Final Report Summary - TAPIR-COFUND (TAPIR-COFUND)
In the EU co-founded period from 2011 until 2014, eleven fellowships have been realized within the Transatlantic Post-Doc Fellowship for International Relations and Security (TAPIR). During the two-year programme each fellow spent eight month in three different high profile research institutes and think tanks in the United States and Europe. As a result, all fellows developed skills in policy-oriented research and created and expanded their own networks. For some of the fellows with a more academic background, TAPIR offered the unique chance to gain first experiences in the field of policy advisory. For others, TAPIR enabled them during the fellowship to get first experiences in the US or European working settings. One central reason for this progress of the fellows is the circle of participating institutes which is composed of currently fourteen high profile research institutes and think tanks on both sides of the Atlantic.
During their fellowship, each fellow conducted research on a beforehand specified topic of international relations. In the first fellowship cohort, from 1.10.2011 to 30.9.2013 questions about the future of the military, the role of special representative in peace processes and American and European approaches to justice sector reforms have been asked and answered. The fellows of the second cohort, from 1.10.2012 to 30.9.2014 in turn, analyzed Britain’s transatlantic security partnerships, state making and democracy promotion as well as US-European cooperation in terms of global climate governance and security issues. Supervised by senior researchers, the fellows published in the in-house journals of the hosting institutes, in various international peer-reviewed journals, in some cases book chapters and numerous newspaper articles. In addition, the majority of them gave regularly interviews, presented at conferences and advised politicians and diplomats concerning their specific field of research. Moreover, five fellows even got direct job offers during the fellowship.
One important venue for networking is the TAPIR seminar that has been realized annually during the reporting period: in Oslo 2012 at the IFS, in Washington D.C. 2013 at USIP/SIPRI, and in Berlin 2014 at SWP. At the annual seminar, TAPIR fellows presented their research projects and their progress during the fellowship; senior researcher commented upon the presented projects; TAPIR coordinators discussed administrative inquiries together with the fellows; not least, ethical issues have been made subject of the discussion.
The project management of TAPIR could be further professionalized. The web presence was completely revised, so that via a new FAQ-section the project gains more transparency. New communication channels such as Twitter and Facebook increase the visibility of the programme and reach more interested candidates for future application. This had a direct impact: the application rate rose from 79 in 2011 to 89 in 2012.
Altogether, TAPIR enabled eleven outstanding researchers to gain working experiences and training on the job in internationally renowned think tanks on both sides of the Atlantic. In turn, the fellows contributed to knowledge transfer from Europe to the US and back.
General information about TAPIR:
Since the beginning of the TAPIR program in 2006, TAPIR offered the fellows working experiences with a fulltime-fellowship in Europe and in the USA within a short period of time. It has been possible to establish a worldwide (a) unique post-doc program which combines (b) an exchange program with (c) a policy orientated research approach and (d) three different perspectives and experiences: As the TAPIR program requires stays at three different high-ranking institutes and think tanks, at least once of every side of the Atlantic, a constant change of ideas and perspectives between different cultures of policy-oriented research and between young and senior researchers is guaranteed. Further most of the fellows got directly job offers in high ranking positions in Europe and beyond. TAPIR with its transnational character enabled (1) a successful career path from the academic sphere to the public policy sector and (2) the practical experiences of a professional transnational mobility.
For further information please contact:
Dr. Denise Rüttinger (since July 2014, before: Tobias von Lossow)
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) / German Institute for International and Security Affairs
Transatlantic Post-Doc Fellowship for International Relations and Security (TAPIR)
Ludwigkirchplatz 3-4
10719 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30 88007-140
Fax: +49 (0)30 88007-100
E-mail: denise.ruettinger@swp-berlin.org / tapir@swp-berlin.org
http://www.swp-berlin.org/en/projects/tapir/introduction.html(opens in new window)
During their fellowship, each fellow conducted research on a beforehand specified topic of international relations. In the first fellowship cohort, from 1.10.2011 to 30.9.2013 questions about the future of the military, the role of special representative in peace processes and American and European approaches to justice sector reforms have been asked and answered. The fellows of the second cohort, from 1.10.2012 to 30.9.2014 in turn, analyzed Britain’s transatlantic security partnerships, state making and democracy promotion as well as US-European cooperation in terms of global climate governance and security issues. Supervised by senior researchers, the fellows published in the in-house journals of the hosting institutes, in various international peer-reviewed journals, in some cases book chapters and numerous newspaper articles. In addition, the majority of them gave regularly interviews, presented at conferences and advised politicians and diplomats concerning their specific field of research. Moreover, five fellows even got direct job offers during the fellowship.
One important venue for networking is the TAPIR seminar that has been realized annually during the reporting period: in Oslo 2012 at the IFS, in Washington D.C. 2013 at USIP/SIPRI, and in Berlin 2014 at SWP. At the annual seminar, TAPIR fellows presented their research projects and their progress during the fellowship; senior researcher commented upon the presented projects; TAPIR coordinators discussed administrative inquiries together with the fellows; not least, ethical issues have been made subject of the discussion.
The project management of TAPIR could be further professionalized. The web presence was completely revised, so that via a new FAQ-section the project gains more transparency. New communication channels such as Twitter and Facebook increase the visibility of the programme and reach more interested candidates for future application. This had a direct impact: the application rate rose from 79 in 2011 to 89 in 2012.
Altogether, TAPIR enabled eleven outstanding researchers to gain working experiences and training on the job in internationally renowned think tanks on both sides of the Atlantic. In turn, the fellows contributed to knowledge transfer from Europe to the US and back.
General information about TAPIR:
Since the beginning of the TAPIR program in 2006, TAPIR offered the fellows working experiences with a fulltime-fellowship in Europe and in the USA within a short period of time. It has been possible to establish a worldwide (a) unique post-doc program which combines (b) an exchange program with (c) a policy orientated research approach and (d) three different perspectives and experiences: As the TAPIR program requires stays at three different high-ranking institutes and think tanks, at least once of every side of the Atlantic, a constant change of ideas and perspectives between different cultures of policy-oriented research and between young and senior researchers is guaranteed. Further most of the fellows got directly job offers in high ranking positions in Europe and beyond. TAPIR with its transnational character enabled (1) a successful career path from the academic sphere to the public policy sector and (2) the practical experiences of a professional transnational mobility.
For further information please contact:
Dr. Denise Rüttinger (since July 2014, before: Tobias von Lossow)
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) / German Institute for International and Security Affairs
Transatlantic Post-Doc Fellowship for International Relations and Security (TAPIR)
Ludwigkirchplatz 3-4
10719 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30 88007-140
Fax: +49 (0)30 88007-100
E-mail: denise.ruettinger@swp-berlin.org / tapir@swp-berlin.org
http://www.swp-berlin.org/en/projects/tapir/introduction.html(opens in new window)
