2011 Eurasia Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at SSRC, USA

2011 On-line applications will become available on this site on or by August 15, 2011.
All applications will be due on November 15, 2011.

Eurasia Program Fellowships are intended for applicants who have completed their dissertation field research and/or data collection, who have made significant progress in outlining emergent, innovative contributions to scholarship, and who are willing to reach beyond the academic community to make their work known and accessible to a variety of publics.
The Eurasia Program offers three types of fellowship support in 2011, providing financial and academic support to graduate students in the early stages of dissertation development, Ph.D. candidates near completion of their doctoral programs in the social sciences and related humanities, and young scholars within three years of the completion of their Ph.D.The funding for this fellowship program is provided by the Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of Outreach Title VIII Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and Eurasia (Independent States of the Former Soviet Union). One of the goals of the Title VIII program is to support and sustain American expertise on the countries of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. This program also works to support outreach; build relationships between the policy community and the academic community; help build national capability by engaging diverse experts in the exploration of new ideas and perspectives; and create new knowledge and research.

Pre-Dissertation Awards (PDAs)

Pre-Dissertation Awards (PDAs) target early stage graduate students interested in pursuing initial field assessments of up to 4 weeks. These preliminary trips provide the opportunities for archival exploration, preliminary interviews, and other forms of feasibility studies related to their dissertations. We anticipate awarding 4-6 young scholars the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of their proposed field sites, establish contacts within local communities, meet with local scholars, and gain insight into how their dissertation topic resonates with regional intellectual, political and social currents. Proposals should reflect a clear plan for initial field assessment, a budget of less than $4,000, and clearly articulate the policy relevance of the proposed project.

Dissertation Development Fellowships (DDFs)

The Dissertation Development Awards (DDAs) are intended to provide one year of support to enable the prompt completion of a Ph.D. dissertation. The SSRC Eurasia Program anticipates offering approximately 10 DDAs (with stipends up to $18,000 and $4,000 of possible supplemental funding) to advanced graduate students who have completed their fieldwork. Fellows will participate in professionalization activities, a spring conference, and contribute working papers and policy briefs. Applicants should pay serious attention to the policy relevant aspects of their research, and are expected to participate in the Eurasia Program’s new working paper and policy brief series.

Post-Doctoral Research Awards (PDRAs)

PDRAs of the SSRC Eurasia Program provide early-career scholars who have been awarded their Ph.D. within the last five years with research funds to support furthering the work initiated in their dissertations or to launching their first post-dissertation research project. We anticipate awarding 2-3 of these awards (of up to $33,000 each over 24 months), which will provide unique and valuable resources for recent Ph.D.s making the transition into professional research careers. Applicants will be expected to secure overhead agreements for no more than 10% from their institution of employment. Research funds may be used for travel, data collection, software, research assistance, salary, or other forms of scholarly development. Applicants must present a clear research and writing plan, highlighting their publication strategy and discussing the policy relevance of the proposed work.

Eligibility

All applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States as of November 15, 2011.

Pre-Dissertation Awards target graduate students in the first three years of study in a Ph.D. program. Awards require evidence of ethics training and University IRB approval. Funds are to be used before applicants defend their dissertation proposals.

Dissertation Development Awards seek applicants who have obtained ABD status (must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. degree except for the dissertation)by the application submission deadline. Applicants should demonstrate the ability to complete their dissertation by the end of the fellowship support period (August 2013), and demonstrate evidence of University cost-sharing.

Post-Doctoral Research Awards applicants should be within five years of the completion of their Ph.D., and gainfully employed in teaching and or research.Only individual applicants are considered.

Proposals and research must pertain to one or more of the regions and countries currently supported by the program (please see FAQ for further information). We will consider comparative projects if one or more of the countries/regions under consideration are supported by the program, and if our Selection and Oversight Committee determines that the project contributes to the field of Eurasian Studies.

Please note: Award recipients' universities are required to make a cost-sharing contribution of not less than 10% of the award amount. This may be an in-kind contribution, and may come in the form of a tuition remission, a waiver of required fees, health coverage, etc. Please see the application and Institutional Support Form for full details.

Selection Criteria

The Eurasia Fellowship Program is a nationally competitive program that draws applications from a diverse students enrolled in a variety of American and international institutions of higher education. All Eurasia Program Fellowship applications are reviewed by an interdisciplinary panel of experts that reward proposals with clear arguments, carefully considered theory and methodology, a writing style accessible to readers both inside and outside the applicant’s discipline. Proposals should be intriguing for both a specialist and generalist audience. All proposals are expected to meet high levels of academic merit and to address the current needs of the field of Eurasian studies.

Further Scholarship Information and Application