NEW YORK – The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program begins its latest project this month with 21 Greek- and Cypriot-born scholars, hailing from a cross-section of 16 prominent United States and Canadian universities traveling to Greece to conduct academic projects with their peers at Greek universities.

They will work in areas that range from public health to chemical genomics research and from the English language curriculum to continuing education studies in urban food security.

Twelve Greek universities were selected by the Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program to host the fellows for collaborative projects that meet specific needs at their institutions and in their communities through proposals submitted by faculty members and administrators at the Greek universities.

The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program is designed to help avert Greece’s brain drain and develop long-term, mutually-beneficial collaborations between universities in Greece and the United States and Canada.

It is managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the Fulbright Foundation in Greece, and funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Over a period of two years, the program will award Fellowships to 40 U.S.- and Canada-based academics to collaborate with universities throughout Greece to develop curricula, conduct research, and teach and mentor graduate students in priority areas identified by the Greek universities.

Projects supported by the first round of Fellowships include: Democritus University of Thrace, which will host a collaborative research project in software development for neurosurgical planning‚ and curriculum co-development for graduate student and medical fellow training in neurosurgical procedures with a fellow from the University of Houston; a fellow from the University of Notre Dame will visit the National Technical University of Athens to work on collaborative research in earthquake engineering in order to enhancing resilience of communities to seismic hazards; and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki will host one fellow from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, and one from Ohio State University to assist with the creation of archival resources‚ research material, and identification of exhibits for a future Museum of Greek Diaspora and Immigration in Greece.

SNF “is thrilled both with the appeal and interest the program has generated among academics of the Diaspora, as well as the wide ranging expertise of the first round of Fellows,” said Stelios Vasilakis, SNF Director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives.

“We look forward to these partnerships, which we believe will build long-lasting relationships and be beneficial to all parties involved. We are grateful to the Institute of International Education for their dedication to the program as well as the invaluable input of the esteemed Advisory Council.”

SNF’s “generous support for these Fellowships demonstrates the Foundation’s commitment to expanding Greece’s human capital and investing in the country’s long-term economic recovery,” said Allan Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education.

Until January 31, degree-conferring universities in Greece can submit a project request for visiting Fellows to come to their universities starting in May 2017.

Greek- and Cypriot-born academics residing in the United States or Canada can apply any time, and are matched with accepted projects on a rolling basis.

Prospective hosts and fellows can find eligibility requirements and instructions in the “How to Apply” section of the program’s website. Prospective hosts and fellows can also work together to develop specific projects.

All projects are collaborations between the host institution and the visiting Fellow. The proposed scholar and project requests are each evaluated by a review committee based on merit and are subject to approval by the Advisory Council. Fellowships match host universities with Greek- and Cypriot-born scholars.

Degree-conferring institutions in Greece are invited to submit a project request to host a scholar for 14 to 60 days.

Prospective hosts may name a proposed scholar with whom they have a preexisting relationship in a project request, but this is not required.

If a project request does not name a scholar, IIE will review the roster of qualified Greek- and Cypriot- born academics to fill the university’s stated needs.

IIE maintains a roster of qualified scholars to facilitate matches, according to the discipline, expertise, activities, and objectives described in a project request. Candidates are required to have a terminal degree in their field and can hold any academic rank.

When a scholar is successfully matched with a selected project, he or she is awarded a Fellowship to conduct a project visit to the host institution.

The Fellowship includes a daily stipend, transportation, a housing allowance and health insurance coverage during the specified length of the project visit.

Scholar applicants are also encouraged to contact universities to explore collaborative projects.

More information on the application process is available online or via email [email protected].