International Civilitics Institute

Overview

As part of the iviCivi Project to develop and launch a civilitic framework, the ICI is offering fellowships to an interdisciplinary group of qualified applicants. A multi-week civilitics training session will be provided to bring this group up to speed and build camaraderie. The session will be held at the ICI home office in Nebraska, tentatively planned for March 2016. Thereafter, depending upon need and field of expertise, some fellows will remain in residence while others may telecommute from other locations. The program is anticipated to last from 2016 until January 2018.

Applications for the ICI Fellowship are being accepted from October 2015 through at least December 1, 2015 and until A) all qualified applicants with the desired expertise have been identified and B) funding for the project is sufficient to create a successful outcome.

Prospective fellows will find it in their best interest to help spread news of the iviCivi crowdfunding project in order to ensure the second condition is met. Exceeding the funding goals may result in a greater number of fellows being selected.

Prospective fellows are encouraged to personally donate to the iviCivi crowdfunding project to cover the costs of reviewing applications.

Eligibility of Applicants

The ICI is seeking Fellows of high intellectual competency. Candidacy is open to individuals who might not be formally educated or professionally experienced, however it will be incumbent upon each applicant to make a strong case for their place in the ICI fellowship program.
Fellows must provide evidence of their ability to successfully work as a unified team.
ICI Fellows must be free to travel to the Unites States and have papers appropriate for doing so. Depending upon specialty, some fellows will need to spend up to two years in residence and will need to hold the appropriate visas.
Fellows are expected to communicate orally and electronically in English.
Applicants should have specialized skill or knowledge in at least one of the following areas or be able to justify the relevance of their specialty to the study and implementation of civilitics: advertising, big data, community organizing, computer networking, database architecture, documentary film making, economics, facilitation, financial systems, game theory, graphic design, human computer interfacing, journalism, linguistics, marketing, mathematics, mobile software development, political science, psychology, social media, sociology, software engineering, statistics, systems theory, web programming.

Activities of Fellows

This fellowship program is targeted at creating an interdisciplinary bridge between fields relevant to the implementation of civilitics and the subsequent use of that bridge to develop a civilitic infrastructure as a unified team. The restriction in the general scope of this fellowship is offset by a particular freedom to define the exact way in which each fellow will specifically interact with the program. Civilitics is a new area of study and we have barely begun to scratch the surface of the field. ICI Fellows will be undertaking an effort to push the limits of this intellectual frontier and will need to find the particular ways in which it relates to their own areas of expertise. In addition to the work they will be undertaking on a civilitic framework, fellows will be expected to produce papers, provide lectures, or contribute to other materials of an educational nature to help those who come later.

Facilities and Services

As funding begins to build, the ICI will secure office space (in Nebraska, USA) that will comfortably accommodate all the ICI Fellows and the resources they need to do their work. Residential fellows will need to locate their own housing accommodations.

Living Arrangements

After the initial training period, some fellows will remain in residence for up to two years, while others will return home to attend group telecommunication sessions several times a year.

It is important that this initiative is undertaken in a civilitic manner, so fellows will not be explicitly compensated for their work as quid pro quo. However, because people need resources in order to be secure and productive, every effort will be made to contribute to fellows in order that their needs are properly and effectively met. This is, in fact, the greatest outcome that will come out of the iviCivi crowdfunding campaign.

Travel costs to and from the ICI offices will be covered by the institute, as will lodging and food during the training and work sessions.

Application Deadline

Applications will be accepted until at least December 1, 2015. Thereafter, the application process will remain open until sufficient funding is established to ensure a solid foundation for completing the project.

Selection Process

Selection of fellows will be a multi-stage process. The first round will include an on-going evaluation of applications by ICI staff to determine basic eligibility and suitability. As funding goals are met, but no earlier than December 1, 2015, applicants making it to the second round will be critically reviewed on the basis of their responses to the ICI Fellowship Application Guidelines. Finally, virtual and/or phone interviews will be scheduled for applicants making it to the final round of the selection process. Additional financial information will be requested of final round applicants.

All application materials may be used to determine the suitability of applicants to fellowship positions. As applications are received, applicants will be added to a general notification e-mail list that will be used to provide updates on the general progress of the application process. Information specific to particular applicants will be available only after determinations have been made.