A fellowship program is a funded, short-term opportunity that can last from a few weeks to a few years. It can be focused on professional, academic, and/or personal development and is sponsored by a specific association, organization, institution, or government that sets the eligibility requirements. Fellowship programs can be nationally competitive grants, scholarships, and other funding opportunities. They are often designed to support various activities, including research, developing new community-based organizations, training within a specific field, opportunities to further explore a particular field of work, and graduate study.

Fellowship programs can provide several benefits, including opportunities for cultural immersion, expanding both professional and personal networks, experiential learning, and professional development. Even the process of applying is beneficial to students, helping them clarify goals and interests, articulate their values and plans for the future, improved presentation and interview skills, and much more.

Fellowships are typically merit-based scholarships for advanced study of an academic subject. They are prizes that graduate students or postgraduate scholars usually compete for, and fellows are selected based on their potential to make a positive, long-lasting contribution to their academic discipline. Fellowship programs can look wildly different across disciplines and programs. Some fellowships help students pay for educational costs, such as books and tuition, while others may be used to fund research projects. Some programs require fellows to participate in an internship or service commitments.

Fellowship programs are not limited to academic fields. For example, in the medical field, a fellowship is the period of medical training that a physician, dentist, or veterinarian may undertake after completing a specialty training program (residency)). During this time, the physician is known as a fellow and is capable of acting as an attending physician or a consultant physician in the specialist field in which they were trained).

In summary, a fellowship program is a funded, short-term opportunity that can last from a few weeks to a few years, focused on professional, academic, and/or personal development. It is sponsored by a specific association, organization, institution, or government that sets the eligibility requirements. Fellowship programs can provide several benefits, including opportunities for cultural immersion, expanding both professional and personal networks, experiential learning, and professional development.