Global Monitoring Report Fellowship Programme open for applications

The GEM Report Fellowship Programme

The GEM Report Fellowship programme, supported by the Open Society Foundations (OSI), aims to strengthen the evidence base on education, particularly in emerging economies, build research capacity in education, and reinforce the links between research, policy, and practice in education. As such, the fellowships will be open to exceptional individuals who have quantitative research skills, demonstrate a potential for transformational impact in their domain, and share a commitment to provide more people with better educational opportunities.

The GEM Report Fellowship programme will support academic researchers and research-oriented policymakers to carry out studies in the area of international and comparative education with a special focus on:

• utilizing the GEM Report’s data resources, notably those household and school surveys linked to the World Inequality in Education database, to strengthen analyses of global, regional and national education trends on issues of access, equity, inclusion and quality;
• strengthening the content of the GEM Report with respect to its coverage of important issues at the regional and national level, through evidence-based analyses of educational policy and practice;
• helping advance the SDG 4 monitoring agenda, especially on issues related to the global and thematic indicator framework that have been highlighted in previous reports;
• supporting the themes of forthcoming GEM reports, i.e. inclusive education in 2020 (including a special focus on (i) disability (ii) Latin America) and the role of non-state actors in education in 2021.

Recipients of a fellowship will have the opportunity to work with the GEM Report team’s specialists, one of the world’s leading teams in this field, to conduct research and analysis of education data with a primary focus on SDG 4, the global education goal. The fellowships will help build new skills and deepen the participants’ capacity, while also sharing their experience and knowledge with the team as well as, where possible, with regions and countries. Learning from their experience with the team, the fellows will also be able to participate in and influence the work of the GEM Report.

Fellowships will typically provide or contribute to the funding for fellows to conduct their research and build their networks for one year, of which at least one month would be spent at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.  The actual length and level of the fellowship will depend on the research proposal. Arrangements will be made for the fellows to build a GEM Report fellowship network.

• Deadline for proposals: 28 September 2018
• Expected start to the fellowship: January 2019
• Description of the Fellowship and how to apply – Call for Proposals
• UNESCO CV template

Candidates

Applications will be opened to all nationalities, however the selection committee will look favourably at applications from individuals from low and middle income countries. Calls for proposals will be issued twice a year and published through all relevant UNESCO and partner networks. Applicants will apply online. The GEM Report team will aim to host an average of three fellows per year in the team.

A successful proposal will

• explain the policy areas of interest, spell out the policy questions to be addressed, and indicate how the research will promote access, equity, inclusion and quality in education systems
• show why GEM Report resources and research areas (thematic or geographic) are particularly well suited to address those questions
• show how the research relates to monitoring issues highlighted in past GEM reports or thematic issues of future GEM reports

Applicants will be required to provide three references to support their application. The final output will be a research report of publishable quality.

Selection criteria

The fellowship programme will support individuals who have experience with quantitative research methods, including in the use of large-scale surveys, and a strong policy orientation, seeking to use research findings to inform policymakers and other education stakeholders. Applications are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, including, but not limited to, education, sociology, economics, political science, psychology, demography, statistics, and psychometrics. Applicants may be working at research institutions, universities, government agencies or professional organisations. A PhD and a record of publications in peer-reviewed journals will be an advantage.  A commitment from the applicant to engage with diverse audiences will also be considered positively. Preference will be given to proposals with a clear comparative element.

GEM Report team support to Fellows

Each fellowship will last between six months to one year, depending on the work to be carried out, with one month spent in Paris. The GEM Report team will provide:

•  A stipend (up to US$25,000) for the duration of the fellowship (up to one year) and full travel costs for at least one month to be spent in Paris for each of the fellows;
• A mentor from the team of GEM Report researchers. The GEM Report staff will allocate 3-5 hours per week to mentor and guide the fellows when they are in residence in Paris, and 2 hours per week while they are based in their home country;
• A desk and computer during their stay at the GEM Report team office, in the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Read more about the fellowship on the GEMR website