The South Asia Forum offers grants for student led conferences or workshops. This grant opportunity, designed to encourage collaborative work between graduate students at UC Berkeley, sponsors one graduate student-led research workshop or mini-conference in any field on contemporary or historical South Asia-related topics every Spring semester. The aim of this program is to provide a forum for graduate students to engage in scholarly dialogue and to foster the free exchange of ideas on shared research interests.

Guidelines:

  • The conferences/workshop should be typically one day in length.
  • Should be planned for the Spring semester of each academic year.
  • And should include a minimum of eight to ten participants.
  • Interdisciplinary or multinational themes will be particularly welcome.
  • Scholars in the professional schools are especially encouraged to apply.

Supported Activities:

ISAS will provide support to graduate students leading or administering these research workshops or mini-conferences in three broad ways:

  • Funding support: Depending upon availability of funds, ISAS will provide support for inviting one outside speaker (US based only). If required, ISAS will also assist in efforts to raise other funds.
  • Logistical support: in terms of venue rental, help with publicity and supplies, and printing of materials.
  • Conference/Workshop Report support: Grant recipients will have to submit a summary report on the event to the ISAS and ISAS will dedicate one issue of its new publication, "South Asia Resarch Notes," to the conference/workshop.

Eligibilty:

  • Applicants must be UC Berkeley graduate students.
  • Participants could be from other academic institutions.

Calendar:

  • Deadline for Proposals: Last Friday of October
  • Notice of Acceptance or Decline: Second Friday of November

How to Apply:

Interested students should submit:

  • a detailed description of the conference/workshop (1-2 pages) including its theme(s), goals, and intended audience
  • a conference/workshop agenda
  • a budget

Any questions should be directed to Puneeta Kala at pkala@berkeley.edu