What Northwestern University Buffett Institute Graduate Research Fellowship actually covers.
The Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University administers a series of graduate fellowships and research awards that support doctoral students undertaking internationally focused research, including extensive work on Africa. The flagship Buffett Research Fellowship awards grants for one to three academic quarters to Northwestern doctoral students in years 3 through 5 whose research engages with questions outside the contiguous United States or within Tribal Nations — a broad mandate that encompasses the vast majority of African-focused research topics in social sciences, humanities, public health, and environmental studies. Additionally, the Buffett Dissertation Fellowship supports doctoral students in years 6 and 7 with enhanced stipends and tuition coverage for a full year, alongside dedicated programming for dissertation completion and professional development. The Roberta Buffett Institute also offers International Research Awards to doctoral candidates conducting fieldwork outside the continental United States. Northwestern University is a globally ranked research university with strong programs in economics, journalism, law, medicine, and the social sciences. The Buffett Institute has a particularly robust Africa engagement record, with faculty working on African politics, development, health systems, and environmental governance. For African doctoral candidates enrolled at Northwestern — or international scholars admitted to Northwestern's PhD programs — these fellowships represent significant research support and recognition. Applications are due in late January each year, with faculty recommendation letters due shortly after.
Who can apply.
Open to phd applicants seeking to study in United States. Eligible nationalities are listed below.
46 more eligible countries — full list available on the official application page.
Every academic discipline is accepted.
This programme does not restrict by field. Research proposals across humanities, sciences, engineering, agriculture, and medicine are all accepted.
Four steps to a complete application.
Scholar Africa is a discovery and tracking platform — the application itself is submitted directly through the official provider site. The steps below mirror our HowTo schema.
Check eligibility
Confirm your nationality, academic level, and field of study match the criteria above.
Eligibility checklist
Prepare documents
Transcripts, recommendation letters, personal statement, and a valid passport.
Document checklist
Submit the application
Submit before January 30, 2027 via the official portal.
Submission checklist
Track your application
Use your Scholar Africa dashboard to monitor status and deadline reminders.
Post-submission checklist
What we checked, when we checked it.
Every scholarship on Scholar Africa goes through six checks (link, contact, organisation, winners, third-party, manual review). Northwestern University Buffett Institute Graduate Research Fellowship currently scores 0.0/10.
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Other scholarships worth a parallel application.
Same eligibility window or destination. Many strong applicants apply to three or four programmes per cycle.