Doctoral Fellows Program

Guidelines

The OSI Doctoral Fellows Program is designed to provide the highest research and teaching qualifications to individuals from Tajikistan and Moldova who are positioned to become leading scholars in the social sciences and humanities. Upon completion of the degree, fellows are required to return home to continue or begin academic careers, where they will play an active role in the revitalization and reform of scholarship both in their discipline and in higher education, generally.

Local Need for Doctorates

OSI's Network Scholarship Programs traditionally have supported master's degree study in the social sciences and humanities for citizens of the former Soviet-bloc countries. For years, much of the higher education reform and leading scholarship in this region has been accomplished by these scholars returning home with master's-level credentials. Today, building local capacity in academia requires increasingly more sophisticated scholarship mechanisms, such as doctoral degree awards and faculty development fellowships. With limited local resources available to meet the demands for quality higher education in emerging global knowledge centers, international scholarships continue to be an essential tool in our work.

Fellowship Experience

Fellows in this program are placed in university departments that closely match their research interest. They work with respected and supportive mentors, engage in intellectual discovery with their peers, witness firsthand the importance of diversity within academic discourse, and master—indeed challenge—the prevailing wisdom and paradigms of their discipline. The experience provides the most advanced training in techniques of scholarly inquiry and teaching methodologies.

Beyond the Degree

Equally important as the advanced academic training, the doctoral experience exposes students to the elements of "academic culture" that create a healthy scholarly community. Doctoral students witness how an academic department operates on an administrative level, how colleagues form a cohesive but diverse community, how the department fits into the larger university community, and how key administrative policies encourage equity and access to knowledge. They also learn that a scholar's work extends beyond the department to include service to the university and active membership in academic networks and organizations.

We expect that this program will create a deep and lasting impact on the academic environments we serve.

Guidelines

Up to 15 awards will be offered annually for study in the United States or Canada. Grantees can receive full support for up to 4 years of full-time study. Fellowships are offered in political science, international relations, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics, and history.

The fellowship provides:

• Tuition and university fees for up to 4 years, requiring full-time enrollment;
• Monthly stipend for room, board, and living expenses;
• Air travel to and from host universities at the start and conclusion of program;
• One trip home during program for research purposes;
• Accident and sickness insurance during program;
• Annual allowances for academic materials & professional development;
• Facilitation of all visa and travel arrangements;
• Pre-academic training in academic writing & research methods;
• Participation in annual fellows’ conference.

The Fellowship does NOT provide:

• Funding or support for dependent family members;
• Funding for non-fellowship travel expenses;
• Summer stipends for activities unrelated to doctoral completion;
• Guaranteed placement at finalist’s preferred department.

Eligibility

The program does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. The competition is merit-based and open to those meeting the following criteria:

• Resident of Moldova or Tajikistan;
• Excellent academic record and an advanced degree (minimum: BA) at time of application deadline; those with local post-graduate degrees are encouraged to apply;
• Proficiency in spoken and written English (or French, for placement at Canadian francophone universities) at the time of application;
• Professional scholarly aptitude and leadership potential in academia;
• Ability to receive and maintain the appropriate study permit and/or visa for the host country;
• Ability to attend the program’s pre-academic summer school beginning in July;
• Commitment to return to home country immediately after Program to pursue or continue a career in academia;
• Sincere motivation to aid ongoing reform efforts in higher education at home.

Selection & University Placement

Competition for the NSP Doctoral Program is open, merit-based, and relies heavily on host university admissions criteria. Selection is made on the basis of academic excellence, professional aptitude, scholarly potential in the field of specialization, commitment to improving teaching and research at home institution, long-term commitment to a career in higher education, and strong English (or French) language ability. Final placement in a US or Canadian doctoral program is not guaranteed, and depends on matching finalists to appropriate departments and universities that will accept their credentials for admission.

Selection is performed as follows:

Semi-Finalist Selection: A committee comprised of host university faculty and admissions officials reviews eligible applications and recommends which applicants to either reject or to move to the next stage of review (semi-finalist). Semi-finalists are required to take the TOEFL and GRE.

Interviews & Finalist Selection: Semi-finalists are interviewed in their home countries by a committee with qualifications as described above. This committee chooses finalists based on previous assessments of the written application, the candidates’ performance during the interview, and standardized test results. Finalists continue on to the departmental placement stage.

Finalist Placement: Finalist placement is a collaborative process involving NSP and host university faculty and staff. Finalists are normally not permitted to select their own placements. OSI formally notifies finalists of awards only after placements have been secured.

Expectations of PhD Fellows

• Fellows must uphold the academic standards of their host institution and undertake full-time study for the duration of the program. Failure to do so will result in dismissal.
• All fellows are expected to earn a PhD within the standard time for the field of study.
• Fellows must comply with the visa regulations of the host country and may be subject by the terms of the visa to a home residency requirement upon completion of the program. Requests for visa renewals or extensions will not be considered.
• OSI expects that fellows will return to their home countries after completing the degree and take up meaningful posts in academe.
• Fellows are given the program’s “Terms and Conditions” with detailed information on the rules & policies that must be followed during the program. These requirements will be reviewed in detail with all grantees prior to the beginning of the fellowship.

Pre-Academic Summer Program

From mid-July to mid-August 2009, grantees are required to participate in a four-week summer program in Istanbul, Turkey. The program consists of classes in academic writing in English, as well as social science and humanities-based seminars.

To Apply

A full application is available for download below.

Deadline

Applications are due October 20, 2008.

Contact Information

Tajikistan

Gulnora Choukourbekova, Scholarships
Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation
Trade and Business Center "VEFA"
37/1 Bokhtar St, 4th Floor, Room 404
Dushanbe, Tajikistan 734002
Tel.: (992 47) 441-07-45,441-07-46
Fax: (+992 47) 441-07-29
Fax: (992 372) 510142
Email: osi@eicosi.tajik.net

Moldova

Angela Muset, Director
Educational Advising Center
Centrul de informatii universitare
bd. Stefan cel Mare si Sfant, 148
Chisinau, MD 2012,
Republic of Moldova
Tel.: (373 22) 22-11-67, 22-11-72
Fax: (373 22) 22-11-67
Email: amuset@eac.md
Website: www.eac.md