Multi-Country Research Fellowship

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Fellowship Details

Eligibility Guidelines

Eligibility requirements apply at the time of application. Applicants must meet all of the following requirements and will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin and/or physical impairment.

  • Must be a U.S. citizen. Proof of citizenship (photocopy of passport) must be shown upon award notification.
  • Must have a Ph.D. or be a U.S. doctoral candidate who has completed all Ph.D. requirements with the exception of the dissertation.
  • Must be engaged in the study of and research in the humanities, social sciences, and allied natural sciences.
  • Must wish to conduct research of regional or trans-regional significance in two or more countries outside the United States, one of which must host participating American overseas research center (ORC).

Application Deadline

The deadline for application submission is Friday, January, 15, 2010. Letters of recommendation and graduate transcripts must be post-marked by Friday, January 15, 2010 and received by Friday, January 22, 2010.

Fellowships Terms and Conditions

  1. Fellowships are limited to the support of study and research in the humanities, social sciences, and allied natural sciences.
  2. Fellowships may be awarded to U.S. doctoral candidates who have completed all Ph.D. requirements with the exception of the dissertation and to scholars who have already received a Ph.D.
  3. Fellowships will be awarded to U.S. citizens only. Proof of citizenship (photocopy of passport) must be shown upon award notification.
  4. Applicants must propose and conduct field research in at least two countries outside the United States, one of which must host an American overseas research center (ORC). Click for complete list of participating centers.
  5. Fellowship tenure must be of at least 90 days duration. The 90 day tenure need not be continuous.
  6. Fellows must complete their fellowships (including submitting a final report) by October 31, 2011. Any unused portion of the stipend must be returned to CAORC by this date.
  7. This program provides stipends of up to $10,000 per fellow. Air travel procured with funds from this grant must adhere to the “Fly America” policy. No dependent allowance is available.
  8. Given changing travel restrictions and/or travel warnings to many countries, fellows should contact CAORC prior to purchasing airfare.
  9. While CAORC encourages scholars to apply to other federal and private sources in addition to the CAORC Multi-Country Research Fellowship Program, CAORC fellows may not simultaneously hold other major federally funded fellowships. CAORC fellows who receive additional awards must contact CAORC immediately to discuss possible date and stipend adjustments.
  10. CAORC fellows will be granted all privileges normally accorded other fellows at the ORC with which they will affiliate.
  11. CAORC is unable to provide health or other insurance to its fellows. Fellows are required to supply CAORC with proof of health insurance as well as emergency evacuation and repatriation of remains insurance before leaving the United States.
  12. Fellowships are authorized only after the ORC with which the fellow intends to affiliate has given approval and a security clearance has been granted.
  13. Fellowship recipients are eligible to reapply for a second MCRFP three years after their most recent award.
  14. CAORC does not advise fellows on tax questions concerning their stipend.

 

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Preparing to Apply

Tips for Applying

  • Meet the eligibility guidelines and the application deadline.
  • Read the website of the proposed affiliate ORCs to ensure that the proposed research topic fits within their broad purview. Links to all ORC websites can be found on the Centers Page.
  • Read and follow the instructions.
  • Include only the information and materials requested and observe any limitations on length.
  • Submit application via email as attachments using an MS Word or PDF format.

Tips for Letters of Recommendations

  • The applicant is responsible for notifying referees of their request for letters and for ensuring those letters are submitted to CAORC by the deadline.
  • All references must be in English.
  • Ph.D. candidates must submit one letter from their academic advisor with the Academic Advisor Form.
  • Do not submit more references than the 3 required.

Important Notes Regarding Applications

  • Funding is not available for research conducted in the United States.
  • CAORC’s preferred method of submission is via email. Once an application is submitted it cannot be resubmitted or edited.
  • Letters of recommendation must be mailed by the application deadline and received no more than a week later.
  • Ph.D candidates who plan to use the fellowship for post-doctoral research should check the post-doctoral classification.
  • If you are a US citizen studying abroad please send MA transcripts and a letter from the registrar stating that you are registered in the PhD program.
  • Notification of fellowship status will be made available to each applicant via email by April 15, 2010. Fellows are advised that it can take up to six months to obtain the necessary research clearance. Air travel must meet Fly American policy guidelines.
  • Applicants applying to travel to Maghrib countries only should apply to the American Institute of Maghrib Studies (AIMS) for funding.
  • For the purposes of the Multi-Country Research Fellowship Program, the West African Research Association (WARA) can only be considered towards fulfilling the requirement to affiliate with at least one American overseas research center when Senegal is included in the research proposal.
  • Applicants applying to travel to Greece and affiliate with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) must submit an ASCSA Associate Member application and a copy of their CAORC application online on the ASCSA web site, www.ascsa.edu.gr
  • Applicants applying to travel to Egypt should plan to commence their research in Egypt no earlier than October 1, 2010 to ensure adequate time for research clearance.
  • Proof of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval must be provided, if relevant, upon receipt of fellowship.

