The Oxford-Burma Visiting Fund
With generous philanthropic funding from the Blakey Foundation, in June 2016 the University was able to launch a visiting fund to support staff and postgraduate research students visiting the University of Yangon and potentially other Burma/Myanmar institutions to take part in guest teaching, supervision, joint research, staff training and curriculum development activities.
This document outlines the purpose of such visits, the types of applications that the fund will look to support, the application procedure, and the feedback required of grant recipients.
Background
Interaction between Oxford and Burma over the past three years has seen increasing numbers of
Oxonians travel to Yangon to aid in teaching, train academic staff, or take part in collaborative research. Oxford’s many visitors to Burma have included academics from the Faculty of Law, Department of Earth Sciences, Department of Zoology and International Gender Studies Centre.
However, more staff – from these departments and others – have expressed an interest in traveling to Burma to work with peers at Yangon, other universities, NGOs and state institutions. At the same time, our peers at Yangon and other contacts in Burma continue to experience difficulties in meeting the needs of their growing student body and the expectations Burmese society has for higher education.
In response to this growing need and the desire of Oxford to do more to assist Burma’s redevelopment, the Oxford-Yangon Visiting Fund will support approximately 30 weeks’ worth of additional visits to Burmese institutions over the coming 18 months. The visits should range from shorter trips providing guest lectures, workshops, support for local conferences and joint research, to longer visits providing several weeks’ of guest teaching, curriculum development support and other activities that will enhance the standard of education and research in Yangon.
Applications to the fund
The Fund has been designed to offer maximum flexibility, allowing the University to award grants to Oxford academics, postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate research students. It is also hoped that the fund will allow for longer visits to Burma, allowing visitors to more fully engage with Yangon’s curriculum.
Every application will be judged on its own merits, but broadly speaking the fund looks to support two sorts of visits:
Teaching-focused visits
Proposals for grants for teaching-focused visits will be judged on their ability to make a substantial contribution to the delivery and/or design of taught courses at Yangon or other Burmese institution(s).
Teaching-focused proposals will typically pledge to deliver either or both:
· Teaching (through lectures, seminars, tutorials, etc) of Yangon students comprising half a term or more of a single course, or the equivalent across multiple courses (e.g. the delivery of 10+ lectures)
· Work with a senior Yangon academics leading to improved curricula, syllabi and teaching strategies for major undergraduate and/or taught postgraduate courses.
Research-focused visits
Proposals for grants for research-focused visits will be judged on their ability to not only develop a research theme of academic merit and interest to the Oxford academic proposing it, but also to offer a significant improvement in the research capacity of Yangon or other Burmese academics and/or to provide research outputs of demonstrable benefit to contemporary Burma.
Such proposals will be expected to include close partnership with Burmese researchers, and provide clear ways for them to improve their research skills and profile. Typically, this may include some or all of the following joint activities: data gathering, data analysis, writing up and other forms of research presentation. Ideally research would lead to jointly authored publication in a major peer-reviewed international journal, thus improving the visibility of Burmese researchers.
Application procedure
Applications will be accepted on a termly basis. Applicants should email their completed application forms to the International Strategy Office () before 5pm on the closing date. Closing dates will be advertised on the Oxford and Burma website (www.ox.ac.uk/about/international-oxford/oxford-and-burma) and via the University’s Burma Interest Group. A copy of the application form is appended.
The current closing dates are:Trinity 2016 / 11 July 2016
Michaelmas 2016 / tbc (likely October 2016)
Hilary 2017 / tbc (likely March 2017)
Trinity 2017 / tbc (likely June 2017)
In all instances, applicants must have the support of their Head of Department, PI or Supervisor, as appropriate, as well as the support of the Head of Department of the department at the University of Yangon, or equivalent, that they wish to visit.
Colleagues who wish to visit Burma with the support of the Fund but do not have a close working relationship with the relevant department at the University of Yangon can seek an introduction via the International Strategy Office. However, applicants will still have to have a clear message of support from the Yangon department they wish to visit before they submit their competed application.
Completed applications will be evaluated by a three-person academic panel chaired by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development and External Affairs. The panel will evaluate applicants in terms of their:
· Planned activities in Burma (with an emphasis on deliverables for the country)
· Evidence of their ability to deliver (i.e. experience of teaching and research relevant to the visit)
· Subject area (with an emphasis on providing assistance to Yangon in a range of areas)
· Utility of the visit for applicants’ professional development
The panel will share candidates details and visit proposals with the Blakey Foundation and, when relevant, with senior staff from the University of Yangon.
Applicants should expect to hear whether or not their application has been successful from the International Strategy Office within three weeks of the closing date at the latest. In the case of Trinity 2016 applications, efforts will be made to provide applicants with results at the earliest possible opportunity.
Funding
Successful applicants will receive money for living costs and accommodation for each week of the visit (part weeks will be funded on a pro-rata basis) as well as a grant for travel and travel related expenses. The fund will not pay for salary replacement.
Complete grants will be calculated via the following formula:
Living allowance / £250 per weekAccommodation / £350 per week
Travel to Burma / £1,000
Insurance / £200
Visa fee / £85
Immunisations and other health services / £100
Successful applicants will receive a single block grant in advance of their visit and will be expected to make all travel and accommodation arrangements themselves. Additional advice on travel to Burma and accommodation can be provided by the International Strategy Office.
Feedback requirements
Oxonians who receive grants from the Oxford-Yangon Visiting Fund will be expected to complete a written report on the activities they carried out in Burma, with particular attention paid to identifying areas where ongoing assistance is needed. These reports should be submitted to the International Strategy Office () in a timely fashion on the grant recipient’s return to Oxford. The International Strategy Office will share these reports with the Blakey Foundation and, with discretion, with colleagues throughout the collegiate University and selected external supporters of the University’s programme of aid to Burma.
Grant recipients will also be expected, within reason, to make themselves available for meetings and other events with board members of the Blakey Foundation while in Burma and on their return to the UK.
Contact
For further information, please contact:
Ed Nash
International Strategy Officer
E:
T: +44 (0) 1865 280 489
Appendixes
· Form for applications to the fund: “2016_05_24_visiting_fund_application_form”