The STARS Fellowship program began in 2016 as a follow up to the World Bank-led Agriculture in Africa: Telling Myths and Facts project. At the time, the Structural Transformation of African Agriculture and Rural Spaces (STAARS) program was launched as a response to 1) promote research project creation and leadership by early-career researchers from African institutions, 2) use rich, publicly available datasets, like the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA), to answer important, policy-relevant research questions. From 2020 to 2024, the program expanded to also include a team-based program sponsored by the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Policy Research, Capacity and Influence, the Structural Transformation of African and Asian Agriculture and Rural Spaces (STAAARS+), opening eligibility for teams from South and Southeast Asia.

Today, the STARS program builds on and encompasses the successes of both the STAARS and STAAARS+ programs, supporting early-career researchers from any low and lower-middle income country to pursue rigorous, policy-oriented research.

STARS research broadly encompasses topics relating to the structural transformation of agriculture and rural economies in low and lower-middle income countries. More specifically, topics include:

• Dynamics of agricultural inputs use, technological change, and productivity growth.
• Rural factor (e.g. credit, labor, land) and product market performance.
• Agri-food systems and value chains.
• Food security, nutrition, health, and education linkages.
• Poverty dynamics, risk management, and resilience against shocks.
• Sustainable natural resources management.

Early-career researchers selected as STARS Fellows in 2025 will advance rigorous, policy-oriented research on the causal determinants of productivity and income growth, asset accumulation, rural employment, and risk management in agriculture and rural spaces. STARS Fellows will be paired with faculty, senior research staff, or affiliated researcher mentors from Cornell University, CGD, the World Bank, or PEP, with whom they will draft a paper on a topic of mutual interest relating to structural transformation in low and lower-middle income countries. The program aims for publication of resulting research findings in high quality, peer-reviewed journals. In addition, Cornell and its partners will provide Fellows with professional development training, build Fellows’ international research networks, and aid in their participation in scientific and policy conferences.

Upon selection, mentorship and collaboration begin immediately with a series of launch workshops involving the fellows, mentors and STARS leadership. A period of regular remote collaboration follows, with weekly or biweekly virtual meetings. During this period, training workshops are held at relevant points in the teams’ research process. Training workshops are designed to assist in fellows’ professional development and supplement their technical skills. Topics may include but are not limited to: coding and data management skills; reproducible research processes; technical writing; presentation skills; time management; grant writing; navigating peer review; and research ethics.

In September 2025, the STARS Fellows will spend 3 weeks visiting with the rest of the cohort and their mentors at Cornell and then at their mentor’s institution, during which the STARS Fellows will work intensively on their research project, participate in feedback workshops, hold a public seminar, and participate in network-building activities.

Prospective STARS Fellows are invited to develop proposals in the following thematic areas for empirical work on low- and lower-middle income countries:

1. Dynamics of agricultural inputs use, technological change, and productivity growth
2. Rural factor (e.g., credit, labor, land) and product market performance and links to urban markets
3. Agri-food systems and value chains, their performance and evolution
4. Food security, nutrition, health and education linkages
5. Poverty dynamics, risk management and resilience against shocks
6. Sustainable natural resources management
7. Gender and marginalized groups

Proposals should use existing data, such as the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS–ISA), Demographic and Health Surveys or similar high-quality datasets.

• Early career researchers, either Ph.D. students in their final year prior to degree completion or those who completed their Ph.D. no earlier than 2019
• Familiarity with and demonstrated access to data sets in your research proposal. STARS does not provide funding for new data collection.
• Strong working knowledge of appropriate software, typically Stata and/or R, and an interest in econometric analysis of high-quality data sets. Knowledge of Stata and/or R will be assessed at the finalist stage.­
• Priority given to:
  • Researchers who have earned at least one degree from an institution in a low- or lower-middle income country[1][2]
  • Researchers planning to work professionally in low- and lower-middle income countries in the future
  • Proposals relating to one or more of the research themes indicated above
  • Qualified female researchers

[1] Based on current World Bank designations.
[2] Applicants ordinarily resident in comprehensively sanctioned countries, including Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea and certain regions of Ukraine are ineligible for selection.

