Frédéric Bastiat Fellowship

Benefits & funding

• A total award of up to $5,000 per fellow, covering a stipend, all required readings, and travel and lodging for the colloquia hosted by the Mercatus Center.
• The program arranges and covers airfare, plus lodging and meals connected to the fellowship, including for fellows travelling from outside the United States.
• Conventional travel costs are reimbursable: cab fare and mileage between home and the conference site, parking, and hotel accommodation if travel is delayed.
• All required readings are supplied, sent by email and by post two months before each colloquium.
• Sustained discussion with Mercatus scholars across the colloquia, including meals and organised social sessions where the seminar conversation continues.
• Fellows may re-apply in each year of their studies. Doctoral students may also be eligible for the Adam Smith, Oskar Morgenstern and Elinor Ostrom fellowships and the Don Lavoie Fellowship; non-doctoral students may also be eligible for the Don Lavoie Fellowship.

Eligibility

• Enrolled in a degree-seeking graduate program — master’s, juris doctoral or doctoral — at an accredited university, and enrolled throughout the fellowship year.
• Any university, in the United States or abroad, and any discipline. Economics, law, political science and public policy are named as examples, not as limits.
• Any nationality. The program states that a student of any nationality at any university, in the US or abroad, is eligible.
• Applicants who have not yet started graduate school may apply; an offer is conditional on enrolling in an accredited graduate program during the year of participation.
• Able to travel for weekend colloquia and to take part in every scheduled element — sessions, meals, organised social activities and online components — and to lodge at the conference site. Fellows arrive by Friday evening and depart Saturday afternoon.
• An interest in public policy and in the Mercatus Center’s approach to policy research.
• Each fellow is responsible for verifying with their home department, international student office or funding body that they may receive this funding.
• One point on the program page is inconsistent: the fellow requirements list four weekend colloquia, while the guidance on who should apply asks for a commitment to travel on two weekends. Confirm the number with the program before committing.

Application process

1. 1
   Watch the Mercatus Center student fellowship pages, or subscribe to its newsletter, for the announcement that applications for the next academic year are open.
2. 2
   Write a cover letter of one to two pages covering the graduate career so far, current research interests and projects, familiarity with Mercatus scholars and their research, and what the applicant hopes to get out of the program.
3. 3
   Prepare a current resume or CV.
4. 4
   Complete the short answer questions in the online application form and submit before the deadline.
5. 5
   Review begins after the deadline. Decisions start to be announced twelve or more weeks later.
6. 6
   Accepted fellows receive confirmed colloquium dates during the summer before the program year, and readings two months before each colloquium.

Program timeline

1. application deadline for the 2026-2027 academic year. The program page now states only that applications are closed and no longer publishes the date.

   Mar 15, 2026

2. Twelve or more weeks after the deadline

   decisions begin to be announced.

3. Summer before the fellowship year

   exact colloquium dates confirmed with selected fellows.

4. Two months before each colloquium

   readings distributed by email and post.

5. the current cohort takes part in the weekend colloquia.

   2026-2027 academic year

6. Expected early 2027

   applications open for the 2027-2028 academic year, announced through the Mercatus newsletter.