Distance-Learning Economics PhD for Balkans, UK

Deadline: 25 January 2013
Open to: teachers or researchers at a higher education or research institution in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, or Montenegro
Scholarship: tuition fees, travel cost between home countries and UK including visa costs, maintenance grant (£828 per month), book allowance, and thesis allowance.

Description

The Open Society Foundations and Staffordshire University’s Faculty of Business & Law jointly invite applications from outstanding university graduates for scholarships for the MPhil/PhD Economics program by distance-learning mode. This program aims to support the reform of higher education in Central and Eastern European countries by providing opportunities for younger university teachers and researchers to gain access to Western European higher education and to pursue research in economics at an advanced level, leading to an MPhil or a PhD degree.

The program offers the opportunity for beneficiaries to spend a part of each year at Staffordshire University; the individual will spend the majority of their time teaching and researching work at their home institution. The aim is to ensure that scholars remain in their home regions and continue to be active members of their local institutions. The beneficiaries must agree to remain in their home region for at least two years after the completion of their doctoral program.

Eligibility

Applicants should:

• be nationals of, and reside in, one of the following countries/regions at the time of applying for the scholarship: Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, or Montenegro.
• hold a first degree (the equivalent of a BA degree) with good grades in economics or related disciplines;
• hold a teaching or research position, as an assistant, junior lecturer, or researcher, at a higher education or research institution in Albania, the Republic of Kosovo, Macedonia, or the Republic of Montenegro;
• demonstrate knowledge of English by passing a TOEFL (ITP) or IELTS test at an appropriate level by the time interviews are held for these scholarships, or by other means (such as having completed an academic program in English at another institution, or having obtained a satisfactory mark in one of the above-mentioned tests at a date no earlier than January 2011);
• return to their home countries at the end of the scholarship period.

Ineligibility Criteria

Please note that if you have applied, or are applying, for other grants, fellowships, or scholarships with the Open Society Foundations you should inform your local representative of the Open Society Scholarship Programs in your application. While you may apply for different forms of the Foundations’ support simultaneously, you can be awarded only one Open Society Foundations scholarship or grant for a given period.

Application

Application forms and all supporting documents must be delivered to the local representative office of the Open Society Scholarship Programs or the University, in person or sent by post or fax to arrive by 25 January 2013.  Applicants are required to submit two copies of the application package: one original and one photocopy of the entire application package.

Applicants must complete the joint Open Society Foundations / Staffordshire University application form and submit it together with a number of additional documents, specified therein.  Application forms may be obtained from the local representative offices of the Open Society Scholarship Programs in Podgorica, Prishtina, Skopje, Tirana, or from Ms Jenny Herbert, International Links Officer, Staffordshire University Business School, Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 2DF, U.K. (email: j.herbert@staffs.ac.uk).  The electronic version of this document is available on the PhD programme website HERE.

Application documents may be either typed or hand-written in dark ink.  Copies (not the originals) of university diplomas and transcripts (list of subjects studied and their marks or grades) must be enclosed with the application. The English translation of documents is not necessary at this stage. If candidates are accepted, they will subsequently be required to present the original documents with official translations for verification when they first arrive at Staffordshire University.

Applicants are also asked to submit a copy of the Eligibility Requirements Self-Assessment Form together with their application package. The Eligibility Requirements Self-Assessment Form can be found at the end of the of the scholarship application form.

For further details, please contact your local representative of the Open Society Scholarship Programs (see below) and download and review the complete Guidance Notes and application form HERE.

See the official website HERE.