The Global Dialogues & Women’s Empowerment in Eurasian Contexts Fellowship Programme

Deadline: 2 October 2015

About

International Gender Studies (IGS) Centre at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, is pleased to announce the call for applications for two fellowships for research into women’s empowerment in Eurasia, generously funded by the Open Society Foundations. The Global Dialogues & Women’s Empowerment in Eurasian Contexts Fellowship Programme will provide opportunities for intellectual engagement, critical education and political empowerment of women from Eurasian countries to enable them to become transformative leaders in their own societies and as global citizens. The Fellowship Programme will be implemented under the aegis of the International Gender Study Centre at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, UK.

Our Programme is dedicated to two interconnected goals, the facilitation of the Fellows toward authoritative and leadership roles, and inculcating the importance of intellectual processes in bringing about social change, principally through critical education and political empowerment. As a secondary, but highly important goal, each Fellow will produce a single academic/conceptual or policy-oriented paper to be published by IGS. The purpose of the Programme is to investigate difficult and important issues that societies in Eurasia face in social and economic justice from a gendered perspective. The Programme will be both taught and independent research-based.

The Programme will balance academic programming with applied mentoring reflecting a holistic approach, developing both intellectual and professional skills. Fellows will take courses at the International Gender Studies Centre, with options such as ‘Feminist analyses of power, empowerment and diversity’, ‘ Gender violence and institutional transformation’, ‘ Gender, development, and the state’, and others.

Fellows are expected to take full advantage of the Foundations’ expansive reach and work to bring new people and fresh ideas into its organizational ambit. Successful projects should push the boundaries of current thinking and carry lessons that can be applied to a variety of settings. In addition to their conceptual/academic or policy paper described above, Fellows may produce a variety of work products, including publications such as books, reports, or blogs; innovative public-education projects; or the launch of new campaigns or organizations. They should also be prepared to engage in activities such as hosting panel discussions, traveling to conferences, participating in policy debates, and actively promoting their ideas in public venues. The Programme will support the fellows financially in the production and dissemination of their research.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following essential criteria:

• Citizenship and ordinary residency in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, or Uzbekistan
• At minimum, an undergraduate education and/or qualifications demonstrating commensurate skills and experience: formal and informal research experience
• Competence in written and spoken English (Support for improving English language skills will be provided by the Language Learning Centre at Oxford)
• Established contributions to gender equality and demonstrated experience working in the area of women’s empowerment in the Eurasian Region (while the Fellowship Programme is explicitly committed to female empowerment, both male and female candidates are welcome to apply)

Scholarship

Successful applicants will be supported in accessing accommodation in Oxford, applying for a visa, and applying for medical insurance. They will be informed of opportunities and resources available within the wider University. Fellows will have access to the University of Oxford main libraries, the Bodleian, as well as College library access at Lady Margaret Hall. They will have access to shared work space at the University, and will receive financial support for research-related expenses.

Fellows will receive a living and accommodation stipend commensurate with Oxford living expenses. In addition to the stipend, fellows will receive a project budget. That budget may include expenses such as in-country travel (including airfare and hotel), visa costs, conference fees and health insurance. The purpose of the fellowship is to support individual fellows; therefore the program will only cover individual expenses. Fellows do not engage in paid employment while in the UK for the duration of this Fellowship, in order that they focus exclusively on opportunities and responsibilities associated with the Programme.

How to apply?

The candidate must email the following documents to  igs.admin@lmh.ox.ac.uk no later than 12 noon on 2 October 2015.

• Cover letter (one page)
• Brief listing of biographical information (name, age, gender, contact address, email, nationality, country of residence).
• A full CV  (Times New Roman 12pt font, single-spaced, one-inch margins)
• In the first round, you are required only to submit the names and contact information of two referees. If you are notified that your application has made the shortlist, one Letter of Recommendation must be written by an academic supervisor with knowledge of your academic strengths, and the other should be written by a referee with knowledge of your civil society engagement (for example, the Executive Director of an organization, or the Editor of a news journal). Letters should make reference to the relationship with the candidate, and should include an appraisal of the candidate’s qualifications for a Fellowship position.
• A Research Proposal, as described above. Whilst not obligatory, this would be welcome.

More information