Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC)

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Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC)
ArmeniaA Program of the Eurasia Foundation
CRRC Publication Fellowship 2007
Developing Caucasus Research
www.crrc.am www.crrccenters.org
February 16, 2007Yerevan, Armenia
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What is CRRC?

• A regional network of resource and training
  centers in Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan.
• Partnership between the Carnegie Corporation of
  New York, the Eurasia Foundation, and local
  universities.

• CRRC builds research communities by
• providing resources
• offering training
• conducting research (Data Initiative Survey)
• offering research fellowships

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Why do we offer the Fellowship?

• Fellowships are a key part of CRRC activity
  because we want to
• build local research capacity
• increase knowledge of and about the South
  Caucasus
• address pressing public policy issues, offering a
  sophisticated understanding of these issues
• help local researchers succeed (with their
  research, but also in gaining recognition, and
  access to international networks)

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What is the Publication Fellowship"?

• Fellows will do original, high quality research
  to meet standards of international scholarship
• Research on a social-science topic of their
  choice
• Issues that are broadly public-policy relevant
  (useful for the GoA, also as mentioned in the
  Millennium Development Goals)
• Describe local developments (i.e. migration,
  democratization, etc.)
• Build on existing research (http//crrc-caucasus.b
  logspot.com/)
• Are focused (not too broad topics)
• Are rigorous (incorporate both quantitative and
  qualitative methodologies)
• Are transformative (have impact both locally
  and internatioanlly)

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What is the Publication Fellowship"? (continued)

• Produce and submit comprehensive (8-30 pages),
  scholarly articles to a peer-reviewed journal(s).
  Journals pay for editing, publication.
• Peer-reviewed publications are the gold standard
  of scholarship, and Publications make our fellows
  REAL, internationally recognized scholars
• Moodle platform for E-learning, collaboration,
  peer-review
• ALL applicants learn before they are accepted

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Who is the Publication Fellowship for?

• The PFs are designed for local applicants with
• a track record in research and/or higher
  education
• a Master's degree
• functional English (English will be the dominant
  language for our fellowships, exceptions for
  quantitative or survey work)
• research teams welcome!

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What should fellows have?

• Ability to conduct research
• Sensitivity towards potential mistakes
• Motivation to persist and succeed (See also David
  Perkins Beyond Abilities A Dispositional Theory
  of Thinking)
• Fellows should
• fully understand the criteria by which
  scholarship is judged
• apply these criteria to themselves
• know where to find support
• recognize potential problems/risks of research
  process
• match or synthesize research means with research
  ends
• seek for collaboration with researchers from the
  region and abroad

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Criteria of Evaluation

• The following criteria guide our evaluation
• Relevance (social science theme, relevant to
  public policy)
• Focus (clearly defined issue research question,
  hypothesis)
• Groundedness (builds on existing research,
  providing footnotes, contributes to a scholarly
  debate)
• Feasibility (data will be available and
  accessible)
• Methodology (must pursue research goal with the
  appropriate methods)
• Transformative (must tell us something new)
• Moreover, we will obviously check
• Qualification of applicant to undertake research
• Budget framework of project

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Why would you want to do the PF?

• Professional and personal opportunities
• follow your curiousity
• have your work recognized internationally
• get financial support (minimum 2,000 for some
  projects/surveys up to 4,000)
• meet excellent researchers from the region and
  abroad!

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What to do to participate?

• The first step is very simple!
• Write to tamta_at_crrccenters.org to get signed up
  in the Moodle platform on the web.
• Do it now, and certainly no later than February
  22, 2007
• After you are selected for the first phase, you
  will get signed up onto the Moodle platform on
  the web and you will be asked to upload your
  research proposal there (Feb 22 March 5).
• You will also receive guidance on
  developing/adjusting your proposal once you have
  uploaded your proposal.
• The selection will take place in March and the
  final results will be known by the end of March
  beginning of April.
• The contracts will be signed with fellows in
  April.
• The research projects can have 4-8 months of
  duration.

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Whats new in 2007?

• Application and project development will take
  place through the Moodle online platform.
• All of the research fellowships will be directed
  at an actual publication (which is why we also
  describe them as "research publication
  fellowships").
• We want fellows to work with each other in a peer
  group, even if they undertake different research.

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The Moodle Platform
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You can choose your research topic from here
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Coming back to the terms An example of a
peer-reviewed journal