World Bank Government Analytics Fellowship 2027

The World Bank has opened applications for the Government Analytics Fellowship 2027. It is a six-month, project-based fellowship that combines remote participation with in-person training in Washington, D.C. Applications close on 16 November 2026, and all application materials must be submitted in English.

Unlike many fellowships built around lectures and networking, this one is built around a real project. You bring an analytics challenge from your own public-sector work, and over six months you develop it with guidance from World Bank experts and peer learning with fellows from other countries. You leave with a finished piece of work, not just a certificate.

What you will actually do during the fellowship

The core of the fellowship is your project. Government analytics means using data to make public administration work better — measuring how services perform, finding where money or time is wasted, or building dashboards that help managers make decisions. You will work on a project connected to your own role, so the fellowship improves the work you are already doing rather than pulling you away from it.

Alongside the project, you will join peer learning sessions with other fellows — working conversations with people facing similar problems in different countries, which is often where the most useful ideas come from. You will also receive mentorship from global experts who review your project and help you avoid common mistakes, plus in-person training in Washington, D.C. that brings the whole cohort together.

Who the fellowship is looking for

This fellowship targets mid- to senior-level government officials and data professionals working in public administration. You should already be working inside government (or closely with it), in a role involving data, statistics, monitoring, evaluation, digital services or policy analysis. Seniority matters here — this is not designed for students or fresh graduates.

You should also have a genuine analytics problem to work on. The strongest applicants can point to a specific question in their ministry or agency — why a programme’s results are uneven across regions, or how to track service delivery in real time — and explain why answering it matters. English is the working language: all application materials must be in English, and training and mentorship are conducted in English.

Key details at a glance

The funding — read this part carefully

For participants from ODA-eligible countries, the fellowship covers travel, accommodation and daily subsistence for the in-person training in Washington, D.C. ODA-eligible countries are the developing countries recognised as eligible for official development assistance — if you work in government in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia or Latin America, you are very likely covered, but confirm your country’s status rather than assuming.

Be careful about one thing: the official page describes this funding in the context of the Washington, D.C. training. It does not promise a salary or a stipend for the full six months, and it does not describe funding for participants outside ODA-eligible countries. Never assume funding that is not written down — read the official fellowship page closely before you invest time in applying.

How to make your application strong

Start with your project idea, because everything else follows from it. Write down the analytics problem from your own work in two or three sentences: what the problem is, who it affects, and what decision your analysis would improve. A specific, real problem from your ministry beats a grand, vague proposal every time — reviewers can tell the difference immediately.

Next, show why you are the right person to solve it. Describe your current role, the data you already work with, and any analysis you have done before — reports, dashboards, evaluations, even spreadsheets that changed a decision. You do not need a fancy job title; you need evidence that you work with data in government and that your organisation will use your results. Have a strong English speaker review your materials, and submit before 16 November 2026 — late applications are not considered.

Why this fellowship matters for your career

Government analytics is one of the fastest-growing skill areas in public administration, and the officials who can turn data into decisions are becoming indispensable. Six months of structured project work with World Bank mentorship gives you something most training courses cannot: a finished, real-world analytics product tied to your own job, which you can show to superiors and future employers. Your cohort of mid- and senior-level officials from many countries becomes a professional circle you can consult for years, and the World Bank name on your record signals that your skills meet international standards. If you are weighing other fellowship options, you may also want to look at the Harvard Belfer Center Fellowships 2027-28 for scholars and practitioners, or the Dalai Lama Fellows programme for young changemakers.

Questions applicants usually ask