Students learn at IGS through traditional scholarship and hands-on experience.
Programs for undergraduates include summer internships working in state and local government, and semester-long internships in Washington DC. Grants are available to support undergraduate and graduate research projects. IGS is also the Berkeley home of the Gardner Fellowship, a yearlong post-graduate service fellowship.
IGS provides financial and educational support to select doctoral candidates in political science and related fields. Students receive office space and other administrative support, but even more important is the informal educational process that occurs at IGS. Faculty members mentor students, exposing them to a rich intellectual environment that can include independent study with a professor, research experience, or simply the vigorous discussion at the traditional IGS afternoon tea.
photo credit: Peg Skorpinski
Cal-in-Sacramento Fellowships provide summer internships for undergraduates in California’s capital city. Accepted students spend two months in Sacramento working in their internship, learning firsthand about the state’s policymaking environment.
The Matsui Local Government Fellowship offers students the opportunity to get firsthand municipal experience in California's political and policymaking communities. One student each year is selected for a summer internship in a branch of local government of the student's preference.
The Matsui Center Washington Fellowship provides a package of financial support, placement assistance, and special training and programming to excellent U.C. students who devote a semester in Washington to working for the Congress or the White House.
Through the Gardner Fellowships, three recent Berkeley graduates work for a year in government agency or nonprofit organization of their choosing, alongside a selected mentor, a senior officer who helps build the Fellow’s leadership skills and guide his or her professional development.
Two IGS grant programs help students conduct their own research on American politics, policy, and government: The Charles Percy Grant funds research in American politics by undergraduates. The Mike Synar Fellowship funds graduate students who are writing their doctoral dissertations.
The David M. Howard Memorial Prize and the Fred J. Martin, Jr. American Political History Award recognize graduate students who are pursuing research in the area of American political history, American political behavior or public policy.