Institute for Defense Analyses Science Policy Fellow interview questions

The interview process is pretty long. After applications closed, mid Feb for a phone interview with three research staff members (RSMs). The phone interview was short and only consisted of three questions, two of which were about my interest in science policy, and one that was specific to current events and my background. About two weeks later I was contacted for an in person interview. From my research and conversations with current fellows, it seems STPI interviews its Science Policy candidates in two groups, flying candidates in March on Sunday, and interviewing all day Monday. From each group, a certain amount of candidates are selected as fellows. The cohorts range about ~3-8 people. My in person interview experience wasn't very well coordinated, to say the least. Before you interview you get an interview schedule on which you see who you are interviewing with (almost entirely groups of RSMs). One RSM interview will be with just one RSM - that is your technical interview. Research the person, their research interests, and feel out conversation starters and interesting questions. On interview day, a staff member picks up all candidates from the hotel that STPI reserved from them, and they all go to the institute together. You then check in and hang out in a small room with breakfast waiting for an intro to the institute by a couple of people. The institute did not provide breakfast that met my dietary restrictions, even though I specified them when ordering lunch, so I had to stick to black coffee. After the group intro, we went off to our interviews. The interviews aren't difficult. Be prepared for questions like "why science policy?," "what do you think is a problem in science policy?," and also be very prepared to answer questions about your background and research experience. After lunch you are divided into two groups, each given the same prompt to answer in a group presentation. Each group researches and puts the presentation together while some RSMs watch. Then each group separately presents in front of the entire institute. For the group presentation you are welcome to request a laptop from the institute before hand, which I did. Don't do this. Though I was given the laptop right away, it would not connect to the internet. I had to walk around the institute in search of the person who gave me the laptop while my group started working. I was provided with a temporary laptop that used ethernet, but was really slow. By the time I had a laptop with wifi, my group was far ahead. After the group presentation we met with some more staff/directors. It took about a month for the candidates who were selected to hear back. About a week later the candidates who were not selected were notified. My overall impressions of the institute (STPI) were mixed. It seemed that the work they do is exceptionally interesting and meaningful, but the institute itself seems to be preferential to ivy graduates. s. Also the institute is not very diverse at all. People seem to learn of the position through connections and maybe school specific recruiting ads.