Crossroads Asia Fellowships

The Competence Network Crossroads Asia: Conflict-Migration-Development invites applications for
fellowships of researchers from all over the world. Our individual research projects take as point of
departure Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan,
Nepal, India and China.



The Competence Network Crossroads Asia annually provides research fellowships for academics. Ideally
the visiting fellow should feel obliged to the core concept of Crossroads Asia and carry out research on a
relevant topic of the competence network, which is not yet covered by ongoing projects.

Applications for the year 2014 should be sent to Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge (hornidge@uni-bonn.de)
until October 15, 2013.

The aim of the fellowships is to reach out to colleagues who share our interest in debating conventional
area studies approaches based on the concepts of mobility and spatiality through a figurational
perspective of social interaction processes and long-term change. This approach calls for new ways of
advancing our knowledge: One, we intend to further our understanding of local societies and social
interaction processes in three thematic areas, i.e. conflict, migration, and development (thematic
concept papers can be found on our website). Second, we seek a dialogue beyond area studies and are
eager to exchange with representatives from all social science disciplines, especially sociology,
anthropology, law, economics, linguistics, and political sciences. Third, we are interested in a
methodological debate on how to possibly adopt our tools of gaining knowledge to the proposed postArea Studies perspective.

The permanent network members are interacting in and across three thematic areas: conflict, migration
and development. Potential visiting fellows are expected to propose an innovative research topic which
can be linked to any of the working groups, the overall objectives of the Competence Network and the
objectives detailed in the previous paragraph. We are especially interested in research which either
interlinks with different existing projects or takes on a new topic relevant to Crossroads Asia, which is
not yet covered by any of the ongoing projects. It is expected that the produced research during the
fellowship will form the basis of one working paper, to be published in the Crossroads Asia Working
Paper Series towards the end of the fellowship.

Duration and Location of Visiting Fellowships: 
Selected visiting fellows join one or several of the network’s institutions (i.e. Freie Universität Berlin,
Humboldt Universität, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Universität Bonn, Universität Köln,
Universität Tübingen and Zentrum Moderner Orient Berlin) for a period of two to six months. The
choice of the institution should be guided by the fellow’s interest in the particular project or expertise of
any of the network members involved in a certain institute.

Eligibility Criteria: 
The potential fellow should be willing to actively engage in the ongoing discussions, events and working
group meetings of the Competence Network. The results of the research conducted during the period of
the fellowship should lead to the publication of at least one Crossroads Asia Working Paper.
Furthermore, presentations should be given at different participating institutions of the Crossroads Asia
network. Please see the selection criteria here http://crossroadsasia.de/fileadmin/user_upload/news/Selection_Criteria_for_Visiting_Fellows_171212.pdf.

Application procedure: 
Applications can be submitted any time before October 15, 2013. It is advisable to contact the network
member the applicant feels he or she wants to work with. After consultation a full application consisting
of a research proposal (2-4 pages) and a CV should be submitted to the Scientific Coordinator of the
Competence Network, Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge via hornidge@uni-bonn.de. Please send your
application additionally to the coordination office via crossroads@uni-bonn.de.

The proposal should specify a precise research package conducted during the fellowship which links the
fellows former research with Crossroads Asia research interests. It thus should not merely form part of
already ongoing research, but identify a clear research interest at the intersection with the Crossroads
themes, later to be published in the Crossroads Asia Working Paper Series. Specifically, the proposal
should include the following components:
• Relevance of the proposed topic for the Crossroads Asia research agenda
• Scientific and societal objectives of proposed research
• Outline of planned publication
• Detailed plan of work
• Information on preferred stay, visiting other network institutes
For further information please contact our homepage (www.crossroads-asia.de). A conceptual paper
detailing the objectives of each working group can be found under each working group page.