Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program (RSMFP)

Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program (RSMFP) is sponsored by World Bank. The RSMFP provides support to young researchers on a variety of topics in development-related fields.

Selected fellows are hosted at the World Bank in Washington D. C. to work on DEC research projects, receive training, and participate in policy-relevant research.

McNamara Fellowships Program Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program The RSMFP program is no longer receiving applications The World Bank 's Robert S.

McNamara Fellowships Program (RSMFP) matches aspiring development economics researchers from developing countries with World Bank research economists, creating unique opportunities for the fellows to participate in rigorous policy-relevant research in the World Bank’s Development Economics Vice Presidency (DEC). Fellows will be hosted at the World Bank in Washington, D. C.

for 8 months (September to May each year) and work under the supervision of researchers in the World Bank’s Development Impact (DIME) and Development Research Group departments, engaging in high-quality and policy-relevant research projects.

By working with World Bank DEC researchers and their external academic collaborators from top universities, fellows will learn current research standards, acquire new econometric skills, and network with leading researchers in their field.

They will have a unique opportunity to participate in rigorous policy-relevant research and widen their perspective on potential development questions, and how their research can address challenges in the developing world.

Professional experience : Fellows will work on World Bank projects under the direct supervision of World Bank DEC researchers and will be offered training on cutting-edge research practices and technologies and engage with the World Bank operations. Depending on the nature of projects, fellows may contribute to DEC’s published work, co-author with DEC researchers, join field missions, or directly engage with World Bank clients.

Capacity building : Fellows will receive a one-week technical onboarding at the start of the program, including training on reproducible research practices. During the program, fellows will participate in hands-on trainings and seminars by top economist, to further build skills. Through their work with DEC economists, fellows will enhance their ability to identify, study, and write about important development policy questions.

Research dissemination : Fellows will be invited to write a blog based on their fellowship research within DEC. This is an opportunity to showcase their research and contribution to development policy discussions. Each year, the top 4 blogs will be published on DEC’s Let's Talk Development blog.

The RSMFP was established in 1982 by a resolution of the Executive Directors to award fellowships to young researchers to study in the fields related to economic development. Funding for the program was initially provided by the Governments of Bangladesh, China, India, Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru and former Yugoslavia. The RSMFP governance includes a Steering Committee, Selection Committee and a Secretariat.

The Steering Committee, comprised of representatives from the World Bank Executive Director offices of the donor countries, meets annually to review progress. The Selection Committee, comprised of World Bank DEC directors from the research and impact evaluation departments, makes selection decisions based on the selection criteria and fellowships development objectives.

The Secretariat supports the Selection Committee in all its work and manages day-to-day operations, prepares policies and procedures, oversees onboarding, and manages development partner relations. Bendi Devi will be hosted by Dario Tortarolo (Economist, DECRG) and will be supporting research projects on public finance at the DaTax lab.

Bendi was a scholar of the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education and obtained a master’s degree in International Development Policy from Duke University. His research interest lies in advancing policies that promote equitable and buoyant tax systems. He also takes a keen interest in international taxation particularly in the context of developing countries’ efforts to combat tax avoidance.

With over seven years of experience at the Indonesian tax authority, Bendi has served in various capacities, including tax auditing, tax treaty analysis, and, most recently, tax policy and administration research analysis. Donghua Jiao will be hosted by Dr. Somik Lall (Senior Advisor, DEC and Interim Director of Development Policy) and will participate in research projects in the area of energy and climate policies.

Donghua holds a MPP degree from the Harvard Kennedy School and dual bachelor's degrees (Honor) in Economics and Civil & Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. She is pursuing a PhD in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Dame Diane Coyle, focusing on the issue of the World Bank’s reform over the past two decades.

She previously worked at the World Bank as a consultant and was a Rajawali Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also gained policy research experience by working at think tanks and an investment bank, including the American Enterprise Institute, the China Development Research Foundation, and the China International Capital Corporation.

Johan Ortega will be hosted by Claudia Ruiz-Ortega (Senior Economist, DECRG) and will primarily focus on the SME Finance Lab research projects as part of the Finance and Private Sector Development Team of the Development Research Group. He holds a BSc in Economics with an emphasis on public policy and an MSc in Economics from Universidad del Rosario.

Before joining the RSMP, Johan worked as a Research and Analytics Officer at Building Markets and as a Data Science contractor for the Secretary for Economic Development of Bogota. He has experience in data-collection, analysis, and research on the constraints, challenges, and opportunities of MSMEs, as well as in the economic integration of vulnerable populations, especially IDPs and migrants.

Johan also has experience in monitoring and evaluating business development and labor intermediation programs. Additionally, at Universidad del Rosario, he has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses on data science topics. Josefina Silva will be hosted by Daniel Rogger (Research Manager, DIME) and will support the unit’s broader work, with an emphasis on public administration.

