The Watson School Ph.D. Fellows Program supports Brown University Ph.D. candidates through a variety of funding and programming.
Ph.D. Fellows Program
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
News from Watson
Fall 2025 practitioner-led study groups
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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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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Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs underwent a leadership change for the first time in eight years on July 1, 2024.
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