Deadline: 9 May 2019
Open to: citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan
Benefits: the project will support two fellows (one PhD candidate and one Post-doctoral Fellow) for a five-month period (August 12, 2019 – January 12, 2020)

Description

University of Tartu (Estonia) announces a call for applications for doctoral candidates and PhD-holding academics in the Social Sciences for a five-month fellowship at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, supported by the Eurasia Programme of the Open Society Foundations. The call is addressed to citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

The purpose of the fellowship programme is to enable scholars from the target countries to develop analytical and research skills and build international networks by participating in a five-month resident fellowship programme at the  Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be a citizen of one of the Eurasia Programme target countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine or Uzbekistan) and be permanently residing in one of these countries;
• Applicants for the doctoral fellowship must be doctoral students enrolled in a PhD programme in the Social Sciences (preferably in Political Science or International Relations) at an institution of higher education in one of the programme countries (for at least one year at the time of applying);
• Applicants for the postdoctoral fellowship must be young scholars who have been awarded a PhD (or candidate degree)* in the Social Sciences (preferably in Political Science or International Relations or a closely related field) during a period of six years preceding the application deadline;
• Applicants should have a very good command of English (be able to follow lectures and write academic or policy papers in English);
• Preference will be given to individuals whose work has potential to make a significant contribution to the public interest and to building open societies, as well as to individuals who face the risk of isolation or marginalization in their home country. Individuals who have already spent considerable time in the EU or North America, and have extensively benefited from comparable fellowship programs, will, as a rule, not be selected for support.
• For the purposes of this programme, a candidate degree (kandidatskaya) awarded in several Eurasian countries is considered to be an equivalent of a doctoral degree awarded in the Western system. Thus, the definition of a doctoral candidate includes those working towards their candidate degree.

Benefits

The project will support two fellows (one PhD candidate and one Post-doctoral Fellow) for a five-month period (August 12, 2019 – January 12, 2020).

How to apply?

Application documents should be sent electronically to eurasiafellows@ut.ee by 23:59 PM Estonian time (GMT/UTC+02:00) on May 9, 2019. All documents should be in English. Academic transcripts may be in a language other than English but should be accompanied by a translation provided (and signed) by the applicant.

Applicants for the doctoral fellowship must submit the following documents:

• completed application form, available here;
• a cover letter, explaining the candidate’s motivation for  applying (max 1 page);
• description of the research project to be undertaken during the fellowship period (max 3 pages), detailing the objectives and relevance of the project, main research questions, theoretical and empirical approaches and data used. Please indicate what the concrete research output will be (academic article, chapter of a dissertation or a book; policy paper, etc.). Feel free to indicate what kind of assistance and advice you need with this project;
• CV detailing education, professional experience, and any publications;
• official letter from home university proving enrollment in a PhD programme, together with an academic transcript (if applicable) detailing coursework completed;
• copy of the identification pages of the applicant’s passport.

Applicants for the post-doctoral fellowship must submit the following documents:

• completed application form, available here;
• a cover letter, explaining the candidate’s motivation for  applying (max 1 page);
• description of the research project to be undertaken during the fellowship period (max 3 pages), detailing the objectives and relevance of the project, main research questions, theoretical and empirical approaches and data used. Please indicate what the concrete research output will be (academic article, chapter of a dissertation or a book; policy paper, etc.). Feel free to indicate what kind of assistance and advice you need with this project;
• CV detailing education, professional experience, and any publications;
• official letter from home university proving enrollment in a PhD programme, together with an academic transcript (if applicable) detailing coursework completed;
• copy of the identification pages of the applicant’s passport.

Please address any questions about the programme or the application process to eurasiafellows@ut.ee.

Applications will be reviewed by a three-member selection committee.

Selection criteria include:

• quality and feasibility of the research proposal, including the extent to which it corresponds to the thematic focus and specific sub-topics of the programme as well as the competences of the host institution (as described above);
• academic and professional qualifications and abilities of the candidate;
• candidate’s potential to contribute to academic and policy debates in home country/the broader region;
• candidate’s command of the English language.

Please note that the selection committee may decide to conduct phone or Skype interviews with short-listed applicants in order to verify English language proficiency and academic qualifications, and to discuss the proposed research.

All applicants will be notified of the results of the selection process within three weeks of the application deadline.

For more information, please visit the official web page