Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program

 

The World Bank has recently announced the Year 2000 cycle of the Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program. Please note that you can request an application from the e-mail address in the annoncement, or from the World Bank Resident Mission office in your country. If you do not have/know the contact information for the Resident Mission office in your country, a good place to begin looking is:

http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/localoffices.htm

Alternatively, you may inquire at the e-mail address included in the announcement if you do not have web access.

Applicant Information: 2000 Cycle

Introduction

The Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program was established in 1982 to honor the former President of the World Bank. The Program annually awards Fellowships to support innovative and imaginative post-graduate research in areas of socioeconomic development - specifically focusing on issues critical to improving the lives of the most vulnerable in society. To date, 189 Fellowships have been awarded, spanning issues related to health and population, education of girls, environmental conservation, agricultural and infrastructure development, conflict resolution, the role of NGOs in development, trade and tax reforms, and poverty reduction.

The Program's funding comes from an investment income earned from an endowment fund set up by contributions from the World Bank and the governments of Bangladesh, China, India, Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, and Yugoslavia.

Fellowships are open to applicants who are nationals of, and residents in, countries which are currently eligible to borrow from the World Bank. The research must be carried out in the applicant's own country, or country of residence at the time of application. This Program does not provide finandal support for an advanced degree (this includes field work for a Ph.D. degree).

Length of Fellowship: Fellowships are awarded for a period of twelve months and must be commenced within three months of the award being made. The fellowships cannot be extended or deferred.

Amount of Award: The amount of the award is US$7,500. This is a standard amount, intended to cover the cost of the research and its dissemination, and is not negotiable. No other costs will be considered.

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Research Theme for the 2000 Fellowships Cycle: Institutions and Development

Research Proposals (3 to 4 pages in length) should be on one of the following topics:

1. Institutional Reform And Its Impact On Development Outputs

Reform of the public administration is frequently regarded as key to improved service delivery and government performance. It has been shown that reform success is maximized when it takes into account the environment in which the actors operate, the incentives and constraints that such an environment creates for those actors, and the effect of those incentive structures in terms of development outputs and outcomes on the ground (and how they compare with development objectives). The Program invites proposals that present an integrated approach to the following development considerations: What are the recruitment procedures and Incentive mechanisms in place for the attraction and retention of civil and public servants in your country? What constraints-structural and others-affect their development output? What reforms are needed in the institutional and policy-making framework to boost the efficiency of the administrative structures?

2. Functioning Of Regulatory Agencies

Fine-tuning the regulatory processes is found to be most effective if an understanding is gained on how the most well-regarded regulatory agencies collect information, decide to take action, conduct follow-up, and implement enhancements. Proposals are invited for analytic case studies focusing on any one of the following areas: 1) How are decisions on public expenditures made in your country, and how are the expenditures monitored? 2) How are tax laws administered? 3) How do judicial institutions function-including a focus on critical judicial reform priorities in your country, the crucial administrative infrastructure that is needed to implement them, and the conditions under which effective reforms can be approved and implemented?

(Well-structured proposals focusing on the functioning and best practice reforms of other regulatory agencies-e.g. environment, health, or transport, will also be considered)

Output: Fellows are expected to issue two progress reports, a research abstract during the fellowship year and a final report containing the results of the research at the end of the fellowship year. The final reports are reviewed by World Bank staff. The World Bank has first rights on publication of these materials.

Note: The final research product will be considered for publication in McNamara Fellowships Working Paper Series and will be used as background material for World Development Report 2001.

Seminar Participation: A seminar is organized for the Fellows during the Fellowship year in Washington, DC.
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Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following general criteria to be eligible for a fellowship award:

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Application Procedures

All applications must be submitted with the required documentation on the correct application forms. Forms for the 2000 cycle are available from all World Bank Resident Missions and from the McNamara Fellowships Program office at World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC. All requests for application forms should quote our reference: RSM/00/1. (Failure to do so may result in delays in receiving the forms).

To be considered for the 2000 cycle, all completed application forms must be received in Washington. DC. by November 30, 1999. Late applications will not be considered. The awards will be announced in March 2000.

Applications and correspondence may be sent to :

Robert S. McNamara Fellowship Program
The World Bank
1818 H. St. NW
Washington DC, 20433, USA
email: [email protected]
Fax: (202) 522-4036

Last updated:    October 1999

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