Career stage is one of the strongest filters when applying — these 74 opportunities are designed for mid-career professionals.
Fellowships and scholarships are calibrated to particular career moments. The programs below were selected because their structure, funding, and cohort design are appropriate for mid-career professionals. Applying outside your career stage is one of the most common reasons strong candidates get rejected — every program below explicitly welcomes the audience on this page.
Harvard University
A Harvard fellowship for accomplished journalists offering a year of study at the university with a generous stipend and full access to Harvard.…
European Research Council
ERC grants for established research leaders to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk projects of their own design in Europe.…
U.S. Department of State / IIE
A non-degree, year-long Fulbright exchange for accomplished mid-career professionals from designated countries committed to public service in the U.S.…
Obama Foundation / Columbia & U. of Chicago
A one-year, fully-funded master's degree programme at Columbia University or the University of Chicago for emerging civic innovators from around the world.…
Yale University
A flagship global leadership program at Yale for accomplished mid-career professionals working on the world's most pressing challenges.…
Stanford University
A Stanford fellowship for journalists tackling the biggest challenges facing journalism, with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.…
American Academy in Rome
A century-old American fellowship offering residencies in Rome to artists and scholars across the humanities and arts.…
CFR
A range of foreign-policy fellowships at the Council on Foreign Relations for journalists, scholars, and practitioners.…
Berggruen Institute
An annual million-dollar prize awarded to a thinker whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding.…
Harvard Kennedy School
A one-year Harvard Kennedy School master's programme designed for mid-career professionals from around the world.…
University of Oxford / Reuters
A residential fellowship at Oxford for mid-career journalists from around the world to research a journalism-related topic.…
Echoing Green
A fellowship for emerging social entrepreneurs that provides seed funding, leadership development, and a global community of social innovators.…
Eisenhower Fellowships
Country-by-country fellowships sending mid-career leaders to the United States for a customised programme of meetings and visits.…
Harvard University
Harvard's flagship academic fellowship for scholars, artists, and practitioners to pursue a major project at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.…
LSE / Atlantic Institute
A non-degree fellowship at the London School of Economics for mid-career professionals working on social and economic equity in their home countries.…
New America
A flexible Washington-based fellowship for journalists, scholars, and practitioners working on a major book or project of public importance.…
Ashoka
A lifelong fellowship for systems-changing social entrepreneurs, with three years of financial support and access to a global community.…
TED
A network of changemakers across disciplines and continents, accelerating their work and amplifying their voices through TED.…
Rockefeller Foundation
A residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy for academics, artists, and practitioners working on global issues.…
Aspen Institute
A media skills fellowship at the Aspen Institute for development experts from the Global South to amplify their voices in global media.…
U.S. National Academies
A US fellowship that sends tenured American scientists and engineers into the U.S. State Department for a year as policy advisors.…
MacArthur Foundation
A competition for a single $100 million grant to fund a proposal that promises real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem.…
Japan Foundation
Fellowships for foreign scholars and researchers in Japanese studies to conduct research in Japan.…
Aspen Institute
A worldwide community of entrepreneurial leaders convened by the Aspen Institute through a network of regional fellowships.…
American Academy in Berlin
A residential fellowship in Berlin for American scholars, writers, composers, and artists to advance independent projects.…
Berggruen Institute
Residential fellowships in Los Angeles, Beijing, and Venice for thinkers working on the great transformations of our time.…
Volkswagen Foundation
Funding for innovative research professorships at German universities to attract top early-career and established academics.…
Mellon Foundation
Mellon Foundation grants supporting comparative, interdisciplinary research seminars on a single intellectual theme over an academic year.…
Eisenhower Foundation
A leadership fellowship bringing accomplished mid-career professionals to the United States for a customised programme of meetings.…
Aspen Institute
A two-year leadership program for outstanding mid-career American business leaders to wrestle with values-based leadership.…
Aspen Institute
A pan-African values-based leadership programme for accomplished mid-career leaders across multiple African countries.…
Japan International Cooperation Agency
Japanese development cooperation scholarships for mid-career professionals in developing countries to undertake long-term training in Japan.…
Harvard Graduate School of Design
A Harvard mid-career fellowship for accomplished practitioners in the built and natural environment to spend an academic year at the Graduate School of Design.…
Salzburg Global Seminar
Convening-based fellowships at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg for emerging leaders working on global challenges.…
Trinity College Dublin / UCSF
A fellowship at Trinity College Dublin and UCSF training future leaders in dementia and brain health from underserved regions.…
Royal Society / British Academy
