Multi-Country Research Fellowship

Fellowship Details - 2012/2013 cycle

The on-line application system for the 2012-2013 cycle is now closed.

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 disability.

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 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 a participating American overseas research center (ORC).

Application Deadline

The deadline for application submission is Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 11:59pm EST. Letters of recommendation sent via email must be recieved by Tuesday, January 15, 2013. Letters of recommendation and graduate transcripts sent via postal mail must be post-marked by Tuesday, January 15, 2013 and received by Wednesday, January 23, 2013.

Fellowships Terms and Conditions

Fellowships are limited to the support of study and research in the humanities, social sciences, and allied natural sciences.
Fellowships may be awarded to doctoral candidates who have completed all Ph.D. requirements with the exception of the dissertation and scholars who have already received a Ph.D.
Fellowships will be awarded to U.S. citizens only. Proof of citizenship (photocopy of passport) must be shown upon award notification.
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.
Fellowship tenure must be of at least 90 days duration. The fellowship tenure need not be continuous.
Fellows must complete their fellowships (including submitting a final report) by October 31, 2014. Any unused portion of the stipend must be returned to CAORC by this date.
Fellowship awards will not exceed $10,500. No dependent allowance is available.
Air travel procured in part or in full with funds from this grant must adhere to the “Fly America” policy.
Given changing travel restrictions and/or travel warnings to many countries, fellows should contact CAORC prior to purchasing airfare.
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 (i.e. Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays grants). CAORC fellows who receive additional awards must contact CAORC immediately to discuss possible date and stipend adjustments.
CAORC fellows will be granted all privileges normally accorded other fellows at the ORC with which they will affiliate.
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.
Fellowships are authorized only after the ORC with which the fellow intends to affiliate has given approval and a security clearance has been granted.
Fellowship recipients are eligible to reapply for a second MCRFP three years after their most recent award.
CAORC does not advise fellows on tax questions concerning their stipend.

Preparing to Apply - 2012/2013 cycle

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 limitations on length.
View more application tips here.

Tips for Letters of Recommendations

Ask for letters as early as possible. 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 2 required.
Letters of recommendation should be sent directly from your referee via email to fellowships@caorc.org. Documents, scanned with signature, in PDF format are preferred.
View more letter of recommendation tips here.

Important Notes Regarding Applications

Funding is not available for research conducted in the United States.
CAORC’s preferred method of submission is via the on-line application system. Once an application is submitted it cannot be resubmitted or edited.
Letters of recommendation sent via postal mail must be mailed by the application deadline and received no more than a week later.
Ph.D. candidates who will obtain their doctoral degree by May 2013 and plan to use the fellowship for post-doctoral research should apply as a post-doctoral scholar.
If you are a U.S. citizen Ph.D. candidate studying abroad please send MA transcripts and a letter from the registrar stating that you are registered in the Ph.D. program.
Notification of fellowship status will be made available to each applicant via email by April 17, 2013. Fellows are advised that it can take up to six months to obtain the necessary research clearance and should plan accordingly. 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 affiliating 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, 2013 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
2009: Faiz Ahmed, University of California, Berkeley (India/Turkey/UK)
A Rule of Law Project for Afghanistan: The Nizamnama Codes of Shah Amanullah and the Indo-Turkish Juridical Nexus, 1919-1929

View the 2011-2012 Multi-Country Research Fellows here.

Apply - 2012/2013 cycle

Deadline for application submission is Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Letters of recommendation and graduate transcripts sent via postal mail must be post-marked by Tuesday, January 15, 2013 and received by Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The on-line application system for the 2012-2013 cycle is now closed.

A complete application consists of:

Application Form - submitted online: Post Doctoral Scholar Application or Doctoral Candidate Application and including:
1. Project Description - On a separate sheet of paper, in 1500 words or less, please describe the nature of your proposed project and your competence to carry out the required research. State your research question and the methods and procedures you will use to conduct your research. Give the reasons why your project requires your presence in the countries you indicated and indicate the facilities (e.g., libraries, museums, archives, field sites) that you plan to use while conducting your research. What relationship will you have with the host-country ORC(s)? Finally, indicate the extent to which you have investigated other funding sources. Please note that those judging your application may not be specialists in your field.
2. Project Bibliography/Literature Review - 1 page maximum, additional pages will not be submitted to the readers for review.
3. Curriculum Vitae - 3 pages maximum, additional pages will not be submitted to the readers for review.
Two (2) separate letters of recommendation- Ph.D. candidates must have one letter from academic advisor with a signed Academic Advisor Form.
Graduate Transcripts - Ph.D. candidates only

Please read the Application Instructions before submitting your application - download the Post Doctoral Scholar Instructions or the Doctoral Candidate Instructions.

Application Submission

Preferred Method of Submittal:

The on-line application system for the 2012-2013 cycle is now closed.

Your project description, project bibliography/literature review, and curriculum vitae can be uploaded as part of your on-line application. Documents in MS Word format are preferred.

Please have your letters of recommendation sent directly from your referee via email to fellowships@caorc.org. Documents, scanned with the referee's signature, in PDF format are preferred.

Please have your transcript (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 on-line submission/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, 2013, even if sent via postal mail. If you require a paper application, please contact us at fellowships@caorc.org

Selection Process - 2012/2013 cycle

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 Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Fellows are advised that it can take up to six months to obtain the necessary research clearance.