This committee is charged with evaluating candidates and awarding the Dissertation Completion Fellowships, as part of a two-year pilot program authorized by the Governing Council in March 2021.

The Committee on Dissertation Completion Fellowships is a standing committee of ISA and evolved from the Rosenau Postdoc Committee in 2021. Committee members are appointed by the ISA President. The Ad Hoc committee presented a set of recommendations at the Executive Committee meeting in August 2014, after which it became a permanent standing committee of ISA.

Membership and Terms

• The committee members serve a two-year, staggered term;
• The ISA President and Executive Director serve as ex-officio members

The new ISA Dissertation Completion Fellowship is open to applicants from across the social sciences and humanities working in the broad field of International Studies. It is intended to support graduate students in the final stages of dissertation writing, typically in the last year of their PhD program. While the fellowship is open to all eligible graduate student members of ISA, the committee particularly encourages applications from groups, genders, and nationalities that have been historically under-represented in the field of International Studies. Preference will also be given to students without access to other sources of funding to assist with dissertation completion.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Applicants must be members of ISA to apply and must maintain their membership during their fellowship year.
2. Students must be doctoral candidates or the equivalent by the time the award is received. A student may apply before achieving candidacy, but cannot receive funds without proof of candidacy or equivalent confirmation of permission to proceed to PhD thesis.
3. The student must be working on a topic in the international studies field.
4. Preference will be given to students from underrepresented groups within ISA to support diversity and equity in scholarly achievement.
5. Preference will also be given to students without other sources of funding during their dissertation work.
6. All funds must be expended in a single fiscal year (running July 1 to June 30).
7. Funds may be used only to support expenses explicitly related to dissertation completion (e.g., travel for field research, travel to an archive, interview work, supplemental living expenses during writing period). The funds may not be used for payment of tuition.
8. A proposer may request up to $5000. It is the committee’s sole discretion to award lesser amounts than requested, as they deem appropriate.