| Conductors & Passengers: Granting the Way in Transatlantic Academic Mobility |
|
|
|
bridges vol. 31, October 2011 / Feature Articles
By Lydia Skarits mp3 download
Fostering Pan-European and Transatlantic Mobility
Due to historical and geographical factors, the majority of applications for these four grants - which are open to applicants from all over the world - come from scholars and researchers in Austria's neighboring countries and Central Europe. After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, various programs were established for the former Eastern European countries, such as the bilateral Aktionsprogramme between Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. And in 1994, the multilateral Central European Exchange Program of University Studies (CEEPUS) was founded, which focused on developing networks between higher education institutions in Austria and by this time already 14 Central European member countries. The number of applications for the four programs from the United States and Canada has remained very small. This may be due to the fact that, in the United States, the Fulbright Program, with its 60-year tradition, is synonymous with transatlantic mobility. With the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), the scholar division of the Institute of International Education (IIE), which has administered the Fulbright Scholar Program since its beginning, there is a local institution behind the program (for more information, see bridges vol. 26). Other mobility programs like Ernst Mach, Franz Werfel, and Richard Plaschka are less well known, and thus lack local support at US and Canadian institutions. The challenge is to enhance the promotion of these programs at American and Canadian universities. For the past few years, the OeAD has intensified its efforts to reach postgraduate students and young instructors at American universities. These efforts have been successful, leading to a slight increase in the number of applications. In addition, cooperation with the Austrian Fulbright Commission on the newly established Fulbright Mach Grant - dedicated to four Fulbright candidates who are selected for a scholarship by the Fulbright commission - has been helpful in increasing the number of transatlantic researchers. The following is a detailed overview of these four scholarship programs and their potential candidates. Basically, the Mach, Werfel, and Plaschka Programs are incoming grants: Candidates from all over the world can apply for one of these grants to conduct research in Austria. The Marietta Blau Grant is an outgoing grant, aimed at Austrian-based postgraduate students and researchers who want to conduct study or research abroad. The Incoming Grant Programs 
Ernst Mach
The Mach grant aims at postgraduates (i.e., Ph.D. students, postdocs, and young university lecturers) who want to pursue research in Austria. It is open for all subjects and to candidates from all over the world. About 70 scholarships are granted every academic year. The annual deadline for applications is March 1, and online application for the academic year 2012/2013 has already opened. Those eligible to apply are postgraduates pursuing a doctoral program outside Austria, postgraduates and post-docs wishing to pursue research in Austria with a view to an academic career, and postdocs working as lecturers at a university outside Austria. Maximum age is 35 years. The duration of the stay is between one and nine months, depending on the research project. The monthly grant rate is €940 for graduates and €1040 for Ph.D. holders over 30 years of age. 
Richard Plaschka
 Heather Morrison 28.22 Kb.
The closing date for Richard Plaschka Grant applications is March 1 of every year; the online application period for academic year 2012/2013 is scheduled to start in October 2011. There is no age limit, but the scholarship program aims at promoting young researchers and scientists, assisting them in achieving their planned (academic) career. There are a maximum of seven new awards each academic year, with the first grant lasting four to nine months. In case of successful research activities, the scholarship can be extended for a total duration of up to 18 months. The monthly grant rate is €1040 plus a €93 book allowance. 
Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel was one the most famous protagonists of Austrian literature. Born in Prague in 1890, he died in 1945 in California, to which he had to immigrate because of WWII. He was a poet, playwright, and novelist, whose central themes were religious faith, heroism, and human brotherhood. He is best known for his novels: His most famous works include The Forty Days of Musa Dagh (1933), about the persecution of Armenians by the Turks in 1915, and the Song of Bernadette (1941).
The Werfel program was initiated in 1992 and is one of the longest-running programs funded by the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research. In 2012 the 20th anniversary will be celebrated at the annual Franz Werfel Tagung (Franz Werfel Conference). The invitation to this annual conference, devoted to a specific topic or representative of Austrian literature, is among the alumni benefits, which also include a one-month research grant every three years, a habilitation grant, and a publication allowance. 
Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler
Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler contributed greatly to the success and sustainability of the program, and his name is still closely connected with the Werfel Scholarship Program. Schmidt-Dengler's importance for Austrian literature and his commitment to young German studies scholars - including the Werfel Scholars - has been addressed in a bridges article by the only current only US member of the Werfel Alumni, Fatima Naqvi. Currently about 60 Werfelianer/innen belong to the alumni network. They meet every year for the previously mentioned Franz-Werfel Tagung in Vienna, but are also connected through their common interest in Austrian literature, organizing conferences and meeting on their own. The Franz Werfel Program is open to postgraduates, Ph.D. holders, and researchers from universities from all over the world, with an age limit of 35. The annual deadline for applications is March 1, and the call for applications for academic year 2012/2013 is being launched in October 2011, with the online application already open. The monthly grant rate is €1040 plus a book allowance of €93. For all three programs - Mach, Plaschka, and Werfel -- applications must be submitted online via www.scholarships.at. Once a scholarship has been awarded, the recipient also receives support from the OeAD-GmbH in finding accommodations in Austria (see www.housing.oead.at). Costs for insurance and housing have to be paid by the grant recipient. All recipients are exempted from paying tuition fees in Austria, and grant recipients from non-European developing countries will receive an additional travel-cost subsidy of up to €730. Further information on the grants can be found at www.oead.at and www.grants.at. Please click here to download the folder Mach.Werfel.Plascka - Grants for Austria. Access to the full article is free, but requires you to register. Registration is simple and quick – all we need is your name and a valid e-mail address. We appreciate your interest in bridges. |
|||||
