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Ping Doctoral Research Fellowships

CIEE Ping Foundation Fellowships in Support of Study Abroad Doctoral Research

Ping Doctoral Research Fellowships provide support for doctoral research focused on U.S. undergraduate study abroad. Funded through a small endowment, the Doctoral Research Fellowships are named after Dr. Charles Ping, a gifted teacher and scholar, a tireless advocate for the internationalization of U.S. higher education, president emeritus of Ohio University, and a long-time former chairman of the CIEE Board of Directors.

CIEE invites Directors of Graduate Studies (DGS)—or if a department has no DGS, a chair—to nominate a qualified doctoral candidate for a Ping Doctoral Research Fellowship. CIEE intends that these awards will replace some or all of a Fellow’s eight- or nine-month remuneration as a graduate or teaching assistant, thereby allowing him or her to make more rapid progress toward successful completion of the doctoral degree.

Fellows are therefore expected to work fulltime on their own dissertation research during their fellowship year. They may not hold additional positions or employment. Other non-service financial support that is consistent with their institution’s graduate school policies may be permitted.

Ping Doctoral Research Fellowships are awarded through a highly competitive process. Full-time graduate students who are interested in these awards should read all of the information related to eligibility and the nomination process before they ask their Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair to nominate them.

Nomination Deadline

Nominations with all required documentation described here (three complete sets) must reach the CIEE office no later than May 15. Send complete application packets to:

Dr. Neal Sobania, CIEE Senior Fellow
CIEE
300 Fore Street
Portland, ME 04101

Please direct any questions to Neal Sobania at nsobania@ciee.org.

Funding

CIEE will award one Doctoral Research Fellowship for the 2013-2014 academic year worth $20,000.

A candidate’s home institution will agree to two conditions regarding this funding. First, it will agree that no amount of the award will be used to pay indirect costs to the institution (as a matter of policy, CIEE does not pay indirect or overhead costs). Second, it will agree that if a candidate is offered and accepts a Doctoral Research Fellowship, he or she will forego other employment at his or her home institution during the tenure of the Doctoral Research Fellowship, the institution will exempt the candidate from paying tuition and fees during the tenure of the Doctoral Research Fellowship.

Research Topics

Candidates must be writing, or about to begin writing, a dissertation focused on an aspect of U.S. undergraduate study abroad. CIEE is especially interested in funding candidates whose research shows promise of contributing in concrete ways to the improvement of study abroad practices (before, during, or after study abroad experiences) and student learning.

CIEE’s interest in research includes, though is not restricted to, questions like the following:

• What types of study abroad experiences, or what types of program characteristics, correlate positively with career satisfaction and with success in one’s chosen career?
• Are there learner characteristics that correlate positively with career success or satisfaction?
• Are there program characteristics and specific educational interventions that correlate positively with student language acquisition?
• What is the correlation between language acquisition and study abroad versus on-campus language study?
• Are there approaches and practices of pre-departure and/or re-entry programs that correlate positively with gains in student learning?
• Do former study abroad participants show evidence of having acquired knowledge, perspectives, and skills that students who did not study abroad did not acquire to the same degree? Do such differences between former participants and non-participants vary over time?
• Are there skills, perspectives, and knowledge associated with specific types of study abroad programs that correlate positively with career success and/or fulfillment?

Eligibility

By the opening date of the fall academic term:

• The candidate must be writing, or about to begin writing, a dissertation focused on some aspect of U.S. undergraduate study abroad.
• The candidate must have successfully completed all doctoral coursework and his or her qualifying examination.
• The candidate must be enrolled fulltime as a graduate student at the university where he or she completed the doctoral coursework and qualifying examination.
• The candidate must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) for all previous graduate work.
• The candidate must provide a summary of the prospectus (a maximum of five double-spaced pages) describing the dissertation research project that his or her doctoral committee has approved.
• The candidate’s record should provide evidence of outstanding academic and scholarly achievement.
• The candidate must be devoted fulltime to his or her dissertation research.

Nomination Process

• Copies of the Nomination Process Document for Ping Foundation Fellowships can be found here.
• Candidates for Ping Doctoral Research Fellowships must be nominated by the Director of Graduate Studies of the candidate’s degree program (or the Department Chair if the candidate’s Department has no DGS).

The Director of Graduate Studies (or if no DGS, the Department Chair) will submit, by mail, an application packet that includes three (3) complete sets of:

• A completed Ping Doctoral Research Fellowship nomination form.
• A letter of nomination from the chair of the candidate’s dissertation committee that discusses in detail the significance of the proposed dissertation research, including its potential for contributing to the improvement of U.S. study abroad practice and the learning of students enrolled in programs abroad.
• A letter of recommendation from a second faculty member who can speak directly to the candidate’s academic and scholarly achievements and potential.
• A statement from the Director of Graduate Studies (or chair, if there is no DGS) that acknowledges: a) that the institution will not use any part of the award to cover indirect costs, and b) that during the period of the Doctoral Research Fellowship, the institution will exempt the candidate from paying tuition and fees.
• The candidate’s curriculum vitae (no longer than three pages).
• A summary of the approved prospectus (no longer than five double-spaced pages).
• Evidence of the candidate’s research potential and capabilities, as demonstrated through abstracts of: research presentations, publications, articles accepted for publication and not yet published, or other significant academic or scholarly accomplishments.

Selection Process

Applications that do not meet all of the criteria will not be considered. Selection of one candidate and one alternate for these awards will be made by a committee chaired by Dr. Neal Sobania, CIEE Senior Fellow. Preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate the potential to complete the dissertation during the award year.

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