Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs

The Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs advances research and teaching about the world beyond the borders of the United States. We draw on cutting-edge international research across Northwestern’s twelve undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools to generate new knowledge about pressing global challenges and promising solutions for addressing them.

From pioneering material science to innovative work on the human past, our faculty and scholars contribute to public understanding of complex international problems. Through our multidisciplinary Global Working Groups, we develop knowledge, policies and technologies to improve people’s lives.

We support cohorts of Buffett Faculty Fellows in addition to hosting visiting scholars and the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies each year. We also help Northwestern scholars find research partners within the university through lunchtime workshops and support international research partnerships through Global Collaboration Grants.

We offer Northwestern undergraduates opportunities for learning about the world through innovative courses, international research assistantships and internships, and interactions with global leaders. Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows work with faculty members on international research projects. In 2025–26, our Elliott Scholars will investigate debates about international development through an interdisciplinary program that includes an internship abroad this summer. 

For graduate students, the Roberta Buffett Institute offers intellectual community for those who work on international and global subjects. We provide scaffolded funding through international research and conference awards as well as grants for language training. We also support cohorts of Research and Dissertation Fellows.

Throughout the academic year, the Roberta Buffett Institute hosts a lively program of events, many of which are open to the general public, including book talks, conversations with global leaders, and daylong symposia. Our 2025–26 symposia will focus on youth and peacebuilding in the fall, disinformation in the winter, and an intergenerational salon envisioning brave new futures in the spring.

We work closely with Northwestern's Global Learning Office, Office of International Student & Scholar Services, Office of Global Safety & Security, Office of the Vice President for International Relations, and the Weinberg College Center for International & Area Studies to advance the university's work internationally and to support international learning for the next generations of global citizens.