Research Fellowships for 2009-10

· Social and Cultural Change in Muslim Contexts
· Knowledge Construction in Fields Related to Understanding Cultures

Programme Description

The research fellowship programme at AKU-ISMC commences in September and offers a unique opportunity to pursue research within an intellectually stimulating and supportive environment. Fellows play an active role in the intellectual life of the Institute, participating in a wide range of seminars, workshops, and conferences. They also enjoy the opportunity of interacting with distinguished faculty at the Institute and from other academic institutions in the United Kingdom. The duration of each fellowship is one year. During this time, candidates explore and shed new light on a specific dimension of one of the Institute’s two major research themes: social and cultural change in Muslim contexts or knowledge construction in the fields related to understanding cultures. These two themes are deliberately open ended and broad in their scope to enable a diverse range of research topics. One example of a research topic that has been derived from the first theme as an area of specific interest at the Institute is the idea of cities as environments for social and cultural change.

The present cohort of fellows (2008/2009) is working on various aspects of social change by examining the dynamics of networks and institutions in Muslim contexts. During the course of this academic year, the Institute will facilitate scholarly dialogue among the research fellows and senior academics who have contributed to the discourse related to civil society and social change within Muslim contexts.

The fellows are expected to produce a research paper on the theme of their fellowship topic, to a standard that is publishable by a quality academic journal, and that can be published in the Institute’s academic publications series. During the course of their fellowship they are required to participate in the educational programmes of the Institute by delivering lectures and seminars as required. Fellows will also contribute to the Institute’s various seminar and discussion series by giving lectures and presenting papers to faculty, students and staff.

Research fellows are also expected to contribute the Muslim Civilisations Abstracts (http://www.aku.edu/ismc/abp.shtml) project by writing abstracts and editing papers.

Requirements:

Candidates should have
- A PhD in the Humanities or Social Sciences;
- A high degree of interest and competence in one of the above research areas;
- A high level of proficiency in communication skills, written and verbal;
- An International English Language Testing System (ELTS) score of at least 6.5 or equivalent is essential.

Funding

The gross fellowship stipend is GBP20,000. In addition to the stipend, Fellows from outside the UK will receive a reimbursement of travel expenses for a one-way restricted economy class ticket from their home base to London and single accommodation or a contribution of GBP800 per month towards a rental accommodation. Other benefits and facilities include: a research grant of up to GBP500, office space, access to AKU-ISMC’s library and the libraries of neighbouring academic institutions, and access to computer facilities.

Application Procedure

Candidates should complete the Fellowship Application Form (available at www.aku.edu/ismc) and submit it along with an updated list of publications and result of their IELTS test.

E-mail: ismc.personnel@aku.edu (preferred)
or
Human Resources Department
Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
4 Bedford Square
London, WC1B 3RA
United Kingdom

Closing Date
Closing date for applications for the 2009/10 programme is 27th March 2009 (post-mark, fax/email date)

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview, to be held in May/June 2009.
Successful candidates are expected to take up their post on 14th September 2009.


By submitting an application to AKU-ISMC you agree to revoke your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 thereby permitting ISMC to share the contents of your application with relevant colleagues at our headquarters institution AKU Karachi, and with its nominated agents for the purpose of completing this recruitment exercise. AKU-ISMC does not communicate with candidates unless they are to be short-listed for interview.