The Returning Scholars Fellowship Program, as part of a conscious strategy to combat “brain drain” in the social sciences and humanities, supports talented young scholars who, after earning a postgraduate degree abroad, seek university positions and academic careers in their home countries.  The program operates in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.
Securing the services of such scholars is essential to the revitalization of academic departments and the sustainability of higher education reforms, to which Academic Fellowship Program also contributes. The program offers scholars financial, institutional, and professional development support, as well as opportunities for further professional growth as program alumni.
Returning Scholars and partner departments also benefit from the presence of Academic Fellowship Program-supported International Scholars, who provide expert mentorship in such areas as professional development, curriculum development and reform, research methods, and teaching/learning methodologies specific for their discipline.
The program supports scholars from the aforementioned countries who have received (or will receive by the start of the fellowship) eligible degrees in the following fields: anthropology, area/cultural studies, economics, gender studies, history, human rights & public law, international relations, journalism/media studies, philosophy, political science, psychology, public policy/ environmental studies, public policy/public health, social work, and sociology. The program does not support scholars in philology, the visual and performing arts, and business.

Scholarship Application Deadline: 11 April 2011

Further Scholarship Information and Application