IIHS, Bangalore's Urban Fellows Programme: Apply by Apr 11

About the Urban Fellows Programme

India’s urban transition is unprecedented in scale and complexity. Within it lie both the opportunities of economic development and greater employment as well as the challenges of persistent inequality, extreme deprivation and environmental degradation. The UFP offers the chance to be a part of shaping this transition.

The UFP is scholarship-based, nine-month, full-time, residential, interdisciplinary and based at the IIHS City Campus in Bengaluru. It seeks to combine classroom teaching, site-based applied learning, work in live projects, and external internships to introduce Fellows to diverse forms of urban practice. The Programme is open to recent graduates and young professionals from varied educational backgrounds or practice domains. The sixth batch of the UFP will graduate in May 2022.

About the UFP 2022-23

Through the UFP, Fellows will:

Understand issues of urbanisation in India and the Global South from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
Learn from practice as young professionals seeking to enter the urban sector.
Develop skills necessary to analyse, understand, and identify key urban issues in India.
Build a foundation to design interdisciplinary urban interventions.
Network with diverse global, national, and local thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and change makers.
Learn from a diverse and experienced faculty who bring together theory and practice.

Eligibility

An ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s Degree in any subject or discipline and their age should not exceed 30 years at the time of the UFP’s commencement. Therefore, candidates should be born on or after 1 August 1992. The Programme may, subject to facts and circumstances, consider non-degree training and certification programmes completed after 10+2 schooling.

Candidates without any formal education after their 10+2 may also apply, especially if they have valuable experience of formal or informal work in urban sectors.

Application Procedure

The two-step UFP admissions process is as follows:

The Written Application

The first step is an evaluation of a written application that is structured to assess curiosity, inventive thinking, alignment with the UFP, as well as a strong desire to engage with urban questions, issues and challenges.

Interdisciplinary Selection

Applications are assessed within their respective disciplinary categories: for example, social scientists with other social scientists; engineers with other engineers; architects with other architects and so on.

Diversity of Identity and Life Experience

As part of the assessment of written applications, points are also accorded on the basis of the following criteria to ensure a diverse UFP class:

Caste
Religion
Gender (including transgender)
Education of the Mother and Father
10+2 Schooling in Non-Metropolitan Cities
Type of Secondary Schooling (Central Public, State Public, Private)
Differential Physical Ability

Individual applicants can potentially score points across multiple categories as applicable. However, the total of diversity points shall exceed no more than 15% of the total score of any candidate.

A final set of around 100-150 candidates, depending on total number of applications, will be shortlisted for the interview stage.

The Interview

In the interview stage, an assessment is conducted of the candidates’ curiosity, inventiveness and alignment with the UFP so that their expectations are well aligned with what is being offered in the UFP. All efforts are made to make the interview convivial, friendly and enabling – an opportunity for the candidate to showcase the best of themselves.

Final offers for admission to the UFP will be made based on a combination of scores from the written application and the interview.

IIHS Diversity Statement

IIHS aims to create a diverse, inclusive, open, safe and enabling learning environment. It is committed to the principle of not discriminating against individuals on the basis of personal beliefs or characteristics such as caste, class, religion, region, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

The UFP at IIHS is part of this commitment to create supportive teaching and learning environments. Fellows are expected to aspire to the highest standards of ethics in their personal and professional interactions. IIHS strongly encourages applications from women, persons with disabilities, and those from economically and socially excluded communities.