[Reader-list] [Announcements] Short Term Independent Research Fellowship

[ranita]

Proposals Invited for Short Term Independent Research Fellowship
The Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi

What is Sarai?
Sarai is a public initiative of media practitioners and scholars 
looking at media cultures and urban life. Sarai's interests are in 
the field of old and new media, information and communication 
technologies, free software, cinema, and urban space - its politics, 
built form, ecology, culture and history, with a strong commitment to 
making knowledge available in the public domain. It is a programme of 
the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. For more 
information visit www.sarai.net

Who Can Apply?
Sarai invites independent researchers, media practitioners, software 
designers and programmers, urbanists, architects, artists and 
writers, as well as students (post graduate level and above) and 
university and college faculty to apply for support to research 
driven projects.

Why Research? What do we mean by Research?
Sarai is committed to generating public knowledge and creativity 
through research. Hence the support for research driven projects and 
processes. The fellowships are in the nature of small grants in order 
to emphasize the initiation and founding of projects that would 
otherwise go unsupported

Here, by research we mean both archival and field research, and 
forays into theoretical work as well as any process or activity of an 
experimental or creative nature - for instance in the audiovisual 
media, as well as in journalism or the humanities and social 
sciences, or in computing and architecture.

The Experience of Previous Years:
This is the third year in which Sarai has called for proposals for 
such fellowships. We would like to spell out the way in which the 
process worked in the previous years, as an indication of what 
applicants should expect.

The first year saw the selection of twenty proposals, in the second 
year thirty six proposals were selected. These included work towards 
projects based on investigative reportage of urban issues; essays on 
everyday life; a history of urban Dalit  performance traditions; 
soundscapes of the city; a graphic novel about Delhi; a documentation 
of the free software movement in India; research on displacement and 
rehabilitation in cities; interpretative catalogues of wall writings 
and public signages; histories of cinema halls and studios in Delhi, 
Mumbai and Kolkata; a study of the world of popular fiction and many 
others. Successful applicants included freelance researchers, 
academics, media practitioners, writers, journalists and activists. 
For a detailed list of the proposals click on 
http://www.sarai.net/community/fellow.htm

The projects were submitted in English, Hindi or a combination of the 
two languages. We have seen that projects that set important but 
practical and modest goals were usually successful, whereas those 
that may have been conceptually sound but lacked sufficient 
motivation to actually pursue a research objective on the field, 
usually did not take off beyond the interim stage.

Sarai interacted closely with the researcher over the period of the 
fellowship and the independent fellows made monthly postings on a 
public list as well as a final presentation at Sarai. This enabled us 
to trace the development of work during the grant period and the 
fellows to obtain structured but informal feedback from us at Sarai 
in stages during the course of their work. Submissions at the end of 
the fellowship period included written reports and essays, 
photographs, tape recordings, audio CDs, pamphlets, maps, drawings 
and html presentations.

What  we are Looking For:
As in the past, this year too we are looking for proposals that are 
imaginatively articulated, experimental and methodogically 
innovative, but which are pragmatic and backed up by a well argued 
work plan which sets out a time table for the project, as well as 
suggests how the support will help with specific resources (human and 
material) that the project needs.

Suggested Themes:
Sarai's interests lie in the city and in media. Broadly speaking any 
proposal that looks at the urban condition, or at media, is eligible. 
More specifically, themes may be as diverse as habitation, sexuality, 
labour, social/digital interfaces, urban violence, street life, 
technologies of urban control, health and the city, the political 
economy of media forms, histories of particular media practices, 
intellectual property law, migration, transportation, or anything that the 
applicants feel will resonate with the philosophy and interests that motivate 
Sarai's work.

Sarai supports innovative and inventive modes of rendering work into 
the Public Domain. Proposals, which pay attention to this, will be 
particularly valued.

Preferred Approaches:
Innovative and interdisciplinary methodologies, that combine research, 
practice, and delivery or rendition methods will be especially welcome.

Conditions:
Applicants should be resident in India, and should have an account in 
any bank operating in India.

The research fellowship would be available for up to six months and 
for a maximum amount of Rs. 60,000.

The fellowships do not require an every day presence at Sarai. These 
are support fellowships and fellowship holders will be free to pursue 
their primary occupations, if any.

What you need to send?
There are no application forms. Simply post (snail mail) your
- Proposal (not more than1000 words)
- A brief workplan (not more than one page)
- An updated CV (not more than two pages)
- Work samples (maximum two. Work samples need not necessarily be in the same 
area as the proposed project)
- Envelopes should be marked - "Attention : Short Term Independent Research
Fellowship 2003" [Email proposals will not be entertained]. Proposals 
may be sent in English or Hindi.

Mail these to: Ranita Chatterjee, Coordinator, Programmes, Sarai, 
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 
110054, India.
Enquires: dak at sarai.net
Last date for submission: October 20, 2003.

Note: Proposals from teams, partnerships, collectives, faculty are welcome, so 
long as the grant amount is administered by a single individual, and the 
funds are deposited in a single bank account in the name of an individual.

Applicants who apply to other institutions for support for the same proposal 
will not be disqualified, provided they inform Sarai that support is being 
sought (or has been obtained) from another institution. The applicants should 
inform Sarai about the identity of the other institution.

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