Fellowship Award

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

•       Proposals will be considered on any topic related to poverty, education, peace-building, conflict prevention, and social work in any country.

•        Applications must be submitted in English.

•       Projects that conduct policy-oriented research on the causes of conflicts, strategies for preventing and/or resolving conflicts, and the role of non-governmental institutions in establishing peace will be given priority.

•        Fellowship Awards are given to individuals affiliated with appropriate institutions of higher education or research, university based non-profit organizations, or public institutions.  Successful applicants will be required to show proof of affiliation.

•        Successful proposals will include a plan for generating findings that are accessible to policymakers, academicians, and practitioners and that promise to make a substantial impact on their field.

•        The project plan should be well-conceived.

•        The proposed project should include education and outreach components.

•        The competence and relevant experience of the researcher(s) will be considered.

•       The Fellowship Award Program does not support undergraduate study.

•        The Fellowship Award Program does not provide support for costs associated with earning educational degrees, such as tuition.

•        Individuals who are currently working as Gülen Institute Fellowship Award recipients are not eligible to apply for another award.  However, successful Fellowship Award researchers who have completed their projects may re-apply.

•        Applications that list members of the Institute’s Board of Directors as participants, consultants, or project personnel will not be accepted.

•        Individuals may submit only one Fellowship Award proposal at a time.

Although the proposal process is not anonymous, there will be no discrimination based on age, gender, race, ethnic or religious affiliation, marital status, or sexual orientation.

TENURE, AMOUNT, AND TERMS OF FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

Gülen Institute Fellowship Awards range from one to three years in duration.   Each year, awards are granted from a pool of $100,000 that will be allocated to either one major project or to a maximum of 10 projects at $10,000 apiece.  Fellowship Awards over $100,000 may also be granted after additional review.

The Gülen Institute may also give partial fellowship awards on the condition that the Gülen Institute will be given equal acknowledgement  according to the proportion of the its contribution. Thus, successful Fellowship Award recipients may seek funding from any other source as long as the Gülen Institute is satisfied with its level of acknowledgement in the final project publications.

The amount of any Fellowship Award is based on the proposed budget and on negotiations with successful applicants. All Fellowship Awards must be administered by the institutions with which the applicants are affiliated. It has to be noted that the Gülen Institute has a limit of 10% for overhead money.

Before the project proposal is submitted to the Gülen Institute, the applicant is required to submit the proposal for a review by the Human Subjects review department of the institution in which he/she works. Then, after making necessary amendments recommended by the Human Subjects reviewers, the proposal must be signed off by an authorized institutional officer before the submission to the Gülen Institute.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Principal researchers will be required to submit an interim progress report at the end of the first quarter of their research program and a final progress report at the end of the third quarter.

Duration of Fellowship Award   |   Interim Progress Report    |    Final Progress Report

1 year                                                 end of 3 months                       end of 9 months

2 years                                               end of 6 months                       end of 18 months

3 years                                               end of 9 months                       end of 27 months

Principal researchers will be requested to present the findings of project work in the form of a conference presentation and a scholarly paper to be submitted to an academic event or scholarly publication in a relevant field within one year after the fellowship award time has ended.  These presentations and papers/publications should be in English.

REVIEW PROCESS

Fellowship award proposals are evaluated through a rigorous process of review. A panel of expert reviewers composed of faculty from the University of Houston and other academic partners of the Gülen Institute, as well as reviewers solicited by the Institute from federal, state, county and municipal agencies, non-profit organizations, and private sector institutions will evaluate the proposals. The final authority for decisions regarding Fellowship Award proposals rests with the Gülen Institute Board of Directors. The review process is confidential. Applicants will receive written notification of the status of their applications at the completion of the review process.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

All applicants should be aware that Institute directors, officers, and employees are not eligible for fellowship awards, and their proposals will not be considered. To assist the Institute in identifying possible conflicts of interest, the Institute requires that fellowship award applicants bring to its attention possible relevant personal or institutional relationships. The Institute holds the right to make the final determination on conflict of interest issues.

