Thirty Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships are available for award to the New Americans for the year 2012. These fellowships will be offered on the basis of a single national competition. The candidates selected for the fellowships will be provided financial support for up to two years of graduate study in any field and in any advanced degree-granting program in the United States. Each fellowship offers up to $25,000 in maintenance grants and up to $20,000 in tuition support for each year of graduate study, and not exceeding $90,000.
Eligibility Conditions
To be eligible for the fellowship, you must meet all of the three following sets of conditions
– Status as a New American
-> If you were born outside the United States (as a non citizen), you must, as of November 1, 2011, be either a naturalized citizen or in possession of a green card (i.e., be a resident alien).
-> If you are a foreign student studying in the United States on a student visa, you are not eligible for this program unless you have a green card in hand on November 1, 2011.
-> If you were born inside the United States, your parents must have been born outside the United States and at least one of them must be a naturalized citizen of this country.
– Age
You must not have reached or passed your 31st birthday as of November 1, 2011. In other words, you must have been born on or before November 2, 1980.
– Academic Standing
-> You must be a college senior in good standing or hold a bachelor’s degree.
-> If you are currently enrolled in a graduate program in the United States, you must be in your first or second year in that program.
-> If you continued in the same institution and department through a master’s degree to candidacy for a PhD., the two year clock began when you started work on the master’s degree, unless you were awarded your bachelor’s degree and master’s degree concurrently.
-> If you are in a joint degree program, you must be scheduled to start in 2012 — or be in the first or second year of — the degree program that you would be pursuing under the fellowship in 2012-2013.
-> Even if you have already been awarded – or will receive in the first half of 2012 — a graduate degree, you are eligible to apply for support to cover study in a subsequent graduate degree program in the United States.
Selection Criteria
The program uses three primary criteria for selection of fellows and expects that successful candidates will give strong evidence of at least the first two of the following:
– The candidate has demonstrated creativity, originality and initiative in one or more aspects of her/his life.
– The candidate has demonstrated a commitment to and capacity for accomplishment that has required drive and sustained effort.
– The candidate has demonstrated a commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights,
Last date for submitting the applications is November 1, 2011.
For more information, visit this link.
