[Air-L] Berkman Center Accepting Fellowship Applications for the 2015-2016 Academic Year

[Rebecca Tabasky]

Good morning AoIR friends,

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University has 
opened its annual call for fellowship applications. This opportunity is 
for those who wish to spend the 2015-2016 academic year in residence in 
Cambridge, MA as part of Berkman's community of pioneers, and who seek 
to deeply engage in the collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and 
cross-sectoral exploration of some of the Internet's most interesting, 
challenging, and compelling issues.

Applications will be accepted through Friday December 12, 2014 at 11:59 
p.m. Eastern Time, and applications will be **submitted online through 
our Application Tracker tool at: http://brk.mn/1516app

We invite applications from folks around the globe working on a broad 
range of opportunities and challenges related to Internet and society, 
which may overlap with ongoing work at Berkman or will expose us to new 
opportunities and approaches. We encourage applications from a diverse 
group of scholars, practitioners, innovators, engineers, artists, and 
others committed to understanding and advancing the public interest who 
come from -- and have interest in -- countries industrialized or 
developing, with ideas, projects, or activities in all phases on a 
spectrum from incubation to reflection.

More information about this call for applications may be found below and 
at http://brk.mn/fellows1516.

More information about the Berkman Center Fellowship Program may be 
found at http://brk.mn/fellows.

A Fellowship Program FAQ may be found at http://brk.mn/fellowsfaq.

Through this annual open call, we seek to advance our collective work 
and give it new direction, and to deepen and broaden our networked 
community across backgrounds, disciplines, cultures, and nations.  We 
welcome you to read more about the program below, to share this 
announcement with your networks, and to apply!

With thanks,
Becca

---
**
* 
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/opencall20142015>*Open 
Call for Fellowship Applications, Academic Year 2015-2016 
<https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/opencall20152016>***

About Berkman's Fellowship Program*

"The Berkman Center's mission is to explore and understand cyberspace; 
to study its development, dynamics, norms, and standards; and to assess 
the need or lack thereof for laws and sanctions.

We are a research center, premised on the observation that what we seek 
to learn is not already recorded. Our method is to build out into 
cyberspace, record data as we go, self-study, and share. Our mode is 
entrepreneurial nonprofit."

Inspired by our mission statement, the Berkman Center's fellowship 
program provides the opportunity for some of the world's most innovative 
thinkers and changemakers to hone and share ideas, find camaraderie, and 
spawn new initiatives. The program aims to encourage and support fellows 
in an inviting and rigorous intellectual environment, with community 
activities designed to foster inquiry and to identify and expose the 
common threads across fellows' individual activities.

Fellows actively participate in exchanges through a weekly fellows hour, 
fellows-run working groups, and a wide-range of Berkman Center events 
and interactions. While engaging in both substance and process, much of 
what makes the fellowship program rewarding is created each year by the 
fellows themselves to address their own interests and priorities. These 
entrepreneurial, collaborative ventures -- ranging from goal-oriented to 
experimental, from rigorous to humorous -- are what ensure the dynamism 
of the fellows, the fellowship program, and the Berkman community.

Additionally, with Berkman faculty, students, staff, and other 
affiliates, fellows help to develop and advance their own work and 
Berkman Center projects, and they learn and teach through courses, skill 
sharing, hacking and development sessions, cultural productions, and 
other gatherings.

Fellows are essential to the Berkman Center as nodes of intelligence, 
insight, energy, and knowledge-sharing. From their diverse backgrounds 
and wide-ranging physical and virtual travels, Berkman Center fellows 
bring fresh ideas, skills, passion, and connections to the Center and 
its community, and from their time spent in Cambridge help build and 
extend new perspectives and initiatives out into the world.

Current fellows have shared reflections on their experiences here, and 
provide great insights and specifics from an insider's view.  Sara 
Watson writes <http://www.saramwatson.com/blog/the-year-at-berkman>, 
"Berkman became a supportive community of people I can count on to a 
read a draft of something I write before I post it, or to talk through a 
difficult decision and urge me to find my own voice. Parts of my work 
this year were challenging in unexpected ways, and I'm thankful to have 
had the support of this inspiring and encouraging group."  Nathan Matias 
says 
<https://civic.mit.edu/blog/natematias/why-you-should-apply-to-be-a-berkman-fellow>, 
"As a fellow, you'll be part of an amazing, supportive network of people 
who will help you, challenge you, and work with you to make your work 
more socially conscious, more visible, more effective, and more awesome."*

About Berkman Fellowships*

An appointment that defies one-size-fits-all description, each Berkman 
fellowship carries a unique set of opportunities, responsibilities and 
expectations. All fellows engage issues related to the fairly limitless 
expanse of Internet & society issues, and are committed to the 
intellectual life of the Center and fellowship program activities. Some 
fellows work as researchers directly on Berkman Center projects. Other 
fellowships consist of independent work, such as the research and 
writing of a manuscript or series of papers, the vision and planning of 
an action-oriented meeting, or the development and implementation of an 
initiative or a study on issues related to the Berkman Center's areas of 
inquiry.

Fellowship terms typically run the course of the academic year, roughly 
from the beginning of September through the end of May. In some 
instances, fellows are re-appointed for consecutive fellowship terms.

While we embrace our many virtual connections, spending time together in 
person remains essential. In order to maximize their engagement with the 
community, during their fellowship terms fellows are expected to 
routinely spend time in and conduct much of their work from Cambridge, 
in most cases requiring residency. Tuesdays hold particular importance 
as it is the day the fellows community meets for a weekly fellows hour, 
in addition to it being the day Berkman hosts our public luncheon 
series; as such, we ask that fellows commit to spending as many Tuesdays 
at the Center as is possible.*

Qualifications*

We do not have a defined set of requirements for the fellows we select 
through our open call; we welcome applications from a wildly diverse 
range of people.

