The Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations
Announces Third Fellowship Cohort (2025)
The Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations is delighted to announce the selection of its third fellowship cohort, made up of seventeen outstanding next generation China scholars and analysts who were chosen as Project Fellows through a highly competitive process, following an open call for applications. Fellows are distributed across each of the Project’s six key issue areas: National Security; Trade & Economics; Science & Technology; Human Rights, Law, & Democracy; Climate & Environment; and Research, Education, & Academic Freedom. Short biographies of the new Fellows, organized by their respective issue areas, are now posted on the Project website at https://global.upenn.edu/future-of-us-china-relations/current-fellows/.
The Project has two primary goals: (i) to provide a forum for rising U.S.-based scholars and analysts of China to contribute academically-informed, policy-relevant analysis on the most pressing issues in U.S.-China relations; (ii) to deepen U.S. capacity to understand and evaluate critical issues in the U.S.-China relationship. The Project’s third fellowship cohort will convene from April – December 2025. Fellows will each develop a policy paper that makes concrete recommendations, grounded in their substantive area of expertise, addressing an aspect of U.S. policy towards China in one of the Project’s six issue areas. Early draft papers will be workshopped on campus at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2025, for feedback from alumni from the Project’s earlier fellowship classes as well as relevant Penn experts. Project Fellows also will have the opportunity to travel to China in June 2025 to engage in substantive dialogue with Chinese counterparts, and conduct further research on the topics of their respective policy papers. Final versions of Project Fellows’ policy papers and recommendations will be shared in dedicated briefings for policymakers in Washington, DC in September 2025, and later shared with the wider public through publication on the Project website and discussion on Project webinars and the China Studies podcast.
“We were overwhelmed by the breadth and quality of this year’s record number of applications and are simply thrilled by the distinguished fellowship cohort we have been privileged to assemble,” stated Neysun Mahboubi, the Director of the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations. “Once again our Project Fellows represent a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, and are most similar only in having achieved substantial distinction in their respective fields. Our team could not be more excited to help develop and further amplify this remarkable cohort’s recommendations for U.S.-China policy in the months ahead.”
Amy Gadsden, Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and Executive Director of Penn China Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania added, “The fellows in this cohort are exceptionally well positioned to offer insight on key issues as the United States and China experience a period of protracted rivalry. The third cohort of Penn Project fellows will deliver the rigorous research and depth of knowledge that is needed now more than ever.”
The Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations, an initiative of Penn Global, is supported by Penn’s China Research & Engagement Fund, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Ford Foundation. Additional information is available at https://global.upenn.edu/future-of-us-china-relations/.