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Research Fellowships

A Training Ground for Future Leaders in Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector

 
The PACS Center exposes promising young scholars to issues surrounding philanthropy and civil society and offers them the tools to be leaders in this arena. The Center also benefits from synergy with the Haas Center Program in Philanthropy, managed collaboratively with the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate fellowship opportunities for students to undertake work in the field.
 
The PACS Center seeks to expand and enhance research on philanthropy and civil society. We think about questions about civic engagement and institutional form that speak to fundamental research questions in the humanities and social sciences. To further these intellectual goals, the Center offers PhD research fellowships, undergraduate research fellowships, small grants for student research, and supports PhD seminars and workshops.
 

PhD Research Fellowships


Eligibility
Second year PhD students and beyond, pre-or post-dissertation proposal stage, are eligible. Students will be expected to begin the year with a well-defined research project to carry out during their fellowship year. We welcome proposals from the social sciences, the humanities, and professional schools.

Research Topics
The PACS Center understands the practice of philanthropy and the concept of civil society in a very broad sense. We welcome projects that specifically address questions of nonprofits or civil society organizations but also projects that more generally address questions about the role of the state or the marketplace in contrast to nonprofits, philanthropic foundations, or civil society.

Civil society plays a rapidly expanding role in addressing and defining social problems in the U.S. and the world. As one of the key participants in civil society, the philanthropic sector serves both as a critical supplier of resources for nonprofit institutions and as a catalyst for addressing public needs. Questions – and answers – about the changing roles of philanthropy and civil society are integral to a variety of disciplines and cover a wide range of topics.

The PACS Center encourages applications from students studying the institutions and activities that define civil society. Students may explore a range of themes dealing with, for instance, comparisons of public, private, and nonprofit mechanisms for delivering social services or public goods; the effects of different modes of financial support on nonprofit organizations; and the role of nongovernmental organizations in non-Western nations.
The following are some examples of past fellowship topics:
  • Donor agency support for education as a resource during conflict
  • The role of civil society as opposed to formal public institutions as a site for democratic deliberation
  • Can lab experiments with human subjects induce them to make charitable donations by priming them with various schemas that make salient the role of chance or fortune in life outcomes
  • Environmental and social impacts associated with energy development and public participation in environmental decision-making
  • The relationship between think tanks, charitable foundations, and democratic governance.
  • Distributional politics of AIDS drugs in Africa and how NGO efforts affect the delivery system
  • Information networks as a tool for organizing social change among civil society organizations
  • The relationship between public schools and philanthropy and its impact on district accountability
  • Collaboration between for-profit organizations and philanthropic organizations that results in sustainable business practices

Funding
The fellowship provides up to a full academic year of support – 25% stipend and tuition, and health insurance – for PhD students. We will offer up to four fellowships in 2009-10. Please note the fellowship does not support travel or data collection.

Expectations
All fellows are expected to be in residence during the full term of their fellowship, participate in a year-long research workshop that meets alternating weeks throughout the school year, and attend other PACS events throughout the year. The 2009-10 workshop will be co-led by Woody Powell (School of Education) and Rob Reich (Department of Political Science). Fellowship recipients will also be expected to complete a writing project during their fellowship year, and aim to turn that work into scholarly articles for academic journals within two years of receipt of the fellowship.

Application Requirements
Applications will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary panel of faculty from the PACS Faculty Advisory Board. Complete applications will include the following:

A. One original and one copy of all materials (no staples please).

B. On each page of your application, please print or type your last name, first name and page number. Each document should be numbered separately. Place this information at least ½ inch from the top and right margins.

C. Please arrange each copy of your application in this order:
  1. Curriculum vitae.
  2. Description of research project (maximum length: 5 pages).
  3. Graduate school transcript.
  4. Two letters of recommendation from faculty members (please ask your recommenders to put your name at the top of all pages).

Application Process
PhD Research Fellows have been selected for 2009-2010. 

 

 

Undergraduate Research Fellowships

 
Eligibility
The PACS Center supports Stanford University undergraduates to serve as research assistants for faculty members and visiting scholars engaged in research related to philanthropy and civil society. 
 
Expectations
Fellows typically complete an average of 10 hours of research per week. Each student fellow is be mentored by a faculty member throughout the research project and is required to participate in PACS-sponsored events.  In order to foster a cohort of undergraduate students working on research associated with philanthropy and civil society, the group of students and mentors will for a quarterly luncheon to discuss research projects and share learning experiences.
 
Funding
Each fellow is eligible to receive up to $1,300 a quarter for a maximum of three quarters of research.
 
Application Process
Undergraduate Research Fellows have been selected for 2008-2009.