Asia Fellows Award 2008-2009

ASIA Fellows Awards

Funding and Administration

The Asian Scholarship Foundation (ASF) is funded by a grant from theFord Foundation. Its office in Bangkok administers the ASIA FellowsAwards in the region with assistance from partner offices in Beijing,New Delhi, Manila, Hanoi, and Jakarta.

The ASF Board Management Committee is composed of twelve educationaland public leaders from the People's Republic of China, South andSoutheast Asia, and Australia. The Board Management Committee selectsthe fellows, oversees the program and makes policy decisions.

Goals and Objectives

The principal goal of the ASIA Fellows Awards is to increase theoverall awareness of intellectual resources in the countries ofNortheast, South and Southeast Asia and to contribute to the growth oflong-range capabilities for cross-regional knowledge sharing. The ASIAFellows Awards seek to develop regional expertise, establish amultilateral network of Asian specialists from many disciplines,professional fields and countries, stimulate interdisciplinary researchand inter-societal comparison, and contribute to new developments within existing area studies communities. The awards offer opportunitiesfor outstanding young and mid-career Asian scholars, and professionalsto gain knowledge of the countries in the region and an understandingof the contexts that shape global and regional issues through research.They enable the awardees to conduct research in a participating Asiancountry for six to nine months.

Eligibility

1. Citizens of and residents in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei,Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, India,Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Republic of Maldives, Myanmar,Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
2. Master's/Doctoral degree or equivalent professional trainingand experiences (minimum of 3 years of university teaching experiencesfor scholars or 5 years of work experience for professionals.)
3. Applicants must be 45 years old or younger at the time of theapplication deadline. However, those up to 50 years old proposing to do research in the field of Humanities may be given special consideration.
4. Proficiency in English or in the language of the host countryappropriate to the proposed research project.
5. Those who are currently enrolled in a degree program, or havejust completed a degree program for less than one to two years will notbe eligible to apply. Those who were a recipient of a Ford Foundationfellowship grant within the last two years prior to the application isalso ineligible.

Conditions of the awards

1. The proposed research projects for the ASIA Fellows Awards canbe carried out in only one participating country (except the applicant's own) and under the following conditions:

* No applicant can propose to conduct their research in Hong Kong,Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

* Applicants from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore cannot undertake research in each other's countries.

* Applicants from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan can onlyapply to conduct their research in Thailand, the host country of ASF.


1. Any part of the proposed project that will be done in the applicant's own country will not be funded under the ASIA Fellows Awards.
2. The proposed grant period must be between 6-9 months. Onceawarded, a fellow is required to conduct research at the proposed host country throughout the grant period. Splitting of the grant period orconducting research in the applicant's own country during theproposed grant period is not allowed under any circumstances.
3. While an applicant from South or Southeast Asia may propose aresearch project in a country within his/her own region, preference isgiven to applicants who propose to conduct research in a region of Asiaother than their own (e.g., an award to an Indian scholar orprofessional for research in China).
4. Applicants should not plan to conduct their research in a countrywith which their home country has a difficult diplomatic relationship because of the uncertainties of securing an affiliation and obtaining aresearch clearance and visa for a long-term stay.
5. Fellowship awards are not for the purpose of completing requirements towards an academic degree (master's thesis or doctoraldissertations).

Fellowship Activities

ASIA Fellows awardees are placed at top-ranking research universitiesand non-academic institutions such as museums, archives or think tanks.Fellows should identify preferred placements in host countries. Theymay engage in an organized field research in the host country. Fellowsare strongly encouraged to undertake some language training in theirhost country as part of facilitating their research. They are alsoprovided the opportunities to present guest lectures, or to conduct seminars and workshops at the invitation of the host institutions. After completion of their fellowship, fellows can apply forpost-fellowship awards of three months to further their research in acountry within Asia, or for short-term travel awards to makepresentations at overseas conferences and meetings. All fellows are required to attend the Orientation Program in July 2008, and the ASIA Fellows' Annual Conference in July 2010 at which they present theirresearch results to fellow awardees and to scholars from the country inwhich the conference is held. They are also required to start theaward by the end of December 2008. At the end of the fellowship,fellows must submit to the ASF office in Bangkok evidence of the resultsof their research project in the form of publications, photos ofartistic works, audio/ video productions, etc.