Call for Applications: Advanced Academia Fellowship Programme for Bulgarian Scholars

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
2015/2016 ADVANCED ACADEMIA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME
FOR BULGARIAN SCHOLARS (SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE HUMANITIES)

With the support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation

The Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS) announces a Call for Applications for its 2015/2016 Advanced Academia Fellowship Programme for fundamental research in the field of the humanities and social sciences.

PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION

The Advanced Academia Fellowship Program will support high quality independent research projects of young and established scholars in the area of social sciences and humanities. There will be no disciplinary, methodological or thematic restrictions applied to the project proposals. Selection will be based solely on the potential of the candidate and the quality of the project.

The Fellows will have access to electronic and library resources and will be fully integrated in the regular research seminars and discussions taking place within the existing CAS programmes.

CAS will provide:

• 5-month fellowships for young Bulgarian researchers to the amount of Euro 700; and
• 5-month fellowships for established Bulgarian scholars to the amount of Euro 1000.

The fellowship includes all taxes and social insurance fees

The Program will be organized in two semesters:

1.  Semester I: 1 March to 31 July, 2015; and
2. Semester II: 1 October, 2015 to 28 February, 2016.

Candidates should indicate their preference for one of the two semesters. The final distribution of approved fellows between the two semesters will be negotiated in view of the thematic coherence of the teams. It is highly desirable that the selected candidates are able to take temporary leaves from the institutions of their permanent affiliation for the period of their fellowship at CAS Sofia and dedicate their time entirely to the proposed research.

ELIGIBILITY

• All candidates should be Bulgarian citizens.
• Young scholars: post-docs, assistants, academic associates or associate professors with up to 12 years of experience after their thesis.
• Established scholars: associate professor/doctor or professor/doctor with over 12 years of experience after their thesis, minimum of two monographs.
• Previous experience in international projects and publications in renowned academic editions will be considered an advantage.

WORKING LANGUAGE

As an international academic institution CAS conducts most of its work in English. The excellent command of English is a significant prerequisite for the successful integration of the fellow in already existing research teams and planned events. Therefore the level of language proficiency will be taken into consideration during the selection process.

APPLICATION

Links for Downloading:

• Application_Form_BG
• Application_Checklist_BG
• Reference Form_BG

Please, carefully consider these three documents when preparing your application. They can be downloaded also from www.cas.bg .

For Junior Scholars (up to 12 years after PhD defense) only: two reference forms by scholars familiar with the applicant's academic work should be faxed/mailed/emailed to CAS directly by the referees.

Extensions to this period may be allowed in case of eligible career breaks which must be properly documented (maternity leave, long-term illness leave, national service).

All application documents should be presented in English and sent by e-mail to with a subject entry "Advanced Academia Fellowships".

Deadline for applications: October 1, 2014

SELECTION CRITERIA

• High quality of the candidate's academic portfolio and publications, as well as participation in international research;
• Innovative fundamental research proposal with significant contribution;
• Interdisciplinary and/or comparative approaches are an advantage.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

The selection will be carried out by the intentional Academic Advisory Council of CAS based on evaluation of the potential of the candidate relative to his/her career stage and the quality of the proposed project. In some cases candidates may be invited to an interview. The results will be announced by the end of January 2015 by e-mail and at the website of the institute: www.cas.bg. Members of the CAS Academic Council do not disclose their assessment reports on the applications to candidates.

The Academic Council reserves the right, in cases of candidatures with equal quality, to grant the advantage to candidates that have not been CAS Fellows within the preceding 3 years/have not repeatedly held CAS fellowships in the past.

CONTACT PERSON AND MAILING ADDRESS

Mr Nikolay Kutsev, e-mail:
Centre for Advanced Study Sofia; Sofia 1000, 7-B Stefan Karadja Str
tel.: + 359 2 9803704 / fax: + 359 2 9803662