Deadline: 30 August 2013
Open to: post-graduate researchers no more than 40 years old from eligible “Least Developed Countries” listed below
Fellowship: US $6,000 to $10,000
Description
Reinforcing its belief in “people building the next era”, the Government of Japan offers 20 fellowships per year to be awarded to deserving candidates from developing countries, especially the least developed countries (LDCs), who are eager to undertake research on one or more of the topics listed below. The aim of the fellowships is to support innovative and imaginative post-graduate research in four areas of development of particular interest to UNESCO.
The UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowships Programme will aim, in particular, to impact on capacity-building and research activities in the following areas:
- Environment (with particular emphasis on Water Sciences, Water Issues, Climate Change, Engineering Capacity Building in the Developing World);
- Intercultural Dialogue;
- Information and Communication Technologies; and
- Peaceful conflict resolution.
The research should last 3 to 9 months, starting anytime from March 2014 onward. Once the Fellowship has expired, the beneficiaries will be encouraged to disseminate the results of their research. Selected beneficiaries will be required to submit an interim and a final report describing the results of the research undertaken. Fellows will be required to send UNESCO a one-page summary with their report that will be reproduced later in a leaflet and disseminated widely by UNESCO.
Fellowship
The Fellowships financed by Japan and administered by UNESCO will consist of a maximum amount between US$6,000 to US$10,000 will be awarded to selected candidates. The amount, to be paid in two or three installments, is intended to cover research costs only, and will not be negotiable. No other costs will be considered and grants will be neither extended nor renewed.
Eligibility
Applicants must meet the following general criteria:
- Candidates under this Programme must be post-graduate researchers, already holding either an M.A. or M.Sc. degree (or equivalent) and wishing to pursue research work abroad (preferably in their own region) with a view to enhancing knowledge in one of the four specific fields mentioned in paragraph D.1 below. Thus, those who are in the process of completing their Master’s degree must have completed it PRIOR to taking up their Fellowship.
- Candidates must be persons of high intellectual promise who may be expected to make significant contributions to their country on return.
- Candidates must be no more than 40 years of age. Thus, applicants born before 1 January 1974 will not be considered under the Programme.
- The selected Fellow must carry out the research under the auspices of an academic supervisor in a host institution. Confirmation of acceptance from the academic supervisor is imperative.
Invited Countries to submit Candidatures:
AFRICA: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
ARAB STATES: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palesltine, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Yemen
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Federal States of Micronesia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Nieu, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Sarvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine
ASSOCIATE MEMBER STATE: Tokelau
Application
Closing date for receipt of applications is 30 August 2013. Each Member State may nominate a maximum of two (2) candidates. All applications must be channelled through the National Commission for UNESCO of the candidate’s country and should be addressed to the Director-General. You must first SEE THE LIST HERE to find your country’s National Commission contact information and contact them before applying.
The application must include the following attachments:
- The UNESCO Fellowship application form AVAILABLE HERE duly completed in duplicate.
- Certified copies of degrees or diplomas (including transcript of grades) in duplicate. Proof of having obtained a Master’s Degree must be included.
- A letter of recommendation from someone familiar with the candidate’s work.
- A host institute’s letter of acceptance
- The certificate of language proficiency (on the UNESCO form) duly completed in duplicate for the language of the country of study
- A detailed description, one to two page(s) (maximum), in either English or French, of the research work for which the candidature is being put forward. The research proposal should cover the following points: why, what, how, where, when and how much. See the call for applications for further details.
Candidates who have not been informed of their selection by 8 January 2014 should consider that their applications have not been approved in the selection process.
For more information, please review the call for applications HERE and see the official website HERE.
