HKS’s Belfer Center creates Ernest May Fellowship

The Harvard Kennedy School‘s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has announced a new initiative to help build the next generation of men and women who will bring professional history to bear on strategic studies and major issues of international affairs. For the 2010-11 academic year, the Belfer Center will select two Ernest May Fellows.

The Ernest May Fellowships honor Ernest May, the former Charles Warren Professor of American History, member of the Belfer Center’s board of directors, and faculty affiliate of the center’s International Security Program, who died June 1, 2009.

The Ernest May Fellows will be housed at the Belfer Center and participate in the activities of the center as part of the International Security Fellows group. They will have full access to all Harvard research resources. Niall Ferguson, the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard, William Ziegler Professor at Harvard Business School, and member of the Belfer Center board of directors, will serve as point of contact and mentor for the fellows.

Fellows are expected to devote some portion of their time to collaborative endeavors, as arranged by the project director. They are also expected to complete a book, monograph, or other significant publication during their period of residence.

The fellowships will include 10-month stipends of either $34,000 (for postdoctoral or advanced research fellows) or $20,000 (for pre-doctoral fellows). In addition, health insurance will be provided. Fellowship applications for the 2010-11 academic year are due on Feb. 15, and decisions are expected to be made by March 15.

Application procedures are available at the Belfer Center Web site.