These fellowships are intended to foster research collaborations between scientists in developing countries and those composing the Lecture Boards of the different workshops; they are not primarily intended for training purposes. For this reason, the quality of the proposed research will be an important criterion for success in selection

The program must be presented jointly by the applicant for the fellowship and an identified scientist who has agreed to receive and work with the applicant in their laboratory. Confidence of success in setting up a collaboration which is likely to lead to continuing research by the applicant will be essential for selection. It is of course not in general envisaged that the proposed research will be started and completed within the term of the fellowship

Conditions of the Fellowship

Normally, the costs of board and lodging for between 2 and 6 weeks at the host institute, which may be in university student accommodation or its equivalent, are covered by the institute or host themselves, making the willingness of the supervisor to host a student a critical part of the application. If they have been selected, successful applicants will be expected to apply for travel funds in their home country. Some developing-country governments have agreed to support this scheme, and COSPAR will in these cases help applicants to make appropriate contacts. If this is not successful, fellows will also be able to apply for travel from a COSPAR fund, but this will be restricted to the highest priority applicants. Although the total available COSPAR funding is limited and cannot cover the full cost of a trip, potential fellows or hosts in unusual situations are encouraged to contact the chair about how to maximize the benefit of any COSPAR funding. However, under no circumstances is COSPAR able to fund any costs except for those directly related to the visit itself

Fellows will be required to submit a report on their visit within 6 weeks of their return to their home country

There is no formal bar to holding these fellowships more than once, though an interval of at least one year between successive occasions will normally apply

Successful applicants will be responsible for obtaining any necessary visas for their visit to the receiving laboratory

Applications

Applications can be made by submitting the application form to Dr Randall K Smith, the PCB Chair for Fellowships. Submission by E-mail is preferred. The form can be filled in using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software; if there a problem, a text version is also available.

The description of the proposed research should be kept to less than 1500 characters, or approximately 1 page of text. Applications can be made annually for visits to take place within the subsequent year, and will normally not be within 3 months of attendance at a workshop.

Further information about the scheme can be obtained from Dr Randall K Smith of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (rsmith-pcbfp@head.cfa.harvard.edu).

Help and advice in setting up joint programs of research can also be obtained from the following:

Applications will be processed twice each year though they can be made at any time. The processing dates will be around 15th September and 15th March. Applications that arrive after these dates will be held to the next round.

Criteria for Selection

Criteria for selection will include:

• The performance of the applicant in the workshop project.
• Evidence for continuing research in the topics of the workshop up to the time of the application.
• The quality of the research program.
• Letters of support from both the applicant’s home institute and the receiving scientist.
• Evidence of a supportive scientific research environment in the applicant’s home institute.