James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program — Fellowship

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a foreign policy research institution based in Washington, DC, runs the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program. Each year it offers roughly 15 one-year fellowships to graduating seniors and to people who finished their degree during the past academic year. Fellows work full time as research assistants to Carnegie’s senior scholars, each assigned to one program area such as Nuclear Policy, Technology and International Affairs, Asia, Africa, Europe, Russia and Eurasia, the Middle East, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance, American Statecraft, Global Order and Institutions, or Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics.

The work includes research for books, co-authoring journal articles and policy papers, sitting in on meetings with senior officials, and contributing to congressional testimony. Selection runs entirely through universities: several hundred participating institutions nominate candidates, and Carnegie does not accept applications sent directly by students.

Benefits & funding

Salary of $4,000 per month before taxes, paid semi-monthly.
A full benefits package.
Relocation support of up to $1,500, grossed up for taxes.
A full-time position of 10 to 12 months, beginning 1 September.
Research work alongside Carnegie’s senior scholars: book research, co-authored articles and policy papers, meetings with high-level officials, and support for congressional testimony.

Eligibility

Graduating seniors, or people who graduated during the previous academic year and apply through the university that granted the degree.
Anyone who has already started graduate study is ineligible. The exception is a completed joint bachelor’s/master’s program.
Nomination by a participating college or university is required. Roughly 400 institutions take part, nearly all in the United States, together with a small group abroad in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, and Singapore.
Every applicant must be eligible to work in the United States for 10 to 12 months, from 1 September through at least 30 June. Students holding an F-1 visa who meet that condition may apply.
Nationality: students at a participating university inside the United States face no citizenship requirement. Students at a participating university outside the United States must hold U.S. citizenship, because of work permit rules.
No age limit, GPA cut-off, or field-of-study restriction is published.

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Application process

1
Check Carnegie’s participating-universities list for your school and identify the campus nominating official.
2
Ask that official about the internal deadline and process. Campus deadlines vary and can fall as early as November.
3
Prepare the materials the campus round collects: a one-to-two-page resume showing research and writing experience, a personal statement of up to two pages, a writing sample of three to five pages with a half-page note explaining the choice, a transcript (unofficial is accepted), and two letters of recommendation.
4
Submit to the campus official, who forwards the nomination so it reaches Carnegie by 15 January.
5
Interview by video or phone if shortlisted. About three to four applicants are interviewed per position, in late February and early March.
6
Receive the decision by the end of March and start on 1 September.

Program timeline

Application materials sent to campus nominating officials.
Mid-October
Campus nomination rounds run; internal deadlines vary by school.
October to mid-January
Nominations must reach Carnegie.
15 January 2027
Interviews.
Late February to early March 2027
Selections made and candidates notified.
End of March 2027
Fellowship begins, running 10 to 12 months.
1 September 2027