The American Institute of Indian Studies has initiated a mentoring opportunity for AIIS Junior Fellowship applicants who do not have advisors at their universities with South Asia expertise. The U.S. Director can assist applicants with general questions—including about formatting, etc.–but does not read proposal drafts. The mentoring opportunity will provide a mentor who can read and comment on the fellowship proposal.
To apply, send the applicant proposal draft to the U.S. Director (), with verification that the applicant does not have advisor at their university with South Asia expertise. U.S. Director will pair mentors and mentees as closely as possible by field and area of interest.
Both mentor and mentee will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement clause regarding the proposal and communications between mentor and mentee. Mentoring sessions via email or zoom must be conducted according to the AIIS sexual harassment policy, which can be accessed from: https://www.indiastudies.org/aiis-sexual-harassment-manual/
Note: Mentors are not part of the selection committee, and the selection committee will not be told which applicants have sought mentorship.
Program Instructions
Read the AIIS application guidelines and also a sample successful Junior Fellowship proposal.
The mentorship program proposal to be sent to the mentor should be complete and not only an outline or notes. The proposal should include: research question/thesis, relevance of your project to other scholarship, research methodology, anticipated results of your study; time-table for completing the project; and a bibliography.
In order to be guaranteed acceptance into this mentoring program, submit request no later than twelve days before the fellowship competition application deadline.
Mentors have agreed to read two drafts, a preliminary one and a revised one based on mentor’s comments. The first draft submitted should not be an outline or notes. Mentees should review the helpful hints for proposals before submitting their first draft. Mentees are urged to honor this guideline and not ask for comments on further drafts.
Applicants will agree that they will not hold mentors responsible for the selection or rejection of their application. Every year there are many good applications that do not get funded due to limited number of fellowships available. All communications between mentors and applicants will be kept strictly confidential. If either mentor or mentee experiences any difficulty in the process, they should contact the U.S. Director directly.