Call for Applications: Russian Archive Training Scheme (RATS) Moscow, 8-13 April 2014

Applications are invited from doctoral students at CEELBAS universities for an archive training workshop, to be held in Moscow 8-13 April 2014, under the leadership of Dr Polly Jones (Oxford) and Dr Alexander Titov (Belfast). 

RATS has run several successful trips to Russia over the last decade. The scheme is intended for doctoral students at an early stage of their research who will be carrying out a prolonged period of fieldwork in the Russian archives later in their doctorate. The scheme offers an intensive program of visits and tours, including (subject to agreement with the archive management) the principal party and state archives and several major research libraries in Moscow. Students will learn the procedures for carrying out research in Russian state and party archives, and may also have the opportunity to work independently with the catalogues, in preparation for their later fieldwork.

Students’ and staff travel, accommodation and visa arrangements are made centrally through the scheme’s travel agency: students will stay in (single-sex) twin rooms in a central Moscow hotel, and must travel to and from Russia as part of the group. Students must pay a fee of £400, to contribute towards the costs of the scheme. All other costs are covered by CEELBAS, therefore students wishing to apply for the scheme must be undertaking doctoral study at a CEELBAS university (Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Kent, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, SOAS, Warwick, UCL). If there is space remaining on the workshop, a limited number of places will be offered to students at non-CEELBAS institutions, at a cost of £755. For all students accepted on to the scheme, payment will be due by 3rd February 2014.

Applicants must provide evidence that archival work is essential to their doctoral research, and must possess at least reasonable command of Russian. Applications should include the following:

• A 200-word statement describing your research project and the progress made so far on your research, including any language training already completed. This statement must make it clear why you will need to carry out archive research, and which archive(s) you have already identified as useful or essential to your project.
• A supporting statement from your supervisor, to be submitted by the same deadline, confirming your need for archive training and describing your progress so far.
• Details of your university program and your citizenship, and any other relevant personal information.

The deadline for applications (including references from supervisors) is Friday 13 December 2013. Places will be confirmed in early January. Applications and references should be emailed to Polly.Jones@univ.ox.ac.uk. Any enquiries about the scheme can also be sent to this address.