She holds a BSc in Economics and Business Administration and an MSc in Economics and Public Policy from Adolfo Ibáñez University in Santiago, Chile. Her experience as a research assistant includes work within the fields of evaluating financial intermediation; social and environmental financial risks; and financial stability, particularly within the Latin America region.

She has co-authored papers that have focused on the topics of development economics, applied microeconomics, and gender and the economics of education. In the future she hopes to develop and strengthen her knowledge and research within development economics and microeconomics.

Mahrukh Khan will be hosted by Robert Marty (Data Scientist, DIME) and will primarily work on DIME’s dedicated impact evaluation program for transport, the ieConnect for Impact Program, all in DIME’s Infrastructure and Climate Change department (DIME 4).

Mahrukh holds a Master’s in Public Policy & Data Analytics from Carnegie Mellon University where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences. She has worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Public Administration Intern, and as Project Lead for her capstone with the National Head Start Association.

Previously, Mahrukh worked as a researcher at the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP) where she managed data collection, field operations, and analysis for public health research studies collaborating with a diverse team of researchers from Japan, Sweden, United States, and Pakistan.

With academic training in data science and professional training in development research, she aims to advance her career in policy analytics and aspires to work at the intersection of data science and public policy to improve public service delivery. Sharif Kazemi will be hosted by Samuel Fraiberger (AI Program Lead, DIME AI), focusing on project management and growth strategies of AI for Development products.

He also researches economic inclusion interventions in DIME’s Social Projection and Jobs unit and AI bias in Majority World contexts in DIME's Edutainment programme. Sharif holds a Bachelor’s in History and International Relations from LSE and a Master’s in Public Policy from Columbia University, where he was a British Fulbright Scholar.

He previously worked as a management consultant in the Education sector at Cairneagle and as a strategy advisor to the CEO of the Aga Khan Development Network's education division. Sharif's research interests include education policy, labor inclusion and skills development, machine learning evaluation methods, and tech-enabled development interventions for low-resource languages.

Nicolás Garcés Rodríguez will be hosted by Clement Joubert (Research Economist, DECRG) and will primarily work on studying pension design relevant to the Dominican Republic’s privatized pension system and other research projects about the Latin America region. He holds a BSc and MSc in Economics from Rosario University.

He has previously worked as a junior researcher at this faculty, focusing on projects related to rural financial inclusion, productivity, and labor markets. He has also worked at Colombia's National Statistics Department, analyzing labor market trends through administrative registers.

Before joining the fellowship, he was a research assistant at the Development Innovation Lab at UChicago, contributing to a project on rural education and capability building. His research interests include agricultural development, labor markets, technology adoption and cooperativism.

Niharika Satish will be hosted by Caglar Ozden (Lead Economist, DECRG) in DECRG’s Trade and International Integration team, focusing on various research projects in remote work, migration, services trade, climate change, natural disasters and global mobility patterns.

Niharika holds a Master’s in Economics for Development at the University of Oxford and a BSc in Economics with minors in Mathematics and History from Shiv Nadar University in India. Her research is centered on environmental and development economics in LMICs, leveraging spatial and big data in combination with traditional methods.

Previously, she worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Office of the Chief Economist. At EBRD, she worked to understand the impact of green innovation on labour market outcomes. She also worked as a Research Consultant for the Institute for Financial Management and Research in India during her undergraduate studies.

Rohini Venkitaraman Iyer will be hosted by Dahyeon Jeong (Economist, DIME) at DIME, and contribute to School Based Programing Window, Cash Based Transfers, and Gender Window projects under the DIME-WFP partnership. Rohini holds a Bachelors in Statistics from Savitribai Phule Pune University, India and graduated from her master’s in Public Policy at Harvard as a fully funded Kennedy Fellow.

Prior to her pursuing her master’s degree, she spent over 5 years tackling societal issues like opioid addiction and female labor force participation at organizations like the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and Harvard's Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD).

She also taught Math and Science to low-income middle school students through Science for All Foundation, which kick-started her career in social sciences research and development. Her research interests include generating data-driven and impact-oriented solutions to problems in gender, labor, and education policy areas.

RSMFP: The program is no longer receiving applications 2024 Information Session Recording McNamara Fellows - 2023 Cohort Blogs McNamara Fellows - 2022 Cohort Blogs Remarks from Arianna Legovini, Director of DIME, on the 2021 launch of the restructured fellowship program Arianna Legovini, Director of DIME, inviting young researchers to the Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program.

Remarks from Arianna Legovini, Director of DIME, on the 2021 launch of the restructured fellowship program Listen to past McNamara Fellows McNamara Fellows share their experiences as part of the Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program. Listen to past McNamara Fellows Roula Yazigi | World Bank ⇨ World Bank Scholarships