FSI Fellowship Policies - Committee Policy

FSI and its constituent centers and programs award a wide range of fellowships and scholarships to undergraduate, graduate, faculty and visiting scholars. For each fund, a selection committee is chosen to determine the recipients and size of awards. Each committee consists of 3-10 faculty, who serve confidentially and are chosen for their breadth of experience, excellent judgment, and curiosity. In identifying members for the committee, we look for depth of interest in at least one field related to the specific field(s) of the award, broad familiarity with other major fields, and, above all, an enthusiasm for creative ideas and important issues within and outside of their areas of expertise. Committee members bring experiences from many different perspectives, but individual members do not speak on behalf of a particular discipline. Because the committee works as a group, the decision on each nomination represents a collective judgment drawn from a wide range of insightful and discerning perspectives. At the end of each review cycle, some members rotate off the committee; individual selectors generally serve for 2-3 years.

All of the participants in the selection process – nominators, evaluators, and selectors – serve anonymously, and we keep their communications confidential. Anonymity protects them from being inundated with unsolicited requests. In addition, our experience shows that people readily provide frank impressions if they have an assurance that their responses will not be disseminated beyond the program staff and committee members.

FSI is not a degree-conferring institution and, as a result, cannot admit applicants as students to Stanford University.