Sunday, May 06, 2012

Travel to Kazakhstan for free--no, that's not a typo--


Application Deadline: June 10, 2012 

The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the United States in partnership with Kazakhstan's Airline Company "Air Astana," Kazakh Travel Agency Sayat, and the U.S.-based Russian American Travel Agencies Association (RATA) has initiated a fellowship that offers two eligible students from accredited universities in the U.S. a weeklong trip to explore the three major cities of Kazakhstan during the period of August 6-12 2012. The fellowship aims to make Americans more familiar with Kazakhstan, in particular in such areas as business opportunities and science and technology development.

All expenses will be paid for with the exception of food costs and other incidentals. Applicants must be U.S. citizens who are either undergraduate or graduate students of accredited universities in the United States with a GPA of 3.3 or higher.

To be considered, applicants are required to submit a 500-word abstract on the topic: "Discovering New Kazakhstan: Bringing U.S. Innovations to Kazakhstan to Develop Kazakhstan-U.S. Science and Technology Partnership." The abstract must be submitted along with at least three sources. During the weeklong trip to Kazakhstan, two selected fellows will be working on developing the abstract into a 2,500-word research piece. Within ten days after the trip, fellows will be required to submit their completed works.

All materials must be submitted to Washington@kazakhembus.com by June 10, 2012. If you have questions, please contact Anuar Kurzhikayev at A.Kurzhikayev@mfa.kz. The Committee will announce the name of the selected fellows on June 18th, 2012.