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Applications are currently being accepted for the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellowship Scheme 2026/2028. Interested applicants are encouraged to click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply.
Established in 1963, the ODI Fellowship Scheme matches young professionals in global development with government placements around the world.The Scheme has embedded more than 1,300 young professionals in government agencies, partnering with dozens of institutions, from Colombia to the Solomon Islands, Uganda to Uzbekistan.
Fellows are employed and paid by the institutions that host them and their work programmes are determined and managed by local civil servants. Fellows receive a monthly supplement and housing allowance from ODI.
Fellows gain valuable experience as civil servants. They learn about their host country, its policy landscape, and public sector service delivery in low- and middle-income countries, as well as the challenges of receiving development assistance from bi- and multilateral donors. They gain new
technical skills as they work with colleagues to fill skills gaps. Since it is practical in nature, the fellowship is highly valued by participants and their future employers.
ODI Fellowships are also an opportunity for international exchange and lesson sharing between civil servants: some ODI Fellows bring experience of another civil service and many more go on to work in large bureaucracies, either at home or in third countries.
The scheme enjoys an excellent reputation and Fellows benefit from the prestige associated with the scheme. ODI Fellows have gone on to build successful careers in multilateral institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations), academia, the private sector, nongovernmental organisations as well as their own country governments. Many choose to stay on in the country of their fellowship.
Apply for ODI Fellowship Scheme
