Applications are invited for Final Year Dissertation Write-up Fellowships in 13th to 16th century Islamicate Intellectual History as part of the ERC Project IMPAcT, to commence on 1 October 2014 for one year. Three grants are available for scholars who are in the process of completing a dissertation on a topic relevant for 13th to 16th century Islamicate intellectual history (Philosophy, Theology, Sufism, the whole range of the so-called occult sciences, political thought, legal theory, and adjacent areas). The Fellowship provides a stipend that is intended to permit full-time work on the dissertation, without reliance on part-time employment. Fellows will be expected to give a termly presentation on their research in progress at the IMPAcT workshops as part of a research team comprising Professor Judith Pfeiffer, three post-doctoral researchers, and three doctoral students (http://impact.orient.ox.ac.uk/).
Candidates must have, by the time of the appointment, completed all course work (ABD) and must have sufficiently advanced in researching their thesis in a relevant field of study to be able to complete the dissertation during the year of their fellowship. If the thesis is written in a language other than English, the Fellow shall commit to publishing one article in English that is related to his or her dissertation subject.
The Fellow will have a strong command of at least one of the languages Arabic, Persian, or Turkish, and reading knowledge of a second, and should have a reading knowledge of at least one European language other than English; a thorough understanding of Islamic social and political history of the period; sufficient paleographical skills to work with Islamic manuscripts; good written and oral communication skills; good skills and experience in teamwork; and good planning and time management skills. The criteria for selection are outstanding performance and scholarly promise, and the likelihood that the student will complete his/her dissertation within 12 months of the start date of the fellowship.
Applications are welcome from students both at Oxford University and at any other accredited international institution of higher education. Applicants from other institutions will have recognized student status at Oxford University (http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/new/recognised), but will continue to work with their main supervisor and dissertation committee throughout the fellowship, and will submit their thesis to their home university. As per ERC stipulations, Fellowship holders are required to acknowledge the support of this grant appropriately in their dissertation and ensuing publications.
All candidates are expected to pay student fees at the regular rates. Successful non-Oxford candidates will be required to pay the relevant fees (http://www.ox.ac.uk/feesandfunding/fees/information/universityrates/201415recognisedstudents/), and international students must be able to obtain a student visa, for which they will receive support from Graduate Admissions. These grants cannot be held in conjunction with AHRC or equivalent grants.
Grant value: £23,997 pa.
Start date: 1 October 2014.
Fellows are expected to reside for the most part in Oxford for the duration of the fellowship.
To apply for this Fellowship, please submit the application material listed below to matthew.rezaATpmb.ox.ac.uk
– Curriculum vitae;
– Cover letter with a research outline;
– Title and Table of contents of the thesis;
– 2 letters of reference, one of which must be by the main thesis supervisor. The letter of the main supervisor ought to comment on the current state of the thesis, and the dates by when it is expected to be completed, as well as the date when it is expected to be de¬fended.
Short-listed candidates will be asked to submit a piece of sample writing, which can be a published article, a chapter of the thesis, or another relevant writing sample.
Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Wednesday 20 August 2014.