Call for Expressions of Interest for "Chevening/OCIS - Abdullah Gül Award"

A scholarship opportunity is provided, thanks to the cooperation between the Office of Abdullah Gül, 11th President of the Republic of Turkey and the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Ankara, for senior people from government, business, or academic world who would be interested in being a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) for a period of 3-6 months.

The Office of Abdullah Gül, 11th President of Republic of Turkey in cooperation with the British Embassy in Ankara is looking for expressions of interest of senior people from government, business or academia in Turkey who would be interested in being a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) for a period of 3-6 months.

OCIS, as a recognized independent center of Oxford University, is dedicated to the promotion of those academic activities which encourage a more informed understanding of the culture and civilization of Islam and contemporary Muslim societies.

OCIS aims to cultivate contacts with senior people or people with leadership potential to strengthen and encourage dialogue and cooperation between civilizations. For more information about the aims of OCIS please see below.

The OCIS aims are:

•To establish a sustained programme that makes a real and lasting impact on the UK’s relationship with Islamic countries and Muslim societies around the world.

•To promote academic dialogue and exchange focused on contemporary Muslim societies in their global context.

•To enrich Oxford’s intellectual life by bringing scholars and senior people from public life to participate in its academic programmes.

•To encourage a multi-disciplinary and inclusive approach to academic work, drawing together scholars and opinion-formers from the East and the West.

These academic activities are multi-disciplinary in scope and global in outreach. The work of OCIS derives great benefit from the links it is developing with individuals and institutions in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Its Visiting Fellowships Programme plays a vital role in sustaining this inter-civilizational dialogue. For further information please see http://www.oxcis.ac.uk/

For more information about the Chevening Award scheme http://www.chevening.org/apply/

Time Frame and Award Components

The award will cover a 3-6 month period of study at OCIS on/after Sept 2015. Each award will provide for payment of:

A monthly stipend for UK travel and maintenance expenses sufficient for a single award recipient

A return airfare (economy class) between home country and the UK

Allowance package (covering arrival allowance, research/thesis allowance, study travel grant, events travel top up and excess baggage allowance)

Only applications received online from the http://www.chevening.org/turkey/fellowships/ocis_abdullah_gul address will be accepted.

Applications close on 31 December 2014 at midnight.

The eligibility criteria drawn up for the nominee profile is as follows:

The recipients of the award should be highly influential people who are well established in their fields. They should be people who would benefit from meeting people from other Islamic world countries, and who would welcome the opportunity to undertake independent study and research; develop contacts with relevant individuals; and discuss issues relating to the Islamic world - a broad field covering anything from Islamic finance and inter-faith issues to Islamic calligraphy and Sharia law, and many things in between. For OCIS an essential requirement is that award-holders should be engaged in study or research relevant to encouraging a better understanding of Muslim societies and the promotion of inter-civilizational dialogue and partnership.

Eligibility Criteria:

The nominees should meet the minimum Chevening criteria, which is to:

-Be a Turkish citizen who will return to Turkey at the end of the period of the fellowship and be resident in Turkey at the time of making an application.

-Have a postgraduate (PG) level qualification (or equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant area) at the time of application.

-Have a significant professional experience (5+ years); currently employed and/or enrolled in a PhD programme, but not be at a UK/EU or USA university.

-Fulfill the minimum English language requirement http://www.chevening.org/apply/elt

-Not have received a financial benefit from the British Government in the last 5 years for a fellowship or scholarship.

Note: Employees, employees’ relatives of the Office of Abdullah Gül, 11th President of Republic of Turkey or Her Majesty’s Government including the FCO, the Association of Commonwealth Universities or any of their wholly-owned subsidiaries cannot apply to this scholarship.

For questions: Chevening.InTurkey@fco.gov.uk

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