Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a world-renowned independent policy institute. Based in London, our mission is to help build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world. The Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs was established in 2014 and opened by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, adding the capacity to develop a new generation of leaders to the institute’s international reputation for informed debate and independent, cutting-edge research. The Academy aims to equip emerging leaders from around the world with the skills, knowledge, and networks to lead positive policy change in their areas of expertise. Through its programmes, the Academy seeks to provide opportunities for creative, curious, and intellectually driven individuals who share a commitment to tackling the most important challenges in the public sphere. It provides them with the opportunity and space to deepen their understanding of critical issues and to propose new ideas and solutions to complex policy challenges and opportunities.
This fellowship is a joint initiative with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. It offers candidates at the early-to-mid-stage of their career the opportunity to spend ten months at Chatham House working on an individual research project of their choosing.
To apply for our 2023-2024 Fellowships, we ask that you propose a research project that aims to contribute to Chatham House's work, research priorities, and mission. Fellows are strongly encouraged to consider our existing research programmes and to develop research proposals that seek to directly contribute to our work on specific topics and regions. Below you can see some suggested topic areas for research projects. You should take into consideration how you can contribute to these priority research areas when designing your project proposal.
Environment and Society Programme
- How might international governance and finance mechanisms be reimagined and/or reinvigorated to better respond to climate-related challenges?
- How has the war in Ukraine affected global and national resource dynamics regarding energy, food or critical materials? How can international governance frameworks reduce these risks and vulnerabilities?
Global Health Programme
- Where might the COVID-19 crisis catalyze universal health reforms?
- How can digital health technologies transform health systems and what is their potential impact?
International Security Programme
- What are the changing roles of non-state actors in armed conflicts and how do they impact the future of conflict?
- How does access to, and competition over, resources, specifically critical minerals and rare earth metals impact conflict dynamics, and what are the potential mitigation measures?
- What are the possible scenarios for new arms control frameworks, and how can they be designed to focus on the ecosystem of actors and confidence-building measures?
- How can international regimes around the peaceful uses of biological, chemical, and/or nuclear technologies be strengthened, and what measures can be taken to foster international collaboration and strengthen the non-proliferation regime?
- What is the role of cybersecurity in achieving economic development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
- What are the current trends and challenges in data governance and security in emerging economies?
International Law Programme
- How can international law address advances in AI and cyberspace, to facilitate state to state cooperation and help constrain harmful activities and impacts, both from states, companies and individuals?
- How can international human rights law deal with the challenges including in relation to new environmental treaties such as the plastics and biodiversity treaties, as well as the impact of populist politics on human rights and trade-related human rights issues?
- How are geopolitical tensions shaping international law, and also the human rights system? What are the long term international law implications of Russia’s war in Ukraine? How can the multilateral system be upheld in the context of these geopolitical challenges and what changes are needed? How can the UK demonstrate effective leadership in international law? How to promote diverse and inclusive leadership, including from the Global South, in international law and the human rights space?
Latin America Initiative
- Have China’s diplomatic and economic approach differed in Africa and Latin Americaboth across both regions and within the region by country? What are the implications of any differences or similarities? How have host governments responded?
Requirements
The fellowship is open to citizen