Samples of Past Awards

  • 1993: Shahnaz Rouse, Sarah Lawrence College (Egypt/Pakistan/India)
    Shifting Fragments, Uncovering Nations
  • 1994: Joy McCorriston & Sheila McNally, University of Minnesota (Oman/Yemen)
    Incense Production in Ancient Southern Arabia: Developing an Archaeological Project
  • 1995: Marvin Weinbaum, University of Illinois (Pakistan/Egypt)
    Markets and Democracy in the Muslim Polity
  • 1996: Clarissa Burt, Ohio University (Egypt/Jordan/Morocco)
    Egyptian Poetry and its Criticism Since 1967 in the Arabo-Poetic Context
  • 1998: Susan Miller, Harvard University (Tunisia/Egypt/Turkey)
    The Jewish Quarter of the Mediterranean City: An Architectural and Historical Study
  • 1999: Priya Satia, UC-Berkeley (India/Pakistan/Kuwait/Bahrain/England)
    Indian Ocean Smugglers and the British Raj, 1920-1945
  • 2000: Ned Bertz, University of Iowa (India/Tanzania)
    Everyday Encounters in India and Tanzania: Nationalism, Race, and Diaspora in the Indian Ocean Region
  • 2001: Carrie Konold, University of Michigan (Senegal/Morocco/Ghana)
    Social Networks of Political Communication in Africa 
  • 2002: Janet Jones, Bucknell University (Turkey/Greece)
    Technology, Trade, and Influence in First Millennium BCE Asia Minor: Ancient Glass from Gordion
  • 2003: Karen Ruffle, UNC-Chapel Hill (India/Iran/Syria)
    Memory Inflamed: Women’s Participation in the Shi’i Community of Remembrance
  • 2004: Christopher Vasantkumar, UC Berkeley (India, China)
    The Routes of Belonging: Tibetan Migrants and the Limits of the Chinese Nation
  • 2005: James Meyer, Brown University (Turkey, Ukraine)
    Turkic Worlds: Culture Wars, Community Representation, and Collective Identity in the Russian and Ottoman Empires, 1880-1917
  • 2006: Tiffiny Tung & Brian Kemp, Vanderbilt University (Mexico, Peru)
    Investigating the Effects of Ancient Imperialism on Population Migration in Ancient Mexico and Peru through Bioarchaeological and Genetic Analyses
  • 2007: Michelle Machicek, University of Sheffield (China, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan)
    A Biocultural Analysis of Later Prehistoric Populations of Inner Asia
  • 2008: York Norman, Buffalo State College (Bosnia, Turkey)
    Constructing the nation: a comparison of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Ottoman and Bosnian Muslim political thought

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Apply

Deadline for application submission is Friday, January, 15, 2010.
Letters of recommendation and graduate transcripts must be post-marked by Friday, January 15, 2010 and received by Friday, January 22, 2010

A complete application consists of:

  1. Application Form
  2. Project Description - On a separate sheet of paper, in 1500 words or less, please describe the nature of your proposal and your competence to carry out the required research. State the reasons your project requires your presence in the countries you indicated, what relationship you will have with the host-country ORC, and the methodology you propose to use in conducting your research. Indicate the facilities (i.e. libraries, museums and archives) you plan to use while conducting your research. Finally, please indicate the extent to which you investigated the availability of other funding sources. Please note that readers may not be specialists in your field.
  3. Project Bibliography/Literature Review - 1 page maximum, additional pages will not be submitted to the readers for review.
  4. Three (3) separate letters of recommendation- Ph.D candidates must have one letter from academic advisor with a signed Academic Advisor Form.
  5. Curriculum Vitae - 3 pages maximum, additional pages will not be submitted to the readers for review.
  6. Graduate Transcripts - Ph.D candidates only

Please read the Application Instructions before submitting your application.

Download the full application packet (instructions, application form, and academic advisor form) here.

Application Submission

Preferred Method of Submittal:

Please submit the application form, project description, project bibliography/literature review, and curriculum vitae via email to fellowships@caorc.org. Documents in MS Word format are preferred. You will receive an email confirmation of receipt within five (5) business days.

Please have your letters of recommendation and transcripts (if applicable) mailed directly to CAORC via the U.S. Postal Service or Express Mail (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.):

U.S. Postal Service:
CAORC
Multi-Country Research Fellowship Program
P.O. Box 37012
MRC-178
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Express Mail:
CAORC-Multi Fellowship
c/o Natural History Museum
10th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW
MRC-178
Washington, DC 20560-0178

In lieu of email, you may send all application materials to one of the addresses above. Please note that the application form, project description, bibliography/literature review, and curriculum vitae must arrive at CAORC by January 15, 2010, even if sent via postal mail.

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Selection Process

Review Criteria

Fellows will be selected by the CAORC grants panel made up of scholars accustomed to conducting regional and trans-regional research. Please note that readers may not be specialists in your field. Applicants will be judged according to the following criteria:

  • Merits of the proposal for significance, relevance, and potential contribution to regional and/or trans-regional scholarly research.
  • Applicant qualifications.
  • Research design and methodology.
  • Significance to the applicant's field.
  • Significance to needs and interests of host country and CAORC.
  • Feasibility in terms of resources and amount of time allocated to the project.
  • Need for residence in host country to accomplish the project.
  • Proficiency in language required to complete research project, if applicable.

Notification

Notification of fellowship status will be made available to each applicant via email by April 15, 2010. Fellows are advised that it can take up to six months to obtain the necessary research clearance.

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