Duration

September 2014-September 2018

Program Partners

• Arizona State University
• Notre Dame University
• Rutgers University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis
• University of Chicago

Program Overview

The USAID Research and Innovation Fellowships (RI Fellowships) program was active from September 2014-September 2018. This program connected bright American minds with in-country host organizations to collaboratively apply science, technology, and innovation to complex development challenges. The Fellowships offered unique opportunities for U.S. graduate researchers to provide critical research and technical expertise to exciting, progressive projects and initiatives with tangible and finite goals. Additionally, the Fellowships allowed for complementary program design by incorporating the needs of the hosting organization within the scope of the Fellows’ existing studies and research.

As part of the Research and Innovation Fellowships program, USAID partnered with six universities to foster stronger human networks and improve sharing of organizational best practices under the umbrella of science, technology, and innovation for stronger development. USAID supported over 400 fellows (over 60% female) while they conducted collaborative research in 53 countries with 215 host organizations through the RI Fellowships program.

Some university partners may continue the fellowship program with other funding. Additional information about their possible continuation of the fellowships programs can be found at the above links.

Program Review

In 2019, the Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) performed a program review of the RI Fellowships to provide an overview of the program and to document the program’s accomplishments and key learnings from 2014–2018. The review focuses on the RI Fellowships portfolio, rather than the individual programs operated by the six universities. The review and associated materials are available below:

Resources

Research reports for the program can be accessed on USAID’s Development Experience Clearinghouse.