Ph.D. Fellows Program

A Ph.D. with a difference

The Watson Institute Ph.D. Fellows Program supports Brown University Ph.D. candidates through a variety of funding and programming.

Its signature program provides funding to support Brown University Ph.D. students in anthropology, economics, history, political science and sociology. Up to six pre-dissertation fellowships will be awarded to top candidates in the core areas of development, governance and security. Up to two one-year dissertation fellowships will be awarded to enable research, fieldwork and writing to complete a dissertation.

Additionally, Ph.D. students in these five departments will have the opportunity to apply for up to $5,000 in Watson Ph.D. research and travel funds to support research, travel or fieldwork related to the core areas of development, governance and security.

The current Watson Institute Graduate Program in Development (GPD) will sunset in June 2025. The new Ph.D. Fellows Program will build on its success and offer expanded opportunities to support graduate-level research and training at the school.

Who We Are

At its core, the Ph.D. Fellows Program is a community of scholars with a shared curiosity around, and a commitment to, exploring questions of development, security and governance from diverse disciplinary perspectives.
Meet the Community

What We Do

The Ph.D. Fellows Program is designed to elevate high-potential scholarship in an interdisciplinary setting. It provides training, research support, and the opportunity to address challenges of development, governance and security.
Program Information

Attend An Event

The program hosts a variety of events, from our "What I am thinking now" sessions in which community members share their research to our annual joint conference on development with MIT to "behind the scenes" discussion sessions with speakers as well as lectures and workshops.
Events Listing

Recent News

In July, Brown University's new school of international and public affairs will welcome its first cohort of Ph.D. Fellows in an expanded program. Watson is now accepting pre-dissertation and dissertation fellowship applications from Ph.D. students who are working on development, governance and security-related topics in its five core departments.
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These not-for-credit study groups provide an opportunity for students to delve deeply into topics and apply theory and research to real world challenges. Enrollment in each group is limited to 25 students.
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