The Charles and Kathleen Manatt Fellowship, funded by former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic and former Chair of IFES' Board of Directors, Charles Manatt, and his wife Kathleen awards one $5,000 Manatt Fellowship to bring outstanding graduate students from the American Midwest to Washington, D.C. to conduct research in democracy-building. The Manatt Fellowship marked the inauguration of the Democracy Studies Fellowship programs at IFES.

The Manatt Fellowship is available for U.S. or international graduate students attending universities in the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Past fellows found the Manatt Fellowship an excellent boost to their careers in international development or research. For example, fellows have gone on to manage programs at the National Democratic Institute and consult for Asia Foundation election programs in Pakistan.

See the links at right for research of previous Manatt Fellows.

Eligibility for Manatt Fellowship

• Applicants must be a U.S. or international student studying at a US university in one of the states listed above.
• Applicants should be graduate students in either Masters or PhD programs who have not yet completed their degrees.
• Applicants should be pursuing degrees in international relations, political science, public administration, or related areas.

How to Apply

IFES is now accepting applications for the 2010 Manatt and Hybl and Fellowships. To apply, students should download an application form here for the Manatt Fellowship and send IFES a complete application packet. The application packet must be emailed or postmarked no later than April 2, 2010 and must contain the following:

• A completed application form;
• Your curriculum vitae;
• An unpublished academic writing sample of up to 10 pages in length (may be an excerpt);
• Your current graduate transcript (if first semester, please include previous transcript);
• A letter of recommendation from one faculty member familiar with your work.

Click here for the Manatt Fellowship flyer (pdf)
Click here for Manatt Application (pdf)