Altarum/Nansen University Fellowship Program in Ukraine

Program Background

Altarum Institute (formerly the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM)) and the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (Nansen) had teamed to create the Altarum/Nansen University Fellowship Program in Ukraine (UFP). Initiated in 1999 with funds donated by individual ERIM employees, the fellowship program is administered by the Ukrainian Land and Resource Management Center (ULRMC). Institutional commitment to the University Fellowship Program was achieved through the signing of an Agreement on Cooperation by ULRMC (Ukraine), Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (NUK), University of Bergen (Norway), Nansen (Norway) and ERIM (USA). Altarum (ERIM) had led the effort to initiate and to develop the UFP by providing the organizational oversight and seed funding necessary to support the first Ukrainian Ph.D. fellow student who was selected for the 2000/2001 academic year, successfully completed her dissertation with the ULRMC support, and in 2001 was awarded her Ph.D. degree. As a result of the selection process for the 2001/2002 academic year, additional university fellow students from the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv were selected and supported in developing their dissertations: two Master's students representing the Department of Geology and one Ph.D. student representing the Department of Geography. The continuation of UFP for the 2001/2002 academic year was made possible by a commitment from Altarum President Ken Baker on additional funding for the program.

Successful ULRMC's training activity in R/S and GIS technologies resulted in attraction of other funding sources to UFP and its expansion to other Ukrainian universities. Financial support for UFP 2002/2003 was provided by the US Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2002/2003 academic year 10 fellow students were selected on a competitive basis and supported (in addition to NUK, National Technical University "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy", National Aviation University and the Institute of Botany of the National Academy of Sciences were involved into the program). In 2003-2004, UFP was finacially supported by ULRMC and Altarum Institute and made it possible for 6 students to prepare their theses.

It is planned to select for the UFP 2004-2005 up to 6 students from various universities and research institutes of Ukraine.

Program Description

UFP aims to provide financial, infrastructure and intellectual support to Ukrainian students pursuing advanced degrees in the application of satellite remote sensing (R/S), geographic information systems (GIS), digital mapping, and other advanced information technologies to environmental and natural resources management issues in Ukraine.

The fellowship program focuses on supporting Ph.D. candidates, as well as fifth or sixth year students who have already received their four-year bachelor's degrees. When exceptional undergraduate students are identified, the fellowship program considers the possibility for providing support of their academic studies.

Student fellows selected for the program in Ukraine must have a defined area of study, which may be supported by ULRMC. Special consideration is given to applicants who have got the research areas close to that of the ULRMC projects. During the academic year, student fellows spend a significant amount of time at ULRMC learning the fundamentals of remote sensing and GIS, as well as other information technologies. Technical members of the ULRMC staff serve as instructors to the student fellows completing their dissertations or other work under the auspices of UFP.

The University Fellowship Program reviews are conducted on a semester basis at which all participating student fellows make short presentations of their activities. Such reviews include the student fellows and their advisors, and allow for the participation of other interested faculty and students. Student fellows are encouraged to prepare research papers on their selected area of study during the course of their fellowships. These research papers are distributed among Altarum's and Nansen's international network of scholars and research institutions. Under UFP procedures, all student fellows will be required to submit a final report describing their fellowship activity and to provide copies of their dissertations (or other works) for archiving at ULRMC.

About ULRMC

The ULRMC was initiated in 1988 with funding from USAID and established as a scientific/technical non-governmental organization under Ukrainian law in 1999. The mission of ULRMC is to operate as a "Center of Excellence" in Information Technologies, producing and providing commercially available geospatial information to strengthen the process of decision-making and to improve the quality of life in Ukraine and throughout the region. ULRMC has extensive new facilities for hosting student fellows in a state-of-the-art environment for remote sensing data exploitation and spatial information analysis. To acquire practical expertise, student fellows have the opportunity to be engaged in on-going or new ULRMC project activities. For additional information concerning ULRMC, refer to the organization's website.

Eligibility

UFP fellowships are awarded on a transparent and competitive basis to academically qualified Ph.D. candidates, as well as fifth or sixth year master's students who have already received their four-year bachelors degrees. When exceptional undergraduate students are identified, UFP considers awarding scholarships to such students as well. To be selected, an applicant must meet several requirements, the main of which are: availability of appropriate accumulated data, correspondence between the student's area of research and the ULRMC projects, and a possibility to apply R/S and GIS technologies to the selected area of study.

It is expected that in the 2004/2005 academic year up to 6 university students will be selected and supported.

Application and Selection Procedure

Interested students should submit by October 15, 2004 the following application materials:

  1. A student's letter of expressed interest, which should contain motivation and reason for participation in the program, explain a need for using the information technology capabilities of ULRMC and describe shortly the applicant's field of study and status of the research including the theme of an identified or proposed Ph.D. or master's (bachelor's) dissertation.
  2. A letter of support from applicant's university scientific supervisor expressing possibility and readiness to participate in the program. participate in the program;
  3. An applicant's Curriculum Vitae (CV).
  4. The copies of diplomas (bachelor's and master's) with an academic record (marks).
  5. The list of publications (if any).
  6. The copy of at least one published scientific work (if any).

All application materials should be directed to:

    Prof. Victor F. Los
    ULRMC
    13 Chokolivsky Boulevard
    Kyiv 03680, Ukraine
    Tel.: (+380-44) 230-2266
    Fax: (+380-44) 230-2267
    E-Mail:

All candidates will be reviewed by a Selection Committee including representatives from Altarum, ULRMC, NUK and other higher learning Ukrainian institutions-potential participants of UFP. After reviewing the application materials, a Selection Committee will conduct an interview with the prospective candidates and will make a final decision. The selection procedure is planned to be completed by November 1 of 2004.

Additional Information

For additional information about the Altarum/Nansen University Fellowship Program please contact Prof. V. F. Los (ULRMC). Additional information on UFP and the organizations-participants also may be obtained at:

The deadline for applying to the Altarum/Nansen University Fellowsip Program 2004/2005 is October 15, 2004.

Altarum Institute Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv ULRMC

[ Last updated : 21-Sep-2004 16:47 ]
Program Background
Program Description
About ULRMC
Eligibility
Application and Selection Procedure
Additional information
Prev Home Next
en ua ru