RESUBMITTING A PREVIOUSLY DECLINED PROPOSAL FOR FUNDING

The Gülen Institute receives many more proposals worthy of funding than it has the resources to support. After making substantial revisions, applicants may choose to resubmit a proposal that the Institute declined to fund earlier.

PUBLICATION OF FELLOWSHIP AWARD PRODUCTS

All published material resulting from Fellowship Award activities shall contain an acknowledgement of the Gülen Institute’s financial support. The publication shall also include the following statement: “The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Gülen Institute.”

CONTENT OF PROPOSALS

The purpose of this section is to help applicants prepare a detailed project description.

The proposals shall consist of the following sections, as specified:

SECTION 1 : PROPOSAL SUMMARY

1.    Project Title

2.    80-100 word summary of the project proposal:  In this section, please explain the relevance of your work to the Gülen Institute’s vision.  The summary section should also outline what the project will accomplish; why it is important to the overall understanding of peace and conflict studies, and interfaith and intercultural dialogue; and why it is pioneering or groundbreaking.

3.    Principal Investigator(s) name(s) and College/Department(s):  Provide the name, department, college, email address and phone number for all principal investigators and identify the primary project contact.

SECTION 2 : DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1.    Nature, scope and objectives of the research: The applicant should set the stage by describing the questions, problems, or needs that the project will address and the larger context within which these issues have relevance. What issues will the project address and how will it generate new knowledge? What conclusions does the applicant expect to draw from the research, and why are they significant? Reviewers will also be looking for answers to some very basic and practical questions in this section. For example, is the scope of the project significant but achievable? Can the applicant complete the project within the proposed term? Does the project require special skills—such as knowledge of a foreign language—that the researcher does not possess?  What other qualifications does the researcher bring to the project? If there is more than one researcher involved in the project, what is the division of labor?

2.    Literature Review:  Proposals must include a review of relevant literature on the subject. How are the questions the researcher is addressing similar to or different from those addressed in existing literature? How will the proposed research fill important gaps or challenge findings in the existing literature? The proposal must also include a detailed bibliography that demonstrates the researcher(s) familiarity with the relevant literature on the topic.

3.    Approach, methods, procedures, and facilities: The proposal should outline precisely how the researcher will undertake the project and provide the review committee with enough information that it may evaluate the conceptualization of the research and the extent to which it will satisfy the research objectives.  What is the analytical framework within which the research will be conducted? What specific research methods will the researcher use to examine evidence and arrive at conclusions? Why is the methodology appropriate for addressing the issues raised in the proposal? What sources—documents, personal interviews, newspaper articles, surveys, participant observation, databases—will the researcher use to answer the research questions? If there is a plan to conduct interviews or undertake survey research, it may be appropriate to describe the key questions that will be asked and how the answers are likely to shed light on research hypotheses.

4.    Training potential: Specify the number of post-doctorate, graduate and undergraduate students who will work directly on the project and estimate the number who will receive educational benefits from the project.

5.    Publication potential: Describe how information about the results of the research will be disseminated.  Will the project result in concrete products—such as journal articles, reports, or books—that will be completed by the end of the fellowship award period?  Identify potential journals and book publishers. List any previously published work in any of the aforementioned venues.

SECTION 3: PROJECT BUDGET

1.    Budget:  This should include, but is not limited to, the following categories:

a.    Wages and salaries

b.    Miscellaneous supplies and services

c.    Travel expenses per year

SECTION 4: QUALIFICATIONS OF THE INVESTIGATOR(S)

1.    Resumés of the investigator(s):  These should not exceed two pages for each individual and should list no more than 15 pertinent publications.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION:

Proposals are reviewed throughout the year.  As such, the Gülen Institute receives proposal submissions year-round.  Please send two hard copies of the proposal and an electronic version (MS Word document, font size 11) via email to:

Director of Academic Affairs

Gülen Institute

237 Social Work Building, Room 417

University of Houston

Houston, TX 77204-4013

Email: fellowship@guleninstitute.org