A UK fellowship supporting mid-career researchers in low- and middle-income countries to lead independent research projects with UK collaborators.…
International Center for Journalists
A year-long fellowship for media innovators to drive change in newsrooms and the practice of journalism around the world.…
MacArthur Foundation
Research grants from the MacArthur Foundation supporting policy-relevant research on international peace and security.…
USIP
A Washington-based fellowship for outstanding scholars and practitioners working on issues of international peace and conflict.…
Brookings Institution
A Brookings residency for non-US researchers and practitioners working on girls' education in low- and middle-income countries.…
Spencer Foundation
Research grants supporting rigorous, intellectually ambitious, technically sound, and field-changing education research.…
Open Philanthropy
Funding for talented individuals to spend a year or more working on high-impact research and policy projects.…
Russell Sage Foundation
A residential fellowship in New York for social scientists to pursue research, analysis, and writing on social and economic policy.…
Korea Foundation
Fellowships and grants supporting overseas Korean studies scholars and Korea-related professionals from around the world.…
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
Project-based grants for journalists working on under-reported global stories on conflict, crisis, and global issues.…
Stiftung Mercator
A 13-month working fellowship abroad for emerging German leaders in international affairs.…
BirdLife / FFI / WCS
Capacity-building grants and mentoring for early-career conservationists working on biodiversity projects in their home countries.…
Whitley Fund for Nature
Annual conservation awards for grassroots leaders driving change in their home countries to protect wildlife and habitat.…
Harvard University
Short-term Harvard fellowships for journalists, technologists, and academics working on a specific journalism research project.…
Stanford University
A year-long residency at the Stanford Hasso Plattner Institute of Design for design educators, practitioners, and researchers.…
Asian Cultural Council
Fellowships supporting cultural exchange in the visual and performing arts between the United States and Asia, and within Asia.…
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Multi-year unrestricted funding and a board seat for early-stage social impact organisations led by exceptional founders.…
USIEF
Fulbright-Nehru fellowships supporting US-India academic and professional exchanges across disciplines.…
Columbia University
A US-South Africa fellowship at Columbia University focused on confronting anti-Black racism through cross-border learning.…
African Women in Agricultural Research and Development
A career development fellowship for African women scientists working in agricultural research and development.…
Aspen Institute
A leadership fellowship for African professionals to engage in values-based, action-oriented dialogue.…
Civitella Ranieri Foundation
A residential fellowship in a 15th-century Italian castle for visual artists, writers, and composers from around the world.…
Bogliasco Foundation
A residential fellowship in Liguria, Italy, for advanced creative and academic work in the arts and humanities.…
Halcyon
An incubator in Washington, D.C. for early-stage social entrepreneurs to take their idea to the next level.…
UC Berkeley
A three-week summer programme at UC Berkeley for environmental and natural resource professionals from around the world.…
International Women's Media Foundation
Reporting grants for women journalists in any country to undertake significant or in-depth journalism projects.…
CUNY
Fellowships for journalists at the Tow-Knight Center at the City University of New York to develop entrepreneurial journalism projects.…
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House
German government fellowships in Los Angeles for German artists, writers, filmmakers, and composers.…
Kettering Foundation
Resident fellowships at the Kettering Foundation for research on what it takes to make democracy work as it should.…
Synergos
A peer-learning network for senior leaders working on systems change in their countries and globally.…
Roddenberry Foundation
A 12-month fellowship for activists and organisers building a more equitable and just America.…
Carey Institute for Global Good
A residential nonfiction writing fellowship in upstate New York for journalists, documentary filmmakers, and photojournalists.…
Bertha Foundation
A fellowship at partner human rights legal organisations supporting emerging social-justice lawyers worldwide.…
Bertha Foundation
A fellowship for activists and journalists working on a single, urgent issue of social justice for one year.…
Global Investigative Journalism Network
Various grant opportunities for investigative journalists working on cross-border stories and underreported global issues.…
Fortis Society
A community-based fellowship supporting purpose-driven leaders working at the intersection of strategy and impact.…
YGAP
An accelerator for early-stage social entrepreneurs in Asia-Pacific and Africa solving local poverty challenges.…
UC Berkeley
A visiting scholar appointment at UC Berkeley for European-affiliated researchers in the social sciences.…
Just Equations / JEF
Fellowships supporting practitioners and researchers working at the intersection of mathematics, equity, and education.…
The strongest applications at this stage tend to share three features: a clear, specific reason to want this particular program (not just "any" international experience), evidence of follow-through on a previous self-directed project, and recommenders who can speak to the quality of your work in detail. Generic letters from senior people who barely know you almost always lose out to specific letters from supervisors who do. Build that evidence trail months before the deadline, not during application week.