Unisfere

Unisfere Research Fellowship Afghanistan – cohort 2025

Unisfere, established in 2022, is an independent, non-governmental initiative dedicated to advancing research, capacity building, and sustainable development. Our mission is to foster impactful research and empower individuals and organizations through capacity building.

 

Fellowship description:

Unisfere Research Fellowship is one of the research programs of Unisfere to enhance academic research skills of students and youths and promote research culture in Afghanistan. The aim of the fellowship is to help youths to learn about research and conduct research on the community challenges in support of sustainable development. This way youths will be equipped with research knowledge and skills while publicization of the research can influence decisions, decision makers, donors, and the public to contribute to the sustainable development which is the mission of Unisfere.
Unisfere Research Fellowship is for youths who can conduct academic research in their desired areas of research while addressing community challenges. Fellows can be based in their home city for the entire process of fellowship. They will be guided through regular online meetings by mentors who have academic and research backgrounds. Fellows will be selected in an open call for applications and in a competitive process. The fellowship is structured in different phases including first phase (learning workshops, topic selection, and proposal development), second phase (conducting research, writing research article, and defense), third phase (support upon graduation).
In the first phase of the fellowship, a larger group of participants will be selected to participate in a series of online learning workshops, select their research topics, and write a short research proposal. In the research phase, a smaller group of participants will be selected based on their first application, research topic, research proposal, and participation in the first phase to conduct their research, write a research report with guidance from the assigned mentors through regular online meetings, and defend their work in a panel of judges. Mentors supervise fellows research progress and provide necessary instructions on the next steps and writing process of the research.
Finally the research abstracts of the fellows from the second phase will be published on Unisfere website in English and one Afghanistan local language with profiles of fellows and will be shared across social media of Unisfere to influence decision makers and public toward a sustainable change. Upon successful completion of the first phase of the fellowship, the fellows will be provided with a certificate of participation and an official link of their research on Unisfere’s website. In addition, after successful completion of the program, fellows will be guided in a mentorship process on their higher education journey by our higher education and scholarship experts.

 

Eligibility: – Youths in Afghanistan willing to learn and experience the academic research process.
– Have a good level of English to write a research report and communicate in English.
– Demonstrate commitment to conduct a research which aligns with broader Sustainable Development topics and addresses a community challenge.
– Be under the age of 35 years old at the start of the program.
– Have access to email and the internet to participate in the online part of the program and communicate with mentors.

Benefits:
– Getting research knowledge, skills, and experience.
– Conducting academic research with supervision of international academic researchers.
– Alumni fellows will be instructed on their higher education journey, scholarships, and applications by our higher education and scholarship advisors.
– Financial support (subject to fund during the fellowship).

   

Fellowship phases:First phase: research workshops, topic selection, and proposal development.
Second phase: conducting the research and writing the research report.
Third phase: presentation and defense.
Fourth phase: Alumni fellows will be instructed on their higher education journey, scholarships, and applications by our higher education and scholarship advisors.

 

Mentors: – Mentors are academic researchers from different parts of the world mostly with a Ph.D degree or higher.
– Mentors guide and provide feedback to fellows on their research process and research report.
– Mentors will be in contact with their assigned fellows through regular online meetings (at least two times per month), email, WhatsApp or any other way of communications that they agree on.
– Mentors and fellows can organize their meetings themselves in times which are convenient for both of them.

How to apply: to apply for the fellowship please fill the online form in the Apply option with your information. You will hear from us about the outcome of your application via the official Unisfere’s email addresses.

Apply

Deadline: January 31, 2025 12 AM CET

The application must be filled out in English.
For questions , please send us an email: [email protected]

Note: If you face any technical issue, please send us a message via our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Unisfere You can follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Unisfere Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Unisfere Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unisfere/?viewAsMember=true Unisfere Research Fellowship Afghanistan 2024 team, Unisfere and Mirab The Netherlands Dec, 2023