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Kennan Institute and IREX announce 2007 Regional Policy Symposium: The Former Soviet Republics of Central Asia and the Contemporary Silk Road

IREX is accepting applications for grants to U.S. junior scholars to participate in the 2007 Regional Policy Symposium on the Former Soviet Republics of Central Asia and the Contemporary Silk Road. The application deadline is December 1, 2006.

Regional Symposium Grants

The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)—in collaboration with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Kennan Institute (WWC)—will be administering a research symposium to bring together US junior and senior scholars to examine and discuss a variety of political, security, economic, historical, educational, and cultural topics related to the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and their relationships with countries along the contemporary Silk Road. Countries include: Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Junior scholars will be chosen based on a national competition to present their current research on the topic of the Symposium. Grants will be awarded to approximately 10 junior scholars. The Regional Symposium is scheduled to take place in late March 2007, in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area and will involve two full days of reviews of current research projects, roundtable discussions, and the development of policy recommendations.

Technical Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must either be currently enrolled in an MA, MS, MBA, JD, or PhD program or have held a graduate degree for 10 years or less. Applicants who hold an academic post must be pre-tenure.

• Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents of the United States who are currently residing in the US.

• Applications will not be considered from those who have not fulfilled all requirements for previous IREX and WWC grants.

• Current IREX employees and consultants and their immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, and siblings) are not eligible to compete in any IREX-administered grant programs, either as individuals or as the responsible party representing an institutional applicant.

IREX and WWC do not discriminate against grant applicants because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, or any other protected characteristic as established by US law.

Grant Provisions

• Round-trip airfare (provided by IREX through its travel office) and/or surface transportation from anywhere in the United States to the symposium site; and

• Meals and accommodations for the duration of the symposium.

Application Instructions and Submission Guidelines

Completed applications must include:

• The one page 2007 Regional Symposium application form;

• A three-to-four page research summary of the research to be presented at the Symposium (please see below); and

• Curriculum vitae.

Applications may be sent by e-mail to symposium@irex.org or by post to:

Regional Policy Symposium
IREX
2121 K St., NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20037

For emailed applications: In order to ensure the proper processing of your application, please include your last name in the email subject line (example: Symposium Application for Jones). Please carefully label all attachments with your last name as well as a description of the document (example: "Symposium JONES application form"; "Symposium JONES research summary"; "Symposium JONES CV").

Applications must be received no later than 5:00pm on Friday, December 1, 2006.

IREX/WWC Selection Criteria

The Regional Policy Symposium is conducted as a merit-based open competition. After the deadline, all eligible applications will be reviewed by a selection committee. The IREX selection committee for this program is composed of five senior scholars who represent a broad cross-section of US academic institutions and disciplines. Selection committee members are familiar with IREX programs and, in many cases, have participated in an IREX program at some point in their careers. The selection committee will consider the following aspects of each application when selecting participants:

• Demonstrated interest and commitment of the applicant to policy research on the region;

• Organization and clarity of the research summary;

• Relevance of the applicant's proposed presentation to the US policy community; and

• Ability to contribute to the dialogue on policy on the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and their relationship with countries along the contemporary Silk Road.

RESEARCH SUMMARY GUIDELINES

Format

• Three to four pages - one-sided, typewritten and double-spaced.

Content
• Title of research project;

• State the hypotheses of the paper and objectives of the research concisely and completely;

• Provide a brief description of the anticipated impact of this research, initial results and why and how this research relates to the topic of the Symposium; and

• Include a section explaining the relevance of this research to the US policy community.

For more information, please visit the website of IREX's Regional Symposium.

Related Links

Related Program

Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more