Fellows come from across the disciplinary spectrum and different life 
paths, and are at all stages of career development. Some fellows are 
academics, whether students, post-docs, or professors. Others come from 
outside academia, and include lawyers, philosophers, activists, 
technologists, entrepreneurs, journalists, and other types of practitioners.

The commonality among all Berkman fellows is an interest in the 
intersections of the Internet and related emergent technologies, social 
change, and policy and regulatory developments, as well as a commitment 
to spending their fellowship exploring those dynamics in concert with 
others.

To learn more about the work and interests of our current community of 
fellows, you can read their bios 
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/fellows>and find links to their 
outstanding work, check out their blogs 
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/planet/current/>, and 
<https://twitter.com/berkmancenter/current-people-projects>find them on 
twitter <https://twitter.com/berkmancenter/lists/current-people-projects>.*

Commitment to Diversity*

The work and well-being of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society are 
strengthened profoundly by the diversity of our network and our 
differences in background, culture, experience, national origin, 
religion, sexual orientation, and much more. We actively seek and 
welcome applications from people of color, women, the LGBTQIA community, 
and persons with disabilities, as well as applications from researchers 
and practitioners from across the spectrum of disciplines and methods. 
The roots of this deep commitment are many and, appropriately, diverse. 
We welcome your inquiries, comments, and ideas on how we may continue to 
improve.*

Stipends, Benefits, and Access to University Resources*/

Stipends/: Fellowships awarded through the open call for applications 
are rarely stipended. Some fellows receive partial stipends --the award 
of such a stipend is based on the nature of the responsibilities the 
applicant would assume while a fellow, and their relation, relevance, 
and application to Berkman's funded projects. Most fellows receive no 
direct funding or stipend through the Berkman Center, but rather have 
obtained funding through other means, such as an outside grant or award, 
a home institution, or other forms of scholarship./

Benefits/: Fringe benefits do not routinely accompany Berkman 
fellowships. Fellows must make their own housing, insurance, childcare, 
and transportation arrangements./

Office Space/: Most Berkman fellows work out of the greater-Boston area 
and spend a significant amount of time at the Berkman Center. There are 
many desks and workspaces available for flexible use at the Berkman 
Center, though few fellows are given their own permanent desk or office. 
We endeavor to provide comfortable and productive spaces for fellows to 
work, even if it is not the same space each day. Fellows are welcome to 
host small meetings and gatherings at the Center and on the Harvard campus./

Access to University Resources/: Fellows are allowed physical access 
into Langdell Library (the Harvard Law School Library), and fellows are 
able to acquire a Special Borrower Card 
<http://hcl.harvard.edu/info/admittance/#special_borrower>for privileges 
with the Harvard College Libraries.  At present, we do not routinely 
provide remote access to the University's e-resources, however access is 
available within the libraries.  Fellows do not have the ability to 
purchase University health insurance or get Harvard housing. Berkman 
fellows often audit classes at Harvard University, however must 
individually ask for permission directly from the professor of the 
desired class.*

Additional Information about the Berkman Center*

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is a 
research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and 
help pioneer its development. Founded in 1997, through a generous gift 
from Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman, the Center is home to an 
ever-growing community of faculty, fellows, staff, and affiliates 
working on projects that span the broad range of intersections between 
cyberspace, technology, and society.  To learn more about Berkman's 
current activities and interests, consider watching a video of a Fall 
2014 lunch talk 
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/09/openhouse> led by 
Berkman's Faculty Director Jonathan Zittrain. *

Frequently Asked Questions*

More information about fellows selection and the application process can 
be found on our Fellows Program FAQ 
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/faq>.*

Required Application Materials*

1.) A current resume or C.V.

2.) A personal statement which should a) frame your motivation for 
applying for a Berkman Center fellowship and b) outline the work you 
propose to conduct during a fellowship. This statement should be roughly 
1,000 -- 1,500 words or should be a multi-media equivalent.

3.) A copy of a recent publication or an example of relevant work.  For 
a written document, for instance, it should be on the order of a paper 
or chapter - not an entire book or dissertation - and should be in English.

4.) Two letters of recommendation, sent directly from the reference.

In addition to the above materials, we ask applicants to share some 
additional information in a form as part of the application.

1.) Disciplinary background: Up to three disciplines in which you have 
been trained and/or have worked.

2.) Tags: Five tags that describe or represent the themes, issues, or 
ideas you know about and on which you propose to conduct work during a 
fellowship at Berkman; and five tags that represent work, themes, 
issues, or ideas that you do not currently know much about, but would 
like to explore and learn more about during a fellowship year.  Each tag 
should be one- to three- words or terms.

3.) Berkman projects of interest. *

To Apply for a 2015-2016 Academic Year Fellowship Through Our Open Call*

Applications will be submitted online through our Application Tracker 
tool at: 
http://brk.mn/1516app<https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/apply/jobs/11?apptracker_id=3>

Applications will be accepted through Friday December 12, 2014 at 11:59 
p.m. Eastern Time.

Instructions for creating an account and submitting an application 
through the Application Tracker may be foundhere 
<https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/9392>.

Note related to recommendation letters: Recommendation letters will be 
captured through the Application Tracker, and will require applicants to 
submit the names and contact information for references in advance of 
the application deadline.  References will receive a link at which they 
can upload their letters.  We recommend that applicants create their 
profiles and submit reference information in the Application Tracker as 
soon as they know they are going to apply and have identified their 
references - this step will not require other fellowship application 
materials to be submitted.