ARISC Publication Support Grant 2024-25

The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus invites applications to the ARISC Publication Support Grant. This grant aims to help PhD students and early career scholars of the South Caucasus to publish an academic paper in an English-language journal. Assistance will fund a U.S. scholar familiar with the discipline of the awardee to help revise and edit the draft article into an academic-level English-language article that can be submitted as a ready-made piece to an English-language journal. Note that this is not a mentorship or co-authorship grant, but rather a grant targeted at those scholars who need assistance with English to publish in a foreign language.

Funding for this grant is provided by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) through a grant to the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).

Dates and Deadlines:

  • Stage One open date: Monday, October 28, 2024
  • Stage Two open date: Monday, December 2, 2024
  • Stage Two deadline: Friday, January, 31, 2025

Goals

  • Enable and encourage South Caucasus PhD students and early career scholars to publish their research in English-language journals
  • Help South Caucasus scholars’ research reach a wider audience
  • Build bridges between scholars of the South Caucasus and the U.S.

Eligibility

  • Citizenship
    • Article authors (applicants) may be single-author or co-authors. All authors must be citizens of either Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Georgia, who are at institutions in the South Caucasus
    • U.S. scholars must be U.S. citizens
  • Status
    • Article authors (applicants) must be PhD students or early career scholars (for the purposes of this funding opportunity, “early career” is defined as within seven years of PhD completion – e.g. PhD completed in 2017 or more recently)
    • U.S. scholars should have a PhD in hand, and an established record of publication
  • Language Proficiency
    • Applicants from the South Caucasus should possess a minimum of B2 level of English language fluency
    • Scholars from the U.S. should preferably possess some knowledge in any language used in any of the South Caucasus countries

Award Amount

One award will be made in an amount of $5,000 for a team’s proposal, to cover the cost of publication support by the U.S. citizen.

Application Requirements

There are two stages in this application process.

In Stage One, U.S. scholars will submit an application to indicate their interest and availability to collaborate on a potential publication support project. Interested scholars should submit their application before the Stage Two application period begins, but the portal will remain open until the Stage Two application deadline.

In Stage Two, the South Caucasus applicants will have access to the list of U.S. scholars who completed the Stage One application. This will enable South Caucasus applicants to find potential partners from the U.S. with whom they can then develop a proposal. South Caucasus applicants are not limited to the individuals on this list and are welcome to reach out to U.S. scholars themselves. These scholars should then complete the Stage One application. In the circumstance when the South Caucasus applicant cannot find a U.S. scholar either on the list or on their own, ARISC can provide some networking support, but cannot guarantee a match. Nevertheless, the U.S. scholar must meet eligibility requirements for this opportunity and submit an application through the Stage One portal.

All South Caucasus applicants must contact a U.S. scholar and have an agreement from them before they can submit their application at Stage Two. Final joint proposals will be submitted in Stage Two.

Stage One Required Documents

  1. Application form
  2. Curriculum vitae

Stage Two Required Documents

  1. Application form*
    • See the list of US scholars who submitted their application materials at Stage One, as well as additional directions, at this link.
  2. Time frame for project completion
    1. Project must be completed by August 31, 2026
    2. Timeframe must include a proposed schedule of submission to one or more publishers
  3. CVs of both South Caucasus applicant and U.S. scholar
  4. Indication of support from the U.S. scholar for the project. This can be in the form of a brief letter or an email correspondence
  5. A full draft of the article for consideration in English
    1. Note that the reviewers understand the English will be at a basic level given the purpose of this funding opportunity

Application materials at Stage Two should be emailed to info@arisc.org, with the subject line, “ARISC Publication Support Grant.” Applications will be processed manually. Applicants should expect to receive an email from ARISC indicating receipt approximately 2-3 days after submission. If you do not receive a response, check your spam filter, then contact info@arisc.org.

* The form needs to be downloaded to be completed, and must be submitted jointly. It will be available no later than Monday, December 2, 2024. You will need to use Adobe Reader (free) to complete the form.

Additional Terms and Conditions

The following requirements, terms, and conditions apply to applicants selected for awards. Applicants should be aware of the following prior to submitting their application:

  • Applicants must be citizens and residents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Georgia, and at institutions in the South Caucasus. U.S. scholars must be U.S. citizens. Proof of eligible citizenship must be shown by both applicants upon funding notification.
  • Applicants may only submit one application at Stage Two.
  • Awardees must submit a Final Report to ARISC within 30 days of project completion, and no later than August 31, 2026.
  • The award payment will be made directly to the U.S. scholar upon submission of the final paper and/or the final report.
  • Awardees are responsible for meeting publication submission requirements.
  • Awardees of an ARISC Publication Support Grant may not apply to another ARISC Publication Support Grant for two years (from the date that the project was completed and final payment made).
  • ARISC does not provide tax advice on award payments. Awardees are encouraged to consult with their own tax advisors prior to filing. Awardees should be aware of tax implications in their country, as well as reporting requirements regarding external funding at their institution or university. ARISC does not award indirect costs.
  • While ARISC encourages scholars to apply to other federal and private sources in addition to the ARISC grant, ARISC awardees who receive additional awards for this project should contact ARISC immediately.
  • ARISC reserves the right to adjust the amounts and types of awards given under this program, as well as the general terms and conditions, before award agreements are reached with each recipient.
  • Employees of the U.S. Department of State are not eligible for consideration. This provision includes all employees, paid or unpaid (including part-time or temporary employees, consultants, and contract employees). Individuals serving on the ARISC Board of Directors and ARISC staff are also not eligible for consideration. This provision does not apply to interns.

Selection Process

Proposals will be evaluated by ARISC’s fellowships panel made up of scholars working across multiple academic disciplines. Please note that readers may not be specialists in your field, so please avoid the heavy use of discipline-specific terminology in your proposals.

Applications will be judged according to the following primary criteria:

  1. Merits of the paper for scholarly significance, relevance, and contribution to their field;
  2. Applicants’ qualifications;
  3. Feasibility in terms of amount of time allocated to the collaboration, as well as proposed journals/publishers for publication;
  4. Significance to needs and interests of the host countries, ARISC’s mission, and the funding guidelines;
  5. Advancement of public understanding.

Notification

Notification of award status will be sent to each applicant via email in March 2025. If you would like to receive any updates to this funding call, please email info@arisc.org with your name, contact information, and the subject “Updates to Publication Support Grant 2024.”

Questions

Questions? Email info@arisc.org

We are also hosting virtual, Question & Answer sessions on Mondays (beginning from November 4th) from 11am-12pm EST (8-9pm Tbilisi time). Registration required at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvde6uqzouGtI04isz4aIBP4_pHrnQ7k8g

Important Notes Regarding Applications

  • ARISC’s method of submission is via email.
  • Once an application is submitted it cannot be resubmitted or edited.

Funding Source

Funding for this fellowship is provided by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) through a grant to the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).

ARISC does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, education, age, income, socio-economic status, or status as a covered veteran.