Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute

Master’s Student Research Fellowship

Master’s Student Research Fellowships are awarded to students enrolled in Master’s programmes outside India with a significant India Studies focus, to enable them to conduct research in India towards their degree. Students must affiliate with an Indian institution.

Value:

All fellowships include:

• One round-trip excursion airfare from the place of affiliation in Canada to the place of affiliation in India by the most direct and least expensive route
• A living allowance of Rs 21,600 per month
• An accountable research allowance of Rs 5,400 per month (receipts and expenditure statements required)
• A reimbursement of affiliation fee up to a maximum of Rs 8,000 (to be reimbursed by the Shastri India Office on presentation of receipts)

Duration:

Master’s Student Research Fellowships are for a minimum of three to a maximum of twelve months. The awards are made for the April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012 period, however fellows cannot travel to India before the Government of India grants its approval. Fellowships for successful applicants are subject to approval of their research topics/areas by the Indian Consulate or High Commission closest to their city of residence.

Eligibility:

1. Eligible areas of study are restricted to:
   • Anthropology
   • Archaeology
   • Archival Science
   • Communication and Media Studies
   • Distance Education
   • Economics
   • Education
   • Environmental Studies
   • Fine Arts
   • Geography
   • Indian History
   • Indian Films
   • International Relations, Development and Trade
   • Interdisciplinary Studies
   • Law
   • Library and Information Science
   • Linguistics
   • Management, Business Administration
   • Medical Sciences
   • Modern Languages And Literature
   • Philosophy
   • Political Science
   • Psychology
   • Religious Studies
   • Social Work
   • Sociology
   • Urban and Regional Studies
2. Eligibility is restricted to citizens and permanent residents of Canada who are a minimum of 18 years of age.
3. Students must be registered in a graduate program, Canadian citizens enrolled in graduate programs outside Canada are eligible for student fellowships.
4. Applicants who have accepted a grant or award from the Shastri Institute within the last 12 months are not eligible to apply.
5. Individuals who have received previous grants or awards from the Shastri Institute and have yet to submit their final reports are not eligible to apply.

Processing Time:

Processing applications at the Institution to obtaining an Indian visa may require the following tentative timeframe:

• Adjudication of applications: End of December 2010
• Notification to the applicants: End of January 2011
• Contracts sent to successful applicants: Early February 2011
• Obtaining Certificate of Affiliation: End of March 2011 (about 6-8 weeks)
• Obtaining Indian Visa: Student Visa (3-4 weeks) Research Visa (4-6 week)

Application Requirements:

Please note that only complete applications will be considered.

1. One original Shastri application form (with original signature)
2. One electronic copy of the application form (please send by e-mail, disk or CD)
3. Proof of Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status
4. Certificate of ethical approval if the applicant is proposing research involving human subjects, including interviews, focus groups and access to documents affecting the privacy of individuals. This requirement applies whenever living persons or communities may be affected by the proposed research, whatever the discipline(s) involved, and could include such areas as oral history (must be received by December 2009).
5. Transcripts sent by the applicant for all years of study at a post-secondary institution
6. At least two letters of recommendation from thesis supervisor and/or current or recent instructors (The applicant should request his/her supervisor to
   clearly state that his/her thesis is approved)
7. Proof of registration in a Graduate Programme.

Evaluation Criteria:

Applications will be evaluated primarily on the basis of the:

• Originality of the proposed research and its potential intellectual contribution to knowledge
• Competence of the applicant including linguistic competence in the relevant Indian language(s)
• Soundness of the proposed methodology and clear demonstration of knowledge of relevant scholarship on the topic
• Feasibility of the project as designed and clear demonstration of necessity to carry out the work in India.

Conditions of Tenure:

• All awards are subject to approval by the Government of India. The Government of India does not permit research in strategic areas or on sensitive regional, political and social themes. Please visit the following web link to learn about areas that may be restricted by the Government of India: http://travelindiasmart.com/restrictedareas.php
• All fellows must affiliate with an Indian institution.
• All fellows are required to submit interim and final reports on forms provided by the Institute.
• The Institute must be notified if there are exceptional circumstances that necessitate an interruption in the tenure of the award. Deferral of fellowship tenure beyond March, 2012 will require approval by the Executive Council and is granted only in exceptional circumstances.
• The Institute must be notified if the training or research changes in any substantial way from the parameters outlined in the awardee’s original application.

Application Deadline:

July 30th, 2010
Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants are encouraged not to submit unrequested materials with their applications since we will not send such supplementary information out to our evaluators.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome by the end of January 2011.

Application Form:

Application Form (2011-2012)

Guidelines:

List of eligible research fields/disciplines

Report Form:

Progress Report Form
Final Report Form

Contact:

Program Officer, India Studies
Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute
Room 1402, Education Tower
2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4

Phone: (403) 220-7467 Fax: (403) 289-0100
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Funding:

***The Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India provides funding for this program.

Please note that the Institute takes no responsibility for missing applications/ materials in mail (postal or electronic) or via courier.

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