All you wanted to know about the Fulbright Kalam Climate Fellowship

The Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship announced under the commitment of U.S. President Barack Obama and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been commenced with the initiative of advancing bilateral cooperation on the issue of climate change by both the nations of India and the U.S.

Under this fellowship programme, six Indian PhD students and PG doctoral researchers will get a chance to work with the institutes in USA for a period of 6-12 months.

The fellowship, started under the name of late Indian president and scientist Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, has been designed for the global research and development of Indian scholars and researchers studying or practicing in Indian institutes.

Benefits– The Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship will benefit post doctoral researchers best with the world-class research facilities and study opportunities in their respective fields of interest and practice. This fellowship will hopefully strengthen the ties between the respective nations of India and U.S. to build a long term mutual relationship between institutes and faculties of both the nations.
The fellowship provides certain grants such as a round-trip economy class air travel between India and the U.S., a monthly stipend, Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges per U.S. Government guidelines, a self-effacing settling-in allowance abroad, and a professional allowance.

Affiliation– The Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship is affiliated with a selected U.S. host institute offering the research facilities to the candidates. The USIEF advises the applicants to thoroughly check and identify the institutions abroad for affiliation and correspond in advance with their host institutes in the U.S.

Eligibility-   The Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship has certain eligibity criterions as follows-

Doctoral Research

“·Applying candidates should have done sufficient amount of research in their respective field of interest, especially for the identification of resources in India and the U.S.

“·Applicants must be registered for a PhD programme in an Indian Institution at least one year prior to 1st August, 2016.

“·If employed, applicants should follow the instructions carefully regarding employer’s endorsement.

Post Doctoral Research

“·Applicants should have been awarded a Ph.D. degree within the past four years. Applicants must have obtained a Ph.D. degree between July 15, 2012 and July 14, 2016.

“·General eligibility prerequisites as in the Doctoral Research criterions.

In addition the candidates applying for the fellowship must upload a ‘writing sample’, including a copy of an article or paper published/presented or extracts from their Master’s/M.Phil. Thesis along with their online application form. The online form is available online at the online portal of the programme. All the eligibility criteria should be properly evaluated before proceeding for the application by the candidates.

The online portal for application for doctoral research is: https://apply.embark.com/student/fulbright/international/20/

The online portal for application for post-doctoral research is: https://apply.embark.com/student/fulbright/scholars/30/

The deadline for the application process is July 15 and the whole timeline for the process of application to the selection is available at the online portal of the fellowship programme. The short listed candidates are screened and then called for national interviews at Delhi.

The Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship programme usually begins in August and continues till September after the pre-departure orientation of the selected candidates.