Policy Fellowship: How to Apply

These include eligibility questions on your degree status and citizenship or right-to-work status (note, state applicants that are not applying for the New Hampshire placement should check citizenship eligibility with their placement office). You will be asked to provide your educational and professional background, demographic information, and you will be asked to self-assess your experience with different research methodologies and child development concepts.

You will be asked to complete a personal statement addressing the following questions:

• What are your current areas of research, primary questions of interest, and methodologies used to address the questions? 
• What interests you in the SRCD state/federal policy fellowship? What do you hope to learn from this experience and why do you want to learn those skills? 
• What specific skills, training, or experience make you a good candidate for this fellowship? 
• Please describe a time in your professional career when you had to confront a bias that you held. The bias can be personal or professional in nature - for instance, it might relate to disciplinary background, race, language, politics, or religion. Describe the situation, how you responded, and share your learning from that experience.

You will need to ask for three references to complete a short survey about your skills, abilities, and experiences.

Note: The Selection Panel will only review the responses of three (3) references for each applicant. If an applicant submits additional references, SRCD will randomly select which three (3) the Selection Committee will review for that applicant.

Your references have until January 13, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit their surveys. To be considered, it is the applicant’s responsibility that references meet this deadline.

You will be asked to upload a PDF of your transcript (official or unofficial). Your transcript will be used to confirm that you have an academic background in developmental science.

If you are applying for the state placement and have identified your own state agency (i.e., you are not applying to the New Hampshire placement), then you must include a letter from your prospective placement agency, confirming their interest in hosting you as a fellow. Please see SRCD’s State Agency Statement of Support template for your letter of intent submission.  

The statement of support should be written by an employee in a leadership position working on early childhood policy at the state agency. It should be from the agency that would provide the placement opportunity to the SRCD State Policy Fellow.  

Note: it may be the case that an individual other than the employee in a leadership position would be the supervisor for the fellow. In such cases, we recommend this statement be written jointly with the agency leadership and the proposed supervisor. 

Understanding of factors that influence children’s development and current theoretical and empirical underpinnings of that knowledge base. The role of ecological contexts in children's growth and development, including the role of the family, schools, community, and society.  

• Assessed in your written application, in pre-interview task, in interview, and by your reference’s survey results.

Understanding of and ability to use different methodological approaches used in child development research. Can articulate their advantages and disadvantages, feasibility, and theoretical foundation and can apply them to different research questions. Ability to apply research to real-world contexts, articulating the applications of research, implications of research limitations and contexts, and the implications of methodological choices in research, including on the ability to draw real-world outcomes or policy conclusions.

• Assessed in your written application, in the pre-interview task, in interview, and by your references’ survey results.

Interest in learning about policy making and policy implementation and other skills relevant to the experiences provided by the fellowship (e.g., communication, relevant child and family policy issues.). History of openness to learning from new experiences, including ability to seek out new endeavors, to tackle unfamiliar or unexpected challenges and to take on tasks or projects outside of area of expertise. Openness to working on and learning about new topics in child and family policy, even if not necessarily tied to current expertise.  

• Assessed in written application, interview, and by your references’ survey results.

Understanding of the importance of attending to economic and sociocultural inequities in child development research and child and family policy. Demonstrates experience, ability and openness for working with people from different backgrounds. Promote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience.  Ability to consider and offer solutions for the diverse needs, desires, motivations, and challenges facing different groups in relevant contexts. Understands how their own behavior and background can impact interpersonal relationships and demonstrates clear intent, actions, and strategies to foster inclusive, collaborative environments. Monitors the effectiveness of own inclusivity, assessing where and takes action to improve where necessary.  

• Assessed in your personal statement, interview, and by references’ survey results.

Ability to communicate complex ideas, knowledge, and interests orally in a clear, accessible, and concise manner. Ability to communicate complex ideas, knowledge, and interests in written format in a clear, accessible, and concise manner. Takes into account people’s individual needs, adapting messages, content, vocabulary, and median depending on the situation. Delivers difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity, being persuasive when required. Considers the impact of the language used. Monitors the effectiveness of own communications and takes action to improve where necessary. Ability to communicate scientific findings in plain language, without jargon, in simple, short sentences in a way that is simple to understand. 

• Assessed in your personal statement, in the pre-interview task, at interview, and in your references’ survey results.

Ability to think critically about problems and identify innovative or creative solutions to address them. Clarifies own understanding and stakeholder needs and expectations, before making decisions. Ensure decision making happens at the right level, seeking input where needed. Encourage both innovative suggestions and challenge from others, to inform decision making. Analyze and accurately interpret data from various sources to support decisions. Find the best option by identifying positives, negatives, risks and implications. Considers the impact to different groups, including groups that are different to the applicant. Presents reasonable conclusions from a wide range of complex and sometimes incomplete evidence. Makes decisions confidently even when details are unclear or if they prove to be unpopular.

• Assessed in written application, in the pre-interview task, at the interview, and in your references’ survey results.

Ability and willingness to take the lead in assigned tasks, do necessary planning or research to complete them, and get the work done on time. Awareness of when to ask for support or guidance on assigned tasks. Eagerness to help with projects by volunteering to lead or complete necessary tasks. Welcome and respond to views and challenges from others. Seeks out shared interests beyond own area of responsibility, understanding the extent of the impact actions have on the organization. Can seek out information and take appropriate risks, with minimal supervision.

• Assessed at the interview and in your references’ survey results.

Ability to meet deadlines or clearly communicate when deadlines need to be revised. Timeliness in attending meetings or calls. Consistency in meeting obligations for work products, meeting attendance, or other expectations.  

• Assessed in your timeliness in meeting all application deadlines and attending interviews, and in your references’ survey results.