The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites applications from early-career social scientists affiliated with universities in the Arab world for semester-long fellowships in Fall 2015.
With support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the fellowship offers advanced doctoral candidates or post-doctoral scholars within five years of their Ph.D. an opportunity to work with a faculty mentor at UNC-Chapel Hill, participate in ongoing research groups, and, if they desire, audit graduate seminars. The program is intended to provide an intensive intellectual experience, including advanced methodological training, for Arab social scientists at a formative stage of their career. The selected fellows must be physically based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for the full semester of their fellowship. Fellows will participate in the scholarly activities of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, including the presentation of their research at the Center’s colloquium series.
While any research subject will be considered, applicants working on issues related to food and food security, broadly conceived, may also be considered for a fellowship at UNC’s Global Research Institute and awarded additional privileges at the university, including access to research clusters.
Applications for Fall 2015 fellowships are due on December 15, 2014. Application materials should be sent by e-mail to mideast@unc.edu. Applicants are asked to identify one or more faculty mentors at UNC-Chapel Hill, propose a research and training agenda for the fellowship period, and supply two letters of recommendation. Applications will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary committee of scholars at UNC-Chapel Hill. All fellows must be affiliated with an Arab university and must be currently engaged in research in any social science discipline, or social-scientific work in information science, law, public health, and other fields. Individuals primarily employed by think tanks or other non-university entities cannot be considered. The program anticipates offering three fellowships in Fall 2015, with a salary of $30,000 each, plus benefits including health insurance, and support for travel to the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association of North America.
Application Procedures:
Applicants should send the following materials as e-mail attachments to mideast@unc.edu by December 15, 2014:
1. Letter indicating your academic background, research focus, a research and training agenda for the fellowship period, and one or more faculty mentors at UNC (in English).
2. Curriculum vitae (in English).
3. Sample(s) of scholarly social-scientific writing (in any language).
4. Two letters of recommendation (in English; should be sent directly by recommenders to mideast@unc.edu).
Applicants are encouraged to contact potential mentors on the faculty at UNC well in advance of the application deadline, so as to inform them of your interest in the fellowship and inquire about their willingness to serve as a mentor.