This funding opportunity is open until funds are expended.

The ARISC Conference Travel Grant promotes cooperation and exchange among South Caucasus and U.S. researchers and institutions by providing support to Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian scholars and PhD students living in the South Caucasus for presenting research at scholarly conferences or workshops in the U.S. Funding for this fellowship is provided by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) through a grant to the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).

Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. It is recommended to submit at least 4 months in advance of the conference or workshop. Complete applications must be submitted to ARISC no later than three (3) months prior to event date.

Eligibility:

• presentation of papers, organization of panels, active participation in workshops that include topics relevant to area studies of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and/or Georgia at scholarly conferences or workshops in the U.S.
• Status:
  • PhD students, who are doctoral candidates
  • Scholars
• Citizenship: citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Georgia
• Location: lives in Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Georgia
• Invited single lectures are not eligible for this award; however, invited conference and workshop presentations are eligible.
• Travel to the U.S. must be on a J-1 visa. Applicants may not apply to this program if they hold any other visa to enter the U.S. Please see the Additional Requirements, Terms, and Conditions section below to learn more.

Invitational Priority:

Proposals from applicants affiliated with colleges, universities, or research institutions in the South Caucasus (e.g. students, faculty, researchers) are especially encouraged, but all strong proposals will be given full consideration.

Award Amount:

The ARISC Travel Grant provides travel costs up to $3,000 USD. Up to two awards will be made.

Application requirements:

• Application form
• If attending a conference:
  • an abstract of the presentation paper, or abstract of panel
  • letter/email of acceptance to the U.S. conference by the U.S. conference organizers
• If attending a workshop:
  • announcement of the workshop
  • a statement of intent: what you expect to learn from the workshop, how it pertains to your research, and how your future research will benefit from participation
  • letter of acceptance to the U.S. workshop by the U.S. workshop organizers
• If you are a graduate student:
  • letter of recommendation from professor overseeing your research
• Proposed itemized budget (see sample here)
  • Allowable costs: airfare, ground transportation, conference registration fee, lodging, and/or meals and incidentals (also referred to as per diem). Membership fees may not be covered by grant funds.
  • Budgeted amounts for meals and incidental expenses may not exceed those set by the US General Services Administration for the location of travel. See this website. Additionally, all flights and accommodations must be economy or coach class.
  • If the cost of the travel exceeds the maximum allowable in this funding opportunity, applicant should explain other sources of funding, as well as how the travel can be scaled if they are only awarded ARISC funds.
  • Applicants with questions about budgeting for specific in-country costs are encouraged to contact ARISC at info@arisc.org
• Curriculum vitae (CV) or resume

This call is open until funds are expended.

Additional Requirements, Terms, and Conditions:

The following requirements, terms, and conditions apply to applicants selected for awards. Applicants should be aware of the following prior to submitting their application

• Applicants must be citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Georgia. Proof of citizenship must be shown upon fellowship notification.
• An applicant may apply more than once per year; however, only one award per applicant will be made.
• Award recipients are eligible to reapply for a second Travel Grant, or other ECA-funded award, two years after the completion of their most recent award.
• All travel between the U.S. and South Caucasus that uses funds from the fellowship program must meet the provisions of the “Fly America Act” (i.e. flying on a U.S. flag air carrier service) or “Open Skies Agreement.”
• All foreign nationals traveling to the United States on the ARISC Conference Travel Grants must enter the U.S. on a J-1 visa. This includes foreign nationals holding other types of U.S. visas and foreign nationals who do not need a visa to enter the U.S. as a tourist. If a foreign national participant does not enter the U.S. on a J-1 visa ARISC will not be able to reimburse the applicant for any of their travel expenses. The grant is voided if entry is by any other visa or means. Awardees must immediately notify ARISC if they have
  • a U.S. residency visa, or
  • a non-residency visa
• Note that if an awardee has dual passports, they will need to travel on their Armenian, Azerbaijani, or Georgian passport.
• For a foreign national participant to obtain a J-1 visa they will first need a DS-2019 issued. The awardee will complete a form for ARISC that will then be used by the U.S. Department of State to create a DS-2019. The completed DS-2019 will be mailed via DHL or FedEx to the awardee and the awardee will then need to take it to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate to apply for a visa. Awardees are not to pay the SEVIS fee for visas, the ‘G’ number/category on the DS-2019 form is entered in lieu of payment.
• The J-1 visa is short-term. By holding this visa, awardees may not apply for a residency visa for two years following the end of their J-1 visa expiration date. If there are extenuating circumstances that would require a residency visa within two years, awardees may apply for a waiver to this rule, however there is no guarantee that the waiver will be granted. Awardees are allowed short-term travel to the United States within that two-year time frame.
• Employees of the U.S. Department of State are not eligible for consideration. This provision includes all employees, paid or unpaid (including part-time or temporary employees, consultants, and contract employees). Individuals serving on the ARISC Board of Directors and ARISC staff are not eligible for consideration. This provision does not apply to interns.

The purpose of this award is participation in a specific conference or workshop. As such, awardees will not be able to stay in the U.S. significantly longer than the duration of the conference or workshop, nor to travel widely while they are in the U.S., per requirements of the J-1 visa.

Note: Applicants should be aware of predatory conferences. Learn more about what predatory conferences are and how to identify them at https://www.isu.edu/ichr/resources/predatory-journals–conferences/ and https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED579189.pdf

Selection Process:

Proposals will be peer-reviewed and judged on their quality and on the potential of the research to strengthen scholarship on the South Caucasus. Fellows will be selected by the ARISC fellowship panel made up of scholars working in the South Caucasus with experience conducting regional and trans-regional research. Please note that readers may not be specialists in your field.

Notification:

Notification of fellowship status will be sent to each applicant via email approximately 4-6 weeks from application submission. If you would like to receive any updates to this funding call, please email info@arisc.org with your name, contact information, and the subject “Updates to Conference Travel Awards 2024-25.”

Questions:

Questions? See our new Frequently Asked Questions page, or email info@arisc.org

We are also hosting virtual, Question & Answer sessions on Mondays (beginning from November 4^th) from 11am-12pm EST (8-9pm Yerevan time). Registration required at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvde6uqzouGtI04isz4aIBP4_pHrnQ7k8g

Important Notes Regarding Applications

• ARISC’s method of submission is via this online portal.
• Once an application is submitted it cannot be resubmitted or edited. This also applies to letters of recommendation.

Funding Source:

Funding for the ARISC Conference Travel Grant Program is provided by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State through a grant from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.

ARISC does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, education, age, income, socio-economic status, or status as a covered veteran.