Program description:
The International Higher Education Support Program (HESP) is committed to the advancement of higher education in the humanities and social sciences throughout the region of South-East Europe and Eurasia. As part of HESP’s effort to promote the internationalization of scholarship and development of indigenous capacities for independent and critical academic work in the region, the Central Asia and Caucasus Research and Training Initiative (CARTI) provides support and training for original research by young university-based academics in their home academic environment. The program targets the scholars in the early stages of their postgraduate training and recent graduates of doctoral programs in the post-Soviet countries of South Caucasus and Central Asia, Afghanistan and Mongolia.

CARTI seeks to assist the motivated young academics who are in crucial early stages of their careers to gain critical competence with the foundational and current scholarship and active involvement in international intellectual exchange and debate in their subject areas. With the support of CARTI, the Fellows engage state-of-the-art resources, theories, methodologies and approaches to their research and teaching in the subjects and areas of importance to the academic and social development in the region.

CARTI is committed to enrichment and innovation in higher education in the humanities and social sciences and emphasizes the significance of original and critical scholarly work in the development of university teaching and curricula.

CARTI FELLOWSHIPS
Junior Fellowships support the individuals in early stages of their formal Doctoral studies (such as aspirantura) and focus on development of ideas and skills for high-quality research work. Junior Fellowships serve as medium for testing and challenging the theories, methods and assumptions in the core of the individual research projects, while at the same time guiding and assisting the Fellows in the first independent large-scale research efforts.
Senior Fellowships are offered to young scholars who have recently received their Doctoral (e.g. Candidate of Science) degrees. The Fellowships support the advancement or revision of their research agenda and development of international research and teaching partnerships with special emphasis on presentation of scholarly work and integrating the new scholarly thinking and outcomes and experience of research into teaching.

The program provides the Fellows with the opportunities for:
• enhancing familiarity with the state-of-the-art in their disciplines and understanding of the current thinking in their fields, improving access to seminal scholarship, relevant international expertise and contemporary debates within the international scholarly community;
• advanced training in and practice of contemporary methodologies and tools for scholarly research and approaches to teaching and curriculum development;
• conducting individual and collaborative original, innovative and high quality research with critical discussion and peer feedback on the research process and outcomes;
• applying research experience and outcomes to development of teaching and curriculum at the region's universities and promoting research work as integral part of students' learning;
• peer collaboration and mobility on regional and international level;
• development of skills and venues for publicizing scholarly work.

All CARTI Junior and Senior Fellows work in collaborative partnerships with individually appointed CARTI International Scholars. The International Scholars can be proposed by the Fellows or selected by CARTI and are advanced academics, prominent in the fields of scholarship relevant to the Fellows' projects, who represent universities outside the program's target region. The International Scholars advise and collaborate with the Fellows in enhancing their research projects at the planning stages and in the course of their implementation by offering feedback and critique, and through joint research activities, discussion of sources, methods, progress and findings of the research. CARTI supports the program of exchange visits between Fellows and International Scholars. The International Scholars assist the Fellows in accessing the relevant resources and facilities at their home institutions and facilitate their contacts with international academic networks.

TM and Copyright © 2010. Open Society Institute. All rights reserved. CARTI Call for Applications 2011 CARTI is open to support projects in a wide range of subjects and topics in the humanities and social sciences. The proposed projects will typically be concerned with the study, revision and application of the foundational scholarly thinking to analysis and explanation of specific issues and research questions, rather than have an explicit policy orientation. Although the projects that have the bearing on the issues of the day and relevance to the country and region of the candidate are encouraged, the program has equal interest in exploring original interpretations and critique of the traditional and foundation scholarship in the disciplines and academic subjects, as well as projects that study other regions and countries of the world and research of comparative nature. The Senior Fellows are especially encouraged to engage in interdisciplinary exploration of a given topic/subject. While CARTI supports research and teaching in the local languages, operational knowledge of English and ability
to work with academic resources and participate in training activities in the English language is highly desirable and considered an advantage in the selection process.

CARTI Fellowships are awarded for up to 24 months, with on-going review and evaluation procedures in place.

A Fellowship typically offers:
• Funding for research activities, communication, access to necessary equipment and resources;
• Funds for exchange visits between the Fellows and the International Scholars (all CARTI Fellows are encouraged and eligible to receive funding to spend up to one academic semester at the home institution of the International Scholar during the term of the Fellowship);
• A Fellowship stipend;
• Funding for teaching and curriculum development activities available to Senior Fellows.

CARTI organizes a series of project review and trainings for the selected candidates prior to the formal start of the Fellowship and offers an academic program consisting of a summer school and other seminar, discussion and training activities during the period of the Fellowship.

ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE
All Applicants for CARTI Fellowships must be citizens and residents of the following countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Candidates for the Junior Fellowships must hold a diploma of higher education (of at least a Specialist or Masters level or the equivalent) and be formally registered* at a Doctoral studies program (a Ph.D. or equivalent program, such as aspirantura, leading towards a first Doctoral, such as a Candidate of Science, degree) in the humanities and social sciences in the region, or anticipate to obtain such formal registration no later than December 2010.

* Please note: The PhD enrolment requirement may be waived for applicants from Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Interested individuals should inquire with the program administration prior to submitting the application.

Candidates for the Senior Fellowships must possess a first Doctoral or equivalent (such as a Candidate of Science) degree in the humanities or social sciences, conferred within not more than five years before the time of the application to CARTI and hold full-time teaching positions at departments of social sciences or humanities at university level institutions in the program region.

Fellowships are awarded through an open competition based on an academic review of the Applications, consisting of an Application Form, Project Proposal, Curriculum Vitae, academic references and supporting documents. The semifinalists identified in the review process will be notified in January 2011 and invited to take part in the CARTI Research Design Workshop and personal interviews in March 2011. The final decisions on the Fellowship awards will be made in April 2011.

Interested individuals are invited to complete the on-line Application Form and submit all supporting documents in electronic versions via the OSI On-Line Application System: https://oas.soros.org/oas.

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS TO OSI-BUDAPEST IS 10 NOVEMBER 2010, 5:00 PM BUDAPEST TIME
Please consult the CARTI Guide for Applicants for details of the application and selection process. Further information about the program and the application guidelines are available at www.soros.org/initiatives/hesp. HESP program staff is available for further consultations.

Open Society Institute / International Higher Education Support Program
Central Asia and Caucasus Research and Training Initiative
Október 6. u. 12., Budapest 1051 Hungary
Telephone: +36 1 882 3854 · Fax: +36 1 882 3112 · Email: carti@osi.hu
Mr. Oleksandr Shtokvych, Senior Program Manager
E-mail: oshtokvych@osi.hu
Ms. Korlan Smagulova, Program Coordinator
E-mail: ksmagulova@osi.hu