Ford Foundation invites application for fellowship

Lucknow, Sep 25 (UNI) The Ford Foundation today invited applications for its International Fellowships Programme for the year 2009.

The programme seeks to build a new generation of social justice leaders in India by offering an opportunity for quality higher education.

Programme Deputy Director Neera Lakshmi Handa said here that 40 candidates would be selected following an intensive search and selection process. ''The programme is especially designed to support candidates from groups that have historically lacked access to higher education,'' she said.

Ms Handa said the pre-application and final application forms would be reviewed and evaluated by panels of experts from academia, the social development sector and other related disciplines.

''Only applicants from 10 states -- UP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttarkhand -- would be eligible to apply for the fellowship and they must hold a Bachelor's or Master's degree from a recognised Indian University with at least 55 per cent marks,'' she said, adding that eligible candidtes must have at least three years' full time work experience relevant to their proposed area of study.

As on September this year, 240 fellows for Masters and PhD degrees were selected in the country of which 160 had already completed their studies in different universities and institutions of the world.

From UP, 24 people have been selected for the fellowship, of which 17 were women. Of the 24, 17 have completed their studies and seven were still pursuing theirs'.

The pre-application form and selection criteria details are available at www.ifpsa.org and the last date for submitting the form is November 15.

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