Bourse & Bazaar Foundation Visiting Fellowship (2022)
Key Details:
Application Period: Through Sunday May 15
Period: June 2022 to February 2023 (9 Month Consultancy)
Location: Anywhere
Compensation: $9,000
About this Opportunity:
For the second year, the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation is offering two visiting fellowship positions intended to provide early career analysts and scholars an opportunity to engage in flexible, compensated policy research and advocacy alongside existing professional or academic obligations. Visiting fellows will enjoy significant independence and freedom to define their own research agenda so long as the proposed area of research and advocacy fits within the foundation’s three areas of focus—economic diplomacy, economic development, and economic justice—and seeks to engage with these issues within the Middle East and Central Asia.
Visiting fellows will be provided guidance and support as they pursue their research, and they will be able to draw upon the foundation’s network to gain access to relevant stakeholders, resources, and data. The foundation will help bring this research to life through publications and public events, as well as managing, editing and production processes.
The purpose of this visiting fellowship is to enable early careers analysts and scholars to continue to develop their skills, professional networks, and credentials while they search for the full-time opportunity to pursue their passion for policy research and advocacy.
The inaugural year of the visiting fellowship was 2021. The inaugural visiting fellows were:
Zep Kalb, PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at UCLA
Khasan Redjaboev, PhD Student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin
Time Commitment:
The visiting fellowship is intended to be flexible so that it can be undertaken alongside employment or academic study, which does not need to be related to the subject of the planned research in any way. It will be incumbent on the visiting fellow to define a workplan for the nine-month period for approval and to balance obligations in order to stick to that workplan. At a minimum, the work plan must include the following:
Submission of at least 4 “Insights” analytical pieces of approximately 1200 words in length. These articles often help elucidate issues that are in the headlines.
Participation as a speaker in at least 1 public webinar which will be related to the course of research. The visiting fellow will help plan the webinar, including by identifying topics for discussion and relevant guest speakers.
Publication of 1 major report of approximate 6,000-7,000 words that is a deep-dive into the selected research area OR production of a multimedia output (such as a video or interactive webpage) that creatively expresses the research findings or advocacy messages.
Visiting fellows must be willing to collaborate with other analysts and scholars from other institutions as opportunities arise and to engage with media as a subject-matter expert, in both cases representing the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation.
The visiting fellows will be compensated on the basis of a consultancy contract with the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, which is registered in the United Kingdom. The compensation will be provided in 9 monthly instalments of $1,000.
Eligibility:
Applications are open to individuals who have received a masters or doctoral degree in an area of the social sciences and humanities relevant to the understanding of political and economic issues in the Middle East and Central Asia. Ideal applicants will have demonstrable experience in analytical writing and policy research—work experience in a research institute or think tank is a bonus, but not necessary. Applicants with language skills relevant to working in primary sources will also be favoured. There are no citizenship restrictions, but applicants must have the ability to write in advanced English.
How to Apply:
Applications will be accepted through Sunday May 15.
Applicants are expected to submit a 500-word research proposal outlining the research project they wish to undertake. Applications will be considered on a wide range of topics, but applicants are encouraged to review the research and reporting on www.bourseandbazaar.com to help contextualise their proposed research project. Please note that while the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation has primarily produced research relevant to Iran to date, applications that focus on other countries in the region are sought, particularly if they look at issues in a cross-border, comparative, or regional framework.
Preference will be given to applicants who identify a gap in the existing body of research on a given topic and who offer creative ways to garner new insights on issues of political or economic importance.
Research proposals should clearly and concisely explain:
Why the proposed research topic is important or worthy of study
Which source materials that will be used to study the proposal topic
Why the applicant is well-positioned to examine this issue
How the planned research will contribute to the work of other scholars and analysts
In addition to the research proposal, applicants must provide:
Their CV
Two writing samples—ideally one long form sample (such as a research paper) and one short form sample (such as an analytical article)
A selected number of applicants will be invited to discuss their research proposal in a Zoom interview. The two applicants selected for the visiting fellowships will be asked to develop their research proposal into a more detailed work plan prior to the start of the engagement in September.
Applications can be emailed to Mehran Haghirian at mehran [at] bourseandbazaar [dot] com.
Please include the word APPLICATION in all caps as the first word in the subject line of your email. Your application will be acknowledged when received.
About the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation:
Based in London, the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation is a think tank that aims to advance economic development, economic diplomacy, and economic justice in the Middle East and Central Asia, with a particular focus on Iran. The foundation’s network of contributors produce authoritative research and reporting on Iran’s economy and the impact of economic issues on the country’s foreign policy and state-society relations.
