The PIPS Fellowship Program

Students who receive a PIPS fellowship for the 2011-2012 academic year will:

• Write a policy brief and background paper on a question or topic of interest related to international security. These questions will be generated by scholars and members of the policy community who are on the frontlines of analyzing and addressing those issues;
• Present their work to policy officials at a year-end symposium at the Brookings Institution and, perhaps other venues, in Washington, D.C. Travel to Washington, D.C. during the fall and/or spring semesters to conduct interviews and hear policymakers and scholars speak on pressing security challenges;
• Have the opportunity to earn academic credit during the spring semester for their PIPS project;
• Receive support in preparing and submitting PIPS projects for publication or presentation at academic conferences; and
• Be eligible to compete for the Winston Churchill Award, which is given to the PIPS fellow who writes the best policy brief and background paper. The award includes a $500 prize.

Students who receive a PIPS fellowship are required to:

• Attend weekly PIPS meetings at a time to be determined based on faculty and student schedules. Efforts will be made to accommodate schedules for a majority of the fellows; however, failure to regularly attend meetings will result in the fellow's elimination from the program.
• Pass a series of progress evaluations before the fellow is permitted to present his or her work in Washington, D.C in April.

Eligibility Requirements for PIPS Applicants

To be eligible to apply for a PIPS fellowship, students must meet the following criteria:

• Minimum of 3.7 cumulative GPA
• Completed GOVT 204: Introduction to International Relations Rising junior or senior
• A major in Government, International Relations, or Public Policy
• Be on campus during the entire 2011-2012 academic year

Preference will be given to applicants who:

• Have completed GOVT 329: International Security
• Can demonstrate a strong prior interest in international relations (e.g., by having taken courses on international relations, foreign policy, completed classes on regions of strategic interest to the United States, and/or completed internships in fields related to the study and practice of IR, etc.)
• Have strong public speaking skills. (PIPS finalists will be interviewed by a panel of William and Mary faculty.)

Application Guidelines

PIPS is accepting six research fellows for the 2011-2012 academic year. If you have a strong desire to engage in original policy-relevant security research and meet the application requirements, please transmit in one e-mail message the following required material (except letters of recommendation).

All submitted files must be in Adobe PDF format and each file name must comply with the following format:

Lastname.Firstname.graduationyear. + nature of document (e.g. resume, wringsample1, transcript, etc.)

PIPS will not accept an application if it does not meet the specified formatting.

• Resume
• Official or unofficial college transcript
• A writing sample from a previous class of at least 5 pages in length, preferably on a topic related to social science or history.
• An essay no more than 3 pages in length summarizing and discussing the security implications of the information provided in the following article available electronically through Swem Library. John Schmidt. "The Unraveling of Pakistan." Survival vol. 51, no. 3 (June-July 2009), 29-54. Formatting requirements are as follows:
  • Times New Roman font
  • Text in 12 point font.
  • One inch margins (top, bottom, and sides)
  • Line spacing: double
  • Cover page listing your name. (Does not count toward page requirement)
  • All pages, except the cover-page, numbered. The first page of text is page one.
• Two letters of recommendation from William and Mary faculty speaking to and ranking (on a scale of one to ten) your analytical ability, writing skill, maturity, and capacity to conduct independent social science or historical research. Faculty letters of recommendation may be submitted via e-mail or, if more convenient, in paper. A formal letter of recommendation is not necessary. Informal assessments submitted via e-mail are perfectly acceptable.

Electronic applications should be submitted to pips@wm.edu.

The submission deadline for the 2011-2012 academic year is Wednesday, August 31, 2011.

For further inquires, please e-mail dasmi2@wm.edu or call (757) 221-5086.