The Strauss Center is very pleased to announce the call for applications for the 2016-17 Brumley Next Generation Graduate Fellows and Undergraduate Scholars programs. These unique opportunitues provide research training and mentorships to exceptional undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin. The program is made possible by the generous support of Jon and Rebecca Brumley.

Graduate Students: Next Generation Fellows

The mission of the Brumley Next Generation Graduate Fellows program is to provide a transformative experience for UT graduate students from an array of disciplines, accelerating their path towards career success with an emphasis on building professional and scholarly skills and networks. Selection is not merely honorific; students selected for the Brumley Next Generation Graduate Fellows program will participate in the life of the Strauss Center, and receive support, in several ways:

Research, writing, and professional mentorship: First, each graduate student selected to be a Fellow will be linked to one of the Strauss Center’s many current research programs (based on the preferences expressed by the student in his or her application). More specifically, each Fellow will be paired with a Distinguished Scholar associated with that particular program. Under that scholar’s guidance, and backed by the financial support detailed below, the Fellow will conduct their own research and writing project(s). The Strauss Center scholar also will serve as a professional mentor, advising on career matters.

Graduate Fellows Colloquium: The Graduate Fellow Colloquium is a monthly luncheon during which Fellows and Strauss Center Distinguished Scholars will convene for two purposes: ongoing discussion of one another’s work, and engagement in a private setting with a visiting policymaker, practitioner, or scholar (selected by the Fellows themselves) in order to discuss both substantive issues and career development.

Resources: Fellows will receive a fellowship stipend in the amount of $2,500 for the 2016-17 academic year. Fellows will also be eligible to apply for funding to support travel for conferences, research, and other scholarly or professional activities.

Participation in Other Aspects of Strauss Center Life: Fellows are expected to maintain a deep level of engagement with the Strauss Center, including by selecting a speaker on their relevant research topic for a Strauss Center public talk and acting as co-host for that speaker’s visit.

Undergraduate Students: Next Generation Scholars

The Strauss Center launched the Next Generation Scholars (NGS) program in 2010 with the goal of providing new research and mentorship opportunities for promising UT undergraduate students interested in careers in international security and law. Through a partnership with the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, this program now also includes a focus on civic engagement, expanding the reach of the program by engaging more students and involving faculty members on a wider range of local, national, and international policy issues. Involving undergraduates in international affairs and civic engagement early in their career is an important part of the Strauss and RGK Centers’ missions to prepare the next generation of leaders to help develop solutions to the most pressing public policy challenges.

Program Components

This one-year program includes two key components: First, students will take a 3-credit research training and professional development course, taught in the Fall of 2016. This course is designed to introduce students to policy work, including basic skills in policy research, analysis, and writing. Students will be trained on designing research strategies and proposals, conducting policy analysis, writing resumes and statements of purpose, crafting op-eds and blog posts, and planning for the steps in their career development. This course will be led by Dr. Michael Mosser, Lecturer in the Department of Government, International Relations and Global Studies, and the Center for European Studies, and a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar.

Second, the program also matches each selected student with a research agenda underway by a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar or RGK Center Faculty Fellow to provide opportunities to directly engage in policy-relevant research and practice skills taught in the fall course. Students who perform well in the research training course in the fall will be eligible to then continue as a paid research intern for their respective faculty members at the Strauss or RGK Center in Spring 2016. Students promoted to full intern positions will be expected to commit approximately ten hours per week during the spring semester and will earn a stipend of $500 for the spring semester. Students may use this stipend for independent research, travel to a study abroad program or summer internship, travel to a professional conference, or other experiential and scholarly pursuits approved by Dr. Mosser. Funding permitting, and contingent on positive performance evaluations, students may have the possibility of continuing as research interns at the Strauss or RGK Center after the year-long Next Generation Scholars program concludes.

Please see the attached documents for application information. The application deadline both the Brumley Next Generation Fellows and Scholars programs is March 25, 2016. For more information about the programs, please contact Anne Clary at anneclary@austin.utexas.edu.