SITAD's Visiting Fellowship Program is a 2-months academic program hosted at the School of Communication, University of Technology Sydney in Australia. The program enables research students at MA, PhD levels and early career researchers from any Ukrainian university to travel to Sydney to collaborate on projects of mutual interest with SITAD and UTS academics.

The program was founded in 2020 by the SITADhub (former Ukraine Democracy Initiative) at UTS School of Communication together with Olga Oleinikova (UTS Senior Lecturer in Politics and Social Sciences) as an initiative to support Ukrainian academia and address democratic challenges in Ukraine and across the broader European region.

This is a unique program that gives opportunity to fellows to work on their research projects and discuss their work with SITAD and UTS researchers at Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences seminars, research events, engage with higher degree research students and build their academic profiles through faculty mentorship.

The program has been funded with generous support from Ukrainian Studies Foundation in Australia (USFA).

The program’s objective is to provide opportunities for long-term research engagement between UTS and Ukraine universities. The academic visits under this program are intended to further research collaboration in the area of Ukrainian studies and broader communications studies:

• Politics, society and the environment
• Branding, PR and industry evaluation
• Journalism and communication
• Digital and social media, screen and sound studies
• History and creative Writing

MA, PhD students and early career academics participating in the SITAD Visiting Fellowship program are expected to:

• Publish a paper in a peer reviewed journal within 12 months of fellowship completion
• Present at public seminar/lecture at UTS
• Give a seminar/talk for Ukrainian community in Australia
• Present at a conference within 12 months of fellowship completion
• Broaden collaborative connections with other academics at UTS

Appointments are generally expected to be around 2 months in duration. If funding is sought for a period shorter or longer than this, a clear explanation should be included with the proposed visit time. Visitors must be in residence for at least 75% of their appointment.

1. Read the UDI Visiting Fellow program’s Eligibility Criteria, Fellowship Overview and Guidelines.
2. Define your research project topic, outline the planned outcomes of your visit, and agree on the content of the Application.
3. View the application form and prepare all the necessary documents for submission:

• Completed application form
• Applicant’s CV, including a list of publications and/or professional activities.
• 1-2 page description and the title of the planned research project.
• 2 reference letters.

4.Submit completed application and all the necessary documents to the relevant department at your university in Ukraine or to team@ukrainedemocracy.org

The criteria for assessing applications include academic distinction demonstrated by the standard measures of academic level, place of appointment, record of publication, honours and awards; the relevance of the proposed research to the work of SITAD and UTS; reference letters.

SITAD and UTS strives, in its selection process, to have a mixture of MA, PhD research students with early career scholars, and to achieve a gender balance. SITAD and UTS does not discriminate for or against any applicant on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, age, medical record, marital status, impairment, disability, or sexual preference.

Selection committee consisting of 4 members meets to discuss the applications and chooses the top 3 candidates. The selection committee includes 1 representative from USFA Board of Directors, SITAD Director and 2 academics from UTS (including Head of School of Communication).Candidates are notified via email about the success of their application.