Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program for Indians

The International Fellowships Program is the largest single program ever supported by the Ford Foundation. By investing $280 million over the next ten years, the Foundation expects to build on a half century of support for higher education. In the past Foundation programs have maintained the highest educational standards. Ford fellowship recipients have gone on to become leaders in institutions around the world and have helped build global knowledge in fields ranging across the natural and social sciences as well as the humanities and the arts. The International Fellowships Program draws on this tradition and underscores the Foundation's belief that education enables people to improve their own lives as well as to assist others in the common pursuit of more equitable and just societies.

The General Guidelines :-

The Program is especially designed to support candidates from groups that have historically lacked access to higher education. Eligible candidates who belong to marginalized and excluded groups and communities such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, religious minorities, women, physically challenged and those with other kinds of socio-economic deprivation are encouraged to apply.

Fellows will be chosen on the basis of their academic achievement as well as for their leadership potential and commitment to community service.
Fellows may enrol in a master’s level program and may pursue any academic discipline or field of study consistent with the interests and goals of the Ford Foundation (see IFP Eligible Fields of Study).
IFP will provide support for a maximum of two years of formal Master’s degree.
40 fellowships are available for 2009.
Once selected, Fellows may enrol in universities in any part of the world, including universities in India. IFP will provide university placement assistance.
IFP will support Fellows to undertake appropriate short-term language study and training in research and computer skills prior to enrolment.
Fellows who wish to study overseas will have to take TOEFL or IELTS language proficiency tests.


Eligibility Criteria

Applicants should:
Be Indian nationals or permanent residents, currently residing in the states of Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh or Uttaranchal.
Hold a Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree from a recognized Indian university with at least 55% marks. Applicants who already have two post-graduate degrees or equivalent will be given lower preference.
Have at least three year’s full-time work experience relevant to their proposed area of study.
Have experience in leadership and community service or development related activities.

Applicants are required to:
Meet necessary admission requirements and language proficiency standards of the foreign or Indian university. Selected candidates who need training in English language skills should be able to devote up to 6 to 9 months, if required, to pursue a residential language training program outside their state. This takes place during the pre-fellowship phase after the announcement of the fellowship and prior to the commencement of the academic program.
Pursue a post-graduate degree that will directly enhance their capacity to excel in an academic, policy-making, practical or artistic field corresponding to the Ford Foundation’s grant-making areas.
Present a plan specifying how they will apply their studies to social problems or issues in their own countries.
Demonstrate their commitment to working for these issues following the Fellowship period.
Individuals who already have a degree from abroad will not be considered.
Individuals must currently reside and need not belong to one of the 10 target states.
Individuals belonging to the 10 target states but currently living outside these states will not be eligible.

Fields of Study

The Ford Foundation works in 12 grant-making areas to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international co-operation and advance human achievement. These areas are not to be confused with subjects for post-graduate study. Candidates' proposed subject must relate to one of the 12 grant-making areas listed below.Further information is available on the Ford Foundation website http://www.fordfound.org

Application Process

Stage 1:
Interested candidates should complete an IFP Pre-Application Form to reach the IFP office in New Delhi not later than 15 November 2008. Submit your completed Pre Application Form as early as possible, preferably within a week of receiving the Form. Pre Application Forms received after 15 November 2008 will not be considered.
Stage 2:
Only eligible candidates will be sent an IFP Final Application Form. Candidates should complete the Final Application Form and return to the IFP office in New Delhi not later than 15 January 2009.
Stage 3:
Final Application Forms will be reviewed and evaluated by a panel of experts from academia,the social development sector and other related disciplines. Short listed candidates will be invited to attend regional interviews during April and May 2009.
Stage 4:
A National Selection Committee will make the final selections and results will be declared by August 2009. The fellowships (for academic programs beginning in 2010) will be subject to the candidates being accepted by the foreign or Indian university, within a year from the date of the communication of the IFP award, and as per the IFP placement guidelines.
Notes :-
The Pre Application Form must be complete in all respects. Incomplete frms are ineligible, and will not be considered. All applications must be completed on original IFP Forms. These must be submitted only to the IFP New Delhi office.
Applicants must furnish complete and correct information. While care is taken to ensure timely despatch of Final Application Forms to the qualifying candidates, IFP will not be liable for any delay or loss of documents in transit. Please fill correct address and contact details.
All decisions of the Selection Committees will be final and will not be open to review. Any effort to influence the decision will be deemed as a ground for disqualification.
Ford Foundation staff and their family members may not serve on selection panels and are not eligible to apply for IFP awards. Members of selection committees, staff of the organizations managing the Program and their family members are also ineligible for IFP awards.
Please note that this fellowship is offered for a post-graduate degree. It cannot be used for short-term courses, study visits or post-doctoral programs.
IFP selects Fellows on the strength of their clearly-stated intention to serve their community and country of origin, and expects that they will honor this obligation.


Arts & Culture
Civil Society
Community Development
Development Finance & Economic Security
Education Reform & Scholarship
Environment & Development
Governance
Human Rights
Media
Religion, Society & Culture
Sexuality & Reproductive Health
Workforce Development

For more information contact-:
Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program
12 Hailey Road,
New Delhi-110001
India
Telephone +91-11-23358893/ 94, 23328944*
Fax +91-11-23358893
E-mail ask@ifpsa.org