Scholars Application Requirements and Criteria
There are five categories in the Tikvah Scholar-in-Residence Program:
The ‘Post-Doctoral Tikvah Scholar’ shall be an individual who has already completed his or her doctoral degree.
The ‘Visiting Doctoral Tikvah Scholar’ shall be an individual currently pursuing a doctoral degree at NYU Law, at NYU Skirball or at other Institutions. Those selected will be required to use their time with the Center to further work on their dissertation.
The ‘J.D. or LL.M. Tikvah Scholars’ are NYU School of Law J.D. or LL.M. candidates who are evaluated primarily on the basis of applications to their Program at the Law School and/or performance at the Law School.
The ‘J.D. Graduate Tikvah Scholars’ are Recent J.D. Graduates from NYU Law and other leading Law Schools who wish to go into teaching and seek to use their time at the Center to engage in intensive research and to prepare their ‘portfolio’ for the competitive law teaching market.
The ‘Furman-Tikvah Scholars’ are outstanding J.D. or J.S.D. graduates of American law schools who are actively pursuing an academic and teaching career and are interested in spending a year researching, writing, and learning in the company of some of the best scholars in the field. This Program is modeled after the Furman Academic Fellowship Program at NYU School of Law. The successful applicant may be pursuing a teaching and scholarly career in any area of law, but should have at least a side interest in the mission of the Tikvah Center. The Furman-Tikvah Scholars will receive substantial faculty assistance with their project to prepare them to go on the academic job market, including assignment of a faculty mentor in their subject area, and an opportunity to showcase their work in a faculty setting. Applicants must be graduates of American law schools.
Application Materials:
Applicants must submit the following materials: (1) a CV; (2) Transcripts from all educational institutions from which a degree was awarded; (3) a Research Proposal for a writing project totaling max. 1,200 words and consistent with the mission of The Tikvah Center (for the visiting doctoral position, please explain how your research will contribute to your dissertation); (4) Writing Samples (for the postdoctoral position: if available, a digital copy of their dissertation; for the visiting doctoral position: if available, digital copies of any existing chapters of their dissertation; for any other position: if available, copies of any academic publications); (5) Documents concerning additional funding from other sources; (6) One-Page Summary of Your Bio and Research Proposal
The applicants must also arrange for two reference letters submitted via the online application.
Finally, applicants must indicate four out of the ten Tikvah Fellows who shall be in residence for the upcoming academic year with whom they would wish to work, based on similar areas of research and interest. (As soon as the Fellows for your year of residence are announced, we will contact you to make your Fellows selection). If you are applying for the Furman-Tikvah position, we will contact you and ask to submit a list of suggested NYU Law School faculty and/or Tikvah Fellows whom you might wish to be supervised by.
Tikvah Scholar Stipends:
Tikvah Scholar stipends will be awarded on the basis of need. Typically, for Tikvah Scholars who are J.D. or doctoral students already at NYU or other New York institutions, stipends tend to be approximately US $7,500. Furman Scholars will receive a stipend anticipated to be US $40,000. All other applicants are eligible for up to US $25,000, depending on financial need, family circumstances and accommodation needs. Applicants are welcome and encouraged to seek additional funding from other sources (Fulbright, etc.), insofar as it does not impede upon the residency requirements of the Program.
Application Deadline:
The deadline for receipt of Tikvah Scholars Program applications and application materials was January 18th, 2013. For information on Academic Year 2014-2015 applications, please check back in Fall 2013. We may interview applicants by phone, Skype, or in person. Scholarships are awarded on a rolling basis, so there is some advantage in early applications. Applications not received, or not complete, by this time will not be considered. Please note that our deadline is dictated in part by the Department of State visa requirements and, therefore, we are unable to offer extensions. Decisions for Academic Year 2013-2014 will be sent to all applicants by the beginning of March, 2013.