic year. Each fellow receives a $25,000 stipend and carries out a practical project in human rights or the rule of law, in a country other than the one they live in.
The work has to be fieldwork rather than academic research. Fellows finish by giving a talk at Bard’s Hudson Valley campus and writing a short report that the Human Rights Project publishes.
Benefits & funding
- A $25,000 stipend per fellow, for a project of at least three months of full-time work.
- Two fellowships awarded each academic year.
- Travel and accommodation paid for the closing presentation at Bard’s campus in New York’s Hudson Valley.
- A short report on the project published on the Human Rights Project website.
- An opportunity to discuss the work with colleagues from the Odysseus Trust, the organisation Anthony Lester founded.
- The fellowships are supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, and the Lester family.
Eligibility
- Open to lawyers and law students who are early in their careers.
- No nationality restriction and no residency restriction.
- The project must take place in a country different from the applicant’s own.
- The project must run for at least three months of full-time work.
- The project must be practical fieldwork in human rights or the rule of law, not academic research.
- The project should be a different kind of experience for the applicant, and should come at a point where it can change their career path.
Can you apply?
Open to all applicants
No nationality, residency, education, or experience limits are listed.
Circlebreaker is a free database of global fellowships, scholarships and programs — every one decoded like this.
We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.
Application process
- 1Check your project against the criteria on the program page: fieldwork, outside your own country, three months or more of full-time work.
- 2Write a cover letter introducing who you are and explaining how the fellowship would deepen or broaden what you already know and move your career forward.
- 3Submit the application through the portal linked from the program page once applications reopen; the launch cycle ran through Bard’s Interfolio posting.
- 4Email lesterfellowships@bard.edu with questions about the cycle or the application.
- 5Wait for the announcement of recipients — Bard announced both earlier cohorts in June.
Program timeline
Application deadline for the 2025–26 fellowships, the most recent date the program has published
Feb 17, 2025
Second round of recipients announced
2025-06
Applications reopen for the next round
Fall 2026