Asia Fellows Awards: Asian Studies in Asia
Funding and Administration
The Asian Scholarship Foundation (ASF) is funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation. Its office in Bangkok administers the ASIA Fellows Awards in the region with assistance from partner offices in Beijing, New Delhi, Manila, Hanoi, and Jakarta.
The ASF Board of Directors is composed of eleven educational and public leaders from the People’s Republic of China, South and Southeast Asia, and Australia. The Board of Directors selects the fellows, oversees the program and makes policy decisions.
Goals and Objectives
The principal goal of the ASIA Fellows Awards is to increase the overall awareness of intellectual resources in the People’s Republic of China, and the countries of South and Southeast Asia and to contribute to the growth of long-range capabilities for cross-regional knowledge sharing. The ASIA Fellows Awards seek to develop regional expertise, establish a multilateral network of Asian specialists from many disciplines, professional fields and countries, stimulate interdisciplinary research and inter-societal comparison, and contribute to new developments within existing area studies communities. The awards offer opportunities for outstanding young and mid-career Asian scholars, and professionals to gain knowledge of the countries in the region and an understanding of the contexts that shape global and regional issues through research. They enable the awardees to conduct research in a participating Asian country for six to nine months.
Eligibility
- Citizens of and residents in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hongkong and Macau), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Republic of Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Research projects can be carried out only in one of these countries (except the applicant’s own).
- Master’s or doctoral degree or equivalent professional training and experience
- Minimum of 3 years of university teaching experience for scholars or 5 years of work experience for professionals.
- Applicants must be 45 years old or younger at the time of the application deadline.
- Proficiency in English or in the language of the host country appropriate to the proposed research project.
- Research projects must focus on an Asian country other than the applicant’s own.
- While an applicant from South or Southeast Asia may propose a research project in a country within his/her own region, preference is given to applicants who propose to conduct research in a region of Asia other than their own (e.g., an award to an Indian scholar or professional for research in China).
- Applicants should not plan to conduct their research in a country with which their home country has a difficult diplomatic relationship because of the uncertainties of securing an affiliation and obtaining a research clearance and visa for a long-term stay.
- Preference will be given to research projects that focus on one country. Applicants may not propose to carry out their projects in more than two countries.
- Fellowship awards are not for the principal purpose of completing doctoral dissertations.
- Those who are currently enrolled in a degree program, or have just completed a degree program for less than one year will not be eligible to apply.
Fellowship Activities
ASIA Fellows awardees are placed at top-ranking research universities and non-academic institutions such as museums, archives, or think tanks. Fellows should identify preferred placements in host countries. They may engage in an organized field research in the host country. Unless compelling reasons are presented, projects should focus on only one country. Fellows are strongly encouraged to undertake some language training in their host country as part of facilitating their research. They are also provided the opportunities to present guest lectures, or to conduct seminars and workshops at the invitation of the host institutions. Fellows may apply for post-fellowship awards of three months to further their research in a country preferably within Asia or outside, or for short-term travel awards to make presentations at overseas conferences and meetings.
All fellows are required to attend the Orientation Program in June/July 2005, while some of them will be requested to attend the ASIA Fellows’ Annual Conference in July 2007 at which they present their research results to fellow awardees and to scholars from the country in which the conference is held. They are also required to start the award by the end of December 2005. At the end of the fellowship, fellows must submit to the ASF office in Bangkok evidence of the results of their research project in the form of publications, photos of artistic works, audio/ video productions, etc.
Awards Benefits
- Travel Allowance:
- Round-trip travel between home country and host country
- Maintenance Allowance:
- In-country living allowance to cover housing and other expenses based upon the cost-of-living in the host country.
N.B. No travel nor living allowance will be provided for dependents
- In-country living allowance to cover housing and other expenses based upon the cost-of-living in the host country.
- Limited accident and health insurance
- Field Trip/Language Training Allowance:
- For traveling within a host country, and a formal course on language training or with a private tutor in the host country
- Research Allowance:
- For research-related costs, computer purchase and internet connectivity to communicate with colleagues, other ASIA Fellows, and to access the Asian Scholarship Foundation Website http://www.asianscholarship.org
- Excess Baggage/Shipping Allowance
Selection Process
Regional review committees composed of leading scholars from participating countries conduct an initial review of the applications. In mid-March, short-listed candidates are interviewed by the review committee for their region at meetings in Beijing, New Delhi, and Bangkok. (The Asian Scholarship Foundation covers the travel expenses of short-listed candidates.) The applications of recommended candidates are then forwarded to the multi-regional Board of Directors which will make the final selection of ASIA Fellows Awards recipients by the end of May 2005.
Examples of Recent ASIA Fellows Awards
- “China’s Changing Perceptions of Southeast Asia in the Reform Era” Malaysian lecturer, hosted by the Institute of Asia Pacific Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, People’s Republic of China.
- “Religion of the Chams: An Anthropological Study on Vernacular Hinduism in Vietnam,” Indian Research Fellow, hosted by the Institute of Social Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City, National Center for Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam.
- “Comparative Study of Rural Elderly Support Between China and Thailand,” Chinese Professor, hosted by the College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Application Deadline
All application materials must be received by the appropriate offices listed below by: January 14, 2005
Timeline of Activities
| Mid – March 2005 | Interview of Candidates in Bangkok, Beijing and Delhi |
| Late May 2005 | Awards Notification |
| Early July, 2005 | Orientation Program and Fifth ASIA Fellows’ Annual Conference |
| July 2005 | Awards Begin |
Submitting the Application
Please send completed application materials to the ASF office or affiliate offices in the country or region of your citizenship:
| For the People’s Republic of China, send to:
ASIA Fellows Awards |
ASIA Fellows Awards c/o Indonesian International Education Foundation (IIEF) Menara Imperium, 28th Floor, Suite B Metropolitan Kuningan Superblok Kav 1 Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Jakarta Selatan 12980, Indonesia Tel: (62-21) 831-7330 ext.18/19 Fax: (62-21) 831-7331 E-mail: scholarship@iief.or.id |
| For Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Republic of Maldives, Sri Lanka, send to:ASIA Fellows Awards c/o University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI) India Habitat Centre (Core 5A, 1st Floor) Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003, India Tel: (91-11) 2460-4126/7 Fax: (91-11) 2460-4126 E-mail: upiasi@del2.vsnl.net.in |
For the Philippines, send to:
ASIA Fellows Awards |
| For Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, send to:
ASIA Fellows Awards |
For Vietnam, send to:
ASIA Fellows Awards |
