Central Asia University Partnerships Program (UniCEN)

The Central Asia University Partnership Program (UniCEN) will develop the capacities of U.S. and Central Asian university administrators and faculty to jointly address global challenges related to five UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focused on clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, and climate action. UniCEN will modernize curricula and develop jointly taught courses in the five UN SDGs at Central Asian universities, create regional knowledge hubs to increase research capacities at Central Asian and U.S. universities and enhance institutional capacity to support long-term sustainable partnerships with economic-based outcomes that strengthen the role of U.S. and Central Asian universities in society (https://unicen.americancouncils.org).

On June 22-23, 2022 American Councils will host a two-day intensive workshop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on academic writing and academic publishing. Dr. Thomas Jehn and Dr. James Herron (Harvard College Writing Program) and Dr. Rauf Salahodjaev (Highly Innovative Virtual Education - HIVE) will lead an intensive program for 40 selected Central Asian research faculty on the topics of writing a research paper; making data work for research; preparing a research paper; submitting a research paper; and, creating individual presentations.

As a result of the workshop, Central Asian participants will improve their academic writing skills to increase the number and quality of publications in international journals with internationally recognized research impact metrics, and promote interdisciplinary and regional cooperation across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

On the first day, participants will learn about academic writing, elements of writing style, structure of an academic paper from the title to the last reference, and how to conduct academic research and secondary data analysis to avoid plagiarism. The second day will be focused on the range and types of journals available in the areas of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, journal metrics and rankings, strategies for choosing an appropriate journal, proposal submission, journal review process with an end goal of increasing the number of faculty researchers who submit manuscripts to journals with impact factors in specific disciplines. American Councils and HIVE will arrange individual consultations between Central Asian faculty and U.S. experts before the workshop to maximize the 2-day training session in Tashkent.

All workshop sessions and pre-workshop assignments will be conducted in English.

Applicants must:

1. hold a PhD or be in the process of obtaining a PhD;
2. currently teach or conduct research at an institution of higher education in Central Asia;
3. demonstrate plans to continue to develop a career in academia;
4. demonstrate a high level of English proficiency (e.g., B2 - Upper Intermediate or higher).