Following the great success of the previous two editions of our SpicyIP Annual Fellowship, weâd like to announce the 3rd edition of the SpicyIP Annual Fellowship â for the year 2015-16!
Weâre also very happy to announce that after nearly a year of great work on the blog, all three of our present SpicyIP Fellows â Devika Agarwal, Spadika Jayaraj and Thomas Vallianeth â have been invited to stay on with the team after their fellowship period expires in February, 2015! Itâs been a great experience working with them and along with our previous batch of SpicyIP Fellows, I can confidently say weâre quite happy with how our relatively new Fellowship program is shaping up! And are very excited to see what the next lot brings! [Edit: Click here to see what our Fellows have to say about their experience with us!]
The SpicyIP Fellowship 2015-16
As was the case last year, weâre on the lookout for sharp, passionate bloggers to join us as SpicyIP fellows â researching and writing on developments in the Indian intellectual property rights and innovation policy scenario. The 2015-16 fellowship is open to anyone interested and carries a stipend of Rs. 15,000.
What are we looking for?
As our mission statement reads, our bloggers are bound by an interest in fostering a more transparent, collaborative and productive IP and Innovation eco-system in India. This is of course a continual journey but we take heart from our successes and strive to go further. Some of our achievements are listed here. With our email subscription list now having over 4700 members and our blog receiving over 100,000 viewers monthly, our blog stats show the growth weâve had over the years, thanks in great part to our readers who keep the conversations going and keep us on our toes. We are looking to share this platform with similarly dedicated Fellows!
– How to apply?
- Fellows will be chosen based on quality of guest posts submitted to us over a 6 week period from 8th December, 2014 to 16th January, 2014.
- At least three guest posts per applicant need to be submitted in this 6 week period.
- These guest posts are to be submitted to â[email protected]â with âfellowshipâ in the subject line. [Edit: There seems to be some problem with this id currently. Till we fix this, you can mail in your entries to [email protected] if you are not able to get through to this id. Apologies for the inconvenience.]
– Evaluation criteria
- Research skills
- Critical analysis
- Succinctness
- Language skills
– Eligibility
- Anybody is welcome to apply.
- To be considered for the Fellowship, each applicant must submit at least 3 guest posts within the period from 8th December, 2014 to 16th January, 2015.
- These guest posts must pass our standard editorial check for the blog which include:
- A upper word limit of 900 words per post.
- Clarity of language
- Strong analysis
- Relevance of topic i.e. â relevance of the post to the Indian IP landscape
- Posts on current events will be preferred but conceptual and purely analytical posts will be accepted too.
- If a specific topic has already been covered on the blog, then the post will not be carried unless it brings in a new angle or overlooked aspect.
– Terms and conditions
- Once selected, Fellows will be on a probationary period for the first month (February 2014).
- Fellows will be required to either:
- Write 6 posts per month for 12 months. If notified in advance, this can be reduced to 4 per month during internship periods; and a complete break period for exam durations.; OR
- 5 posts per month for 12 months. If notified in advance, up to 4 weeks can be taken off.
- These posts can be either the Fellowâs own preferred topics so long as they fit within our broader mission statement or can be chosen from a pool of topics open to all members.
- These posts must be a minimum of 350 words per post.
- Aside from posts, the Fellows may be required to assist in research. Depending on the load of research, posting requirement may be adjusted accordingly.
- The fellowship period will begin on February 1st, 2015 and run till January 31st, 2016.
- The stipend will be paid in in 3 parts of Rs 5000 each, payable every 4 months for the duration of the fellowship.
– Selection Process
- The Fellows will be selected from the guest posters during the above mentioned 6 week period and will be notified by 25th January, 2015.
- Based on these submitted guest posts, current SpicyIP team members will decide by consensus to whom the Fellowships will be awarded.
- Once selected, the Fellow(s) will be announced on the blog.
– Termination
- Once selected, if an applicant does not fulfill or otherwise terminates his obligation before the end of the fellowship period, the fellowship will be considered cancelled.
- The same will be notified on the blog and that applicant will receive no more than what s/he has already received up to that point.
- For the duration of the first month of the fellowship, i.e., February 2015, the Fellow will be on a probationary period and we reserve the right to terminate the fellowship if the candidate is deemed unfit in that period.