The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a global network of policy research centers in Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East, India, and the United States. We are more than 150 thinkers and doers from diverse disciplines and perspectives spread across more than twenty countries and six global centers working together as one network to advance international peace. In an increasingly crowded, chaotic, and contested world and marketplace of ideas, the Carnegie Endowment offers decisionmakers global, independent, and strategic insight and innovative ideas that advance international peace.

The James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is designed to provide a substantive work experience for students who have a serious career interest in the area of international affairs. Approximately 15 students will be hired to work as employees at Carnegie in Washington, DC on a fulltime basis for a period of 10-12 months.

ASSIGNMENTS: Gaither Junior Fellows provide research assistance to scholars working within Carnegie’s programs, listed below. They have the opportunity to conduct research, contribute to op-eds, papers, reports, and books, edit documents, participate in meetings with high-level officials, contribute to congressional testimony and organize briefings attended by scholars, activists, journalists and government officials.

NOMINATION REQUIRED: Due to the limited number of positions, applicants must be nominated by their university to apply. Universities are limited to a maximum of 2 nominations.

Students who identify as members of historically underrepresented communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

2026-27 Program Areas:

1. Democracy, Conflict, and Governance
2. American Statecraft
3. Nuclear Policy
4. Technology and International Affairs – Strong writing skills and research skills are essential.
5. Middle East – Strong reading fluency and the ability to perform academic as well as on-line research in Arabic essential. Strong background in Middle East politics and/or history is a huge plus.
6. International Security and Political Economy [to work with the International Security and South Asia Programs] – Quantitative data analysis and GIS skills are required. A strong mathematical background is a plus. An academic background in international relations theory or international political economy along with an interest in military issues is essential.
7. Asia Program – Mandarin Chinese language skills, particularly reading comprehension, are essential. An additional foreign language is a plus.
8. Russia and Eurasia – Excellent Russian and/or Ukranian reading skills required.
9. Africa Program
10. Global Order and Institutions
11. Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics - Data skills (such as helping create graphs or tables for Carnegie publications) are a plus. Applicants should have completed coursework related to sustainability and climate issues. A foreign language or regional expertise is a plus - the program seeks to bring an international perspective into US debates on climate change.
12. Europe - Fluency and the ability to perform research in a European language other than English are a plus. Background knowledge of European politics is essential.

The Carnegie Endowment accepts applications only through participating universities via designated nominating officials. UW's nominating officials are listed below in the Contact section. Please reach out to us with questions!

• Applicants must be graduating seniors or students who have graduated during the last academic year. No one who has started graduate studies is eligible for consideration (except those who have recently completed a joint bachelor's/master's degree program).
• You need not be a U.S. citizen if you attend a university located in the United States. However, all applicants must be eligible to work in the United States for 10-12 months from Sept 1 through June 30 following graduation. Students on F-1 visas who are eligible to work in the United States for the full year may apply for the program. If you attend a participating school outside of the United States, you must be a US citizen (due to work permit requirements).
• The selection process for the Junior Fellows Program is very competitive. Accordingly, applicants should be of high academic quality and should have completed a significant amount of course work related to their discipline of interest. Language and other skills may also be required for certain assignments.
• Applicants must pick one of the programs listed to apply to, and respond to the corresponding essay question within the application materials.

• senior

• US Citizen
• Permanent Resident
• International or Other Visa Status
• Undocumented

UW Application & Nomination Process:

The Gaither Junior Fellows program is highly competitive and as such, the Carnegie Endowment relies on participating universities to nominate uniquely qualified students. No applications are accepted directly from students. Students must consult with their campus contact about the nomination process. Students who identify as members of historically underrepresented communities are strongly encouraged to apply. 

UW has separate nomination processes for UW candidates at each of the three campuses. Please contact your campus adviser listed below. Each campus will select and nominate up to 2 candidates to compete in the national competition.

• UW Seattle students, please contact Robin Chang (robinc@uw.edu) for any questions about the campus application process.
• UW Bothell students, please contact Natalia Dyba (nataliak@uw.edu) for any questions about the Bothell campus application process.
• UW Tacoma students, please contact Vanessa de Veritch Woodside (vdw@uw.edu) for any questions about the Tacoma campus application process.

National program information & FAQs for the current application cycle. 

Application Materials

FOR UW SEATTLE students - The campus application will open on October 20, 2025. The campus application is available here, and requires:

• UW online application form, through which you'll submit the materials below: 
  
  • Brief biographical information
  • An essay (personal statement) of up to two pages; double spaced. The personal statement should discuss why you are applying for this job, what you hope to learn from it, how you think your experience and working style would serve you well as a research assistant, and why you have chosen to apply for the program you are applying for.
  • 1-2 page resume
  • Unofficial transcripts
  • A writing sample of three to five pages, double spaced. This sample may be either a full-length piece that falls within the size range or an excerpt from a longer work.
    • The writing sample must be accompanied by a brief explanation of no more than half of one page explaining why the student chose that sample. The explanation is not included in the three to five page limitation noted above.
    • The writing sample can be on any topic. However, we recommend that the student choose a writing sample that is relevant to the program they are applying for, either in subject matter or style of analysis. For more information on what each Carnegie research program is working on, we recommend visiting https://carnegieendowment.org/programs-and-projects.
    • A works cited page is not required. However, in-text citations (either footnotes/endnotes or parenthetical) should be included with the writing sample.
• Two letters of recommendation: Please instruct your recommenders to email recommendation letters to Robin Chang at robinc@uw.edu as pdf attachments, though letters should be addressed to the Gaither Junior Fellows Program.
  • These recommendations can come from anyone the student feels can best speak to their abilities as a potential Gaither Junior Fellow.
  • Junior Fellows provide essential research assistance to our senior scholars. This often requires sophisticated judgment and independent work. Recommendations will therefore be especially useful if they speak to the student's analytical and writing skills, self-discipline and maturity, and, where relevant, subject matter expertise.

On his seventy-fifth birthday, November 25, 1910, Carnegie announced the establishment of the Endowment with a gift of $10 million. He selected 28 trustees who were leaders in American business and public life. In his deed of gift, presented in Washington on December 14, 1910, Carnegie charged trustees to use the fund to "hasten the abolition of international war, the foulest blot upon our civilization," and he gave his trustees "the widest discretion as to the measures and policy they shall from time to time adopt" in carrying out the purpose of the fund.

UW Seattle Campus Contact:

Robin Chang
Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards
171 Mary Gates Hall, Box 352803
Seattle, WA 98195-2803
Phone: 206-543-2603
Fax: 206-616-4389
E-mail: robinc@uw.edu

UW Bothell Campus Contact:

Natalia Dyba

Director of Global Initiatives

University of Washington Bothell

UW1-186 | Box 358555

18115 Campus Way NE | Bothell, WA 98011

Phone: 425.352.3261

Email: nataliak@uw.edu

UW Tacoma Campus Contact:

Vanessa de Veritch Woodside

Email: vdw@uw.edu