Fellows will receive funds to cover travel and participation in a three-week visit to Cornell University and their mentor’s home institution. The remainder of the research coordination and professional development training will occur virtually. Fellows are expected to commit significant time to the mandatory research and capacity development activities. A modest honorarium will be provided to each Fellow. No salary support is available; STARS does not cover the scholar’s time allocated to this research. A letter of support from the candidate’s current advisor/supervisor/manager is required, explicitly indicating that adequate work time will be made available for full participation in the program, if selected. The program cannot support costs for any new data collection.

Dates are subject to change, but general timing should be consistent. Items in italics denote in-person events during the Fellows’ visit to the U.S. All other events are virtual.

The application process is managed by Cornell University, in collaboration with CGD, IICA, the World Bank and PEP. Applicants must prepare a maximum 2500-word research proposal, which motivates the selected research issues and objectives, outlines data sources and proposed methodology, and contains a convincing plan for completing the project by June 30, 2026. Projects that propose to use data that are not publicly available must provide documentation that they already have access to those data. All proposals should be prepared in English.

All proposals will be peer-reviewed by experts from Cornell, CGD, IICA, the World Bank, and/or PEP. Shortlisted applicants will be required to attend a short, virtual interview with the STARS leadership team and potential mentors and complete a Stata/R assessment to assess their qualifications in using statistical software necessary to carry out their proposed work. More details will be provided to shortlisted candidates at the time of notification.

The deadline to submit a research proposal is January 17, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST. Applicants should complete the required fields and upload their proposal and additional documentation using the STARS online application link. Accepted applicants will be notified by April 1, 2025. Any questions about the application process or program should be directed to stars-fellowship@cornell.edu.

Proposal and Additional Documentation:

1. Research Proposal (2500 words max.)
   i. Title of the proposed research
   ii. Targeted country(-ies)
   iii. Introduction and motivation that includes clear statement of research objectives and hypotheses
   iv. Description of data source(s) and any prior experience working with the proposed data
   v. Proposed methodology
   vi. If applicable, summary of any preliminary results
   vii. Proposed timeline for the research (not included in the 2500 words)
   viii. Bibliographic references (not included in the 2500 words)
2. Current curriculum vita (CV) of the applicant
3. If proposing to use data that are not publicly available, a letter or other documentation from the data steward(s) indicating that the applicant will have access to the data to use in the proposed project
4. Letter of support from applicant’s current supervisor, clearly indicating that the applicant will be granted time to work on this project, if selected
5. Photocopy of the passport biodata page and, if applicable, any current US visa

Question: Do I need a Ph.D. to apply?

Answer: The STARS Fellowship is aimed at early-career Ph.Ds. You must have either completed your Ph.D. in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, or be in your last year (all but dissertation, no more required coursework) of completing your Ph.D. program.

Question: Can I use primary data in my proposed study?

Answer: The STARS Fellowship program does not fund primary data collection. If you have already collected the data or have separate funding for this collection, you can apply so long as data will be collected by the time (or near) the Fellowship begins, April 2025.

Question: Can I only use LSMS data for the proposed study?

Answer: No, you are not limited to using only LSMS datasets. Other high-quality datasets are acceptable, so long as you demonstrate permission to use them (if not publicly available).

Question: I am not an applied economist. Can I still apply?

Answer: You do not need to be an economist to apply, however successful proposals will be within the scope of the STARS research themes (see RFP details) and demonstrate the applicants’ ability to work with high-quality datasets and econometric analysis methods.

Question: I am not currently employed. Do I still need a letter of support from a supervisor?

Answer: No, if you are currently unemployed, you do not need a letter of support. If you are in your last year of your Ph.D. program, a letter of support from your supervisor is required.

Question: What statistical software(s) do I need to know?

Answer: Applicants must indicate familiarity with at least one statistical programming language. Typically, this is Stata, R, or Python. Finalists will be administered a virtual assessment to assess their knowledge of their programming language of choice.

Question: I don’t currently reside in my home country or the country I received by degree(s). Can I still apply?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Which countries receive priority?

Answer: Applicants having earned at least one degree from the following low- and lower-middle income countries will receive priority.

Current countries classified as low- and lower-middle income by the World Bank include: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep, Congo, Rep., Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Arab Rep., Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Gambia, The, Guinea-Bissau, India, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Rep., Zambia, Zimbabwe