Thoughts and information about "Science Policy Fellowships: Affecting policy and enhancing the science perspective"

Questions about public policy fellowships

When I was in graduate school, each fall we would receive announcements inviting applications for science policy fellowships, the subject of this month's feature article in the Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Bulletin. These sounded interesting, but I never knew what these entailed. Who applied for them? What did they do in these fellowships? What did they do after their fellowship were over?

A few years ago, a friend of mine was a AAAS Fellow. When she first considered applying, she turned to others for advice on whether or not this would be a good fit for her and how it would affect her career. She told me that while her research adviser and others were usually helpful mentors, she was disappointed at their lack of knowledge of these programs. They knew that policy fellowships were competitive and prestigious, but did not know how they might fit into the academic or industrial career path she had originally planned.

I think Wendy Hankle's article Science Policy Fellowships: Affecting policy and enhancing the science perspective answers these questions. If you are interested in looking into a science policy fellowship, below is a list I've compiled, some of which are mentioned in the article. I will add to this list if I find any more and please feel free to share other links and public policy fellowships that might be relevant to chemists.

A List of Public Policy Fellowships For or Open to Chemists

AAAS Science & Technology Policy FellowshipsMinimum requirements: PhD
Deadline: December 5, 2011

American Chemical Society Policy Fellowship(Part of the AAAS Science Policy Fellowship)
Minimum requirements: PhD
Deadline: December 31, 2011

National Academies Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship ProgramMinimum requirements: Graduate Student
Field: Area of study may include any social/behavioral science, medical/health discipline, physical or biological science, any field of engineering, law/business/public administration, or any relevant interdisciplinary fields.
Deadline: Applications for Fall 2012 will open in late January

Presidential Management Fellows ProgramMinimum requirements: Masters or PhD Student
Field: Any academic field welcome/not science specific)
Deadline: Closed on September 25, 2011

Hellman FellowshipMinimum requirements: PhD/masters may be considered
Field: Any area of science or engineering.
Deadline: January 13, 2012

Belfer Center, Kennedy School of GovernmentMinimum requirements: PhD
Field: Engineering, the physical sciences, public policy, economics, political science, or a related field, with a clear focus on environmental, resource, or energy policy.
Deadline: January 14, 2012

California Science and Technology Policy Fellowships(Modeled after the AAAS Fellowships)

Minimum requirement: PhD or equivalent level degree or an MS degree in an engineering discipline, plus at least three years post-degree experience.
Field: Agricultural sciences, biological sciences, chemistry, environmental Sciences, etc. (see website for complete list)
Deadline: Currently closed for 2011-2012 fellowship year

Optical Society of America – Congressional Fellows Program(part of the AAAS fellowship program)
Minimum requirement: PhD
Field: Must have a record of success in research or scholarship in a field relevant to optical science and technology and/or materials.
Deadline: January 6, 2012

Research!AmericaMinimum requirement: Graduate Student (Internship) PhD (Fellow)
Field:College seniors, graduate students or recent graduates with a science, political science, public policy or related degree (or degree goal) who seek science policy experience. Those with a PhD, JD or other terminal degree are eligible for the fellowship. All others will be considered for the internship.
Deadline: November 4, 2011 (closed)

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMinimum Requirement: PhD
Field: Applicant must have a recently awarded doctorate degree and show interest in the relationship between science technology and public policy.
Deadline: March 30, 2012

~C. Y. Kuniyoshi. These views do not necessarily reflect that of ACS or the ACS Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Bulletin.