Rotary Peace Fellowship 2028–29: A Funded Year or Two for People Already Doing Peace Work
The Rotary Foundation funds up to 170 peace and development professionals a year — up to 50 on master’s degrees and up to 120 on a one-year certificate. The 2027–28 round has closed; the 2028–29 application opens in February 2027.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
4 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
The Rotary Peace Fellowship is a fully funded award from The Rotary Foundation for people who already work in peace or development. You do not need to be a Rotary member — in fact, active members cannot apply. According to the official Peace Fellowships page, Rotary awards up to 170 funded fellowships a year across eight Rotary Peace Centers, and the award covers tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transport, and internship and field-study costs.
Two fellowships under one name
“Rotary Peace Fellowship” is really two different programmes with different candidates in mind. You choose one when you apply.
Up to 50 a year. A 15–24 month master’s at one of five partner universities, with a self-designed field study of two to three months. Needs at least three years of full-time relevant experience.
Up to 120 a year. A one-year blended programme for mid-career professionals: 11 weeks on site plus a nine-month social change initiative. Needs at least five years of full-time relevant experience.
The master’s suits early-career people who want a research-based degree and are ready to leave work for up to two years. The certificate suits people who cannot step away from their job for long, and who already have a peace project they want to build out in their region. Both are described in detail on the Programmes & Centres page.
The eight Rotary Peace Centers
Centres →Rotary’s official pages list five master’s partners and three certificate centres. The newest, at Symbiosis International University in Pune, India, was announced in February 2026 as Rotary’s eighth centre.
| Track | University | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Master’s | Duke University & University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | North Carolina, USA |
| Master’s | International Christian University (ICU) | Tokyo, Japan |
| Master’s | University of Bradford | Bradford, England |
| Master’s | University of Queensland | Brisbane, Australia |
| Master’s | Uppsala University | Uppsala, Sweden |
| Certificate | Makerere University | Kampala, Uganda |
| Certificate | Bahçeşehir University — Otto and Fran Walter Rotary Peace Center | Istanbul, Türkiye |
| Certificate | Symbiosis International University | Pune, India |
If you have read older blogs that list Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok as the certificate centre, note that it is not among the three certificate options on Rotary’s current certificate page.
Where the cycle stands in October 2026
Deadlines →The official application page says the 2027–28 application is closed and the 2028–29 application will open online in February 2027. Applications are accepted “between February and 15 May”. Selected candidates hear in November which centre they have been placed at. Rotary has not yet published exact 2027 dates, so treat 15 May 2027 as the expected deadline until the form goes live.
Being selected for a fellowship does not mean the university has admitted you. After the November notification you still apply for admission to the university that hosts your Peace Center. Plan for that second step.
Who Rotary is looking for
Both tracks require a bachelor’s degree, English proficiency and full-time experience in peace or development work. Rotary’s application page also asks for a gap of at least three years between finishing your most recent degree and the start of the fellowship; the master’s page states this rule explicitly. You cannot hold a fellowship for doctoral study, and you cannot apply if you are a Rotary member, a Rotary employee or a close relative of one. Full detail, and a quick checker, is on the Eligibility page.
A Rotary club or district recommendation is optional but strongly encouraged. Older guides describe a compulsory district endorsement; the current official process does not require one. It is still worth contacting your local district — many have a peace fellowship subcommittee chair who mentors applicants.
Where to go next
Experience years, the three-year gap, the Rotary-relative rule and regional fit.
Master’s vs certificate, and what each of the eight centres offers.
The official steps, documents and the club or district recommendation.
Personal statement video, essays and the social change initiative.
Who reviews your file and how university interviews work.
Other funded routes if Rotary is not the right fit this year.
Start on the official site
This is an independent guide. Rotary’s pages are the source of truth: the Peace Fellowships overview, the master’s programmes page, the certificate programme page and the application page. Check them again in February 2027 when